I been looking at one in the Apple Store today. They look mint, very fast as well. It was the entry level one I was looking at, not the MacBook Pro. Are they easy to live with? They certainly look impressive in the shop.

I think that now a direct comparison of spec is possible with Windows notebooks that they seem overpriced.

Yes , they look nice and if you must have OS-X then there is little choice yet , but Dell laptops (or plenty of others) seem better value.

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/inspn_640m?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs

for example is a better spec at the same price or less.

By the time you get up to the high end Macs it's a good few hundred quid difference.

Don't get me wrong I like apple stuff I just couldn't justfiy the cash

Yes DR. But nothing gets as roasty hot as the bottom of a mac book. great for camping. fire it up for half an hour. tunr it over and you can fry an egg on it.

I had the misfortune of having to install some inventory software on all the macs at work (they couldnt have an auto install like all the pc'. had to be done manually) I was shocked at how hot the thing was. Unlike any pc laptop I have ever worked on. could have burnt my hand

I could disconnect the fan on my Latitude.

I'm sure it would soon get up to Mac-like temperatures

Think they fixed the heat issue (a piece of plastic got left on in the factory :S)

The MacBook IIRC is built by Asus, and is actually better hardware than a plane PC as it doesn't need any legacy BIOS support and uses EFI.

Bootcamp is nice, and they are hella shiny looking. I say this typing on a Dell mind.

The guy who demonstrated the MacBook had some sort of degree in computer boffinry, specialising in developing hardware and software for the Mac. I asked him why would I but a MacBook when you can get a windows based laptop cheaper. (please excuse my ignorance here)

He said that Mac's run a dual core RAM system which can handle more applications at any one time.

You can open many more 'windows' in a Mac and it wont lose performance speed.

The OS system is based on Linux technology which is old but proven to be less prone to crashing and losing data a la windows.

Windows has thousands of viruses which can attack it's OS and cause you to lose data and crash your computer, whereas Macs only have a handfull of viruses which can't cause data to be lost.

As he showed me round the features of the MacBook it was clear that it was a very fast machine and he said that however much stuff you store on the computer, it won't lose performance speed like a PC because of the way the memory works.

I have a P4 3.4Ghz (2MB) with 1024DDR2 RAM and a 400Gig HDD and it has slowed down considerably since I bought it. The MacBook appeared much faster with 2.0Ghz processor.

I am sorely tempted to throw some cash in Apple's direction.

The guy who demonstrated the MacBook had some sort of degree in computer boffinry' date=' specialising in developing hardware and software for the Mac. I asked him why would I but a MacBook when you can get a windows based laptop cheaper. (please excuse my ignorance here)

He said that Mac's run a dual core RAM system which can handle more applications at any one time.

You can open many more 'windows' in a Mac and it wont lose performance speed.

The OS system is based on Linux technology which is old but proven to be less prone to crashing and losing data a la windows.

Windows has thousands of viruses which can attack it's OS and cause you to lose data and crash your computer, whereas Macs only have a handfull of viruses which can't cause data to be lost.

As he showed me round the features of the MacBook it was clear that it was a very fast machine and he said that however much stuff you store on the computer, it won't lose performance speed like a PC because of the way the memory works.

I have a P4 3.4Ghz (2MB) with 1024DDR2 RAM and a 400Gig HDD and it has slowed down considerably since I bought it. The MacBook appeared much faster with 2.0Ghz processor.

I am sorely tempted to throw some cash in Apple's direction.[/quote']

erm, that sounds like your typical mac fanboy rubbish..:thumbdwn: maybe the guy had a degree in b/s? all the hardware in the new intel macs is the same as you can get in a pc. you could also install one of the hundreds(?) of linux distros available on your less expensive "PC"

its not the hardware thats special its the OS that does it all and its actually based on BSD not linux

What they said is true as the OS gives more memory and CPU% to the app in the foreground not the back so he wasnt lying really.

Oh and yes i am a mac fan boy and linux fan boy :P

just a typical effect of the RDF

just a typical effect of the RDF

PMSL class!

I would buy a mac laptop over a pc laptop any day of the week! OSX just owns and i have thrown more dell laptops and desktops in the bin than you have had hot dinners!

If you really want a pc laptop then take a look at the toshibas!

ill get off my soapbox now

even though some of you might think im suffering from RDF and on an apple soapbox myself im not getting down :P

Having used all M$ operating systems from DOS5 to 2003 server OSX is by far the best out there (IMO of course) the other bonus is that im sat here on a 3 year old powerbook and can you tell its anolder machine...no it runs like a charm with all the latest SW on it and still looks good.

Right im goin to shut up now before i need a flame proof suit

Mac is nice, it's easy to use, a PC is a small bit cheaper, but not all that mcuh when you realsie the prices asked by people selling Core Duo laptops with a similar spec.

OSX is just nice, Windows XP is very out of date, Linux is nice and I like it, but i can see why some people have a brain drain moment. I especially hate KDE.

OSX is a nice middle groud of command line power if you want it and a well designed UI. Also you don't have to run as the root user to do many normal tasks unlike say windows.

However the Dual core RAM line, is a crock, what he probably meant but didn't understand was Dual Core CPU, with Dual Channel RAM (If you have 2 DIMMS)

Yes, I have a Macbook. Ordered it a day after it came out, and it arrived about a week later direct from China. Definately a big improvement from my old 12" Powerbook G4 (Rev C, 1.33GHz, 768MB).

My Macbook is the basic 1.83GHz Duo with the 1GB RAM BTO option. I wouldn't go further unless you really wanted a bigger disk or a Superdrive, but since I have both in my fileserver, 60GB is fine for me.

Overall I'm really happy with it. There are a few points to note, and some Macbook myths to comment on. I'll start with what is bad:

*) Damn, this thing is hot. In Apples quest for silence, they have increased the temperature at which the fans come on. This means most of the time the fans are off which is nice and quiet, but I hope you don't like wearing shorts else you end up with red marks on your legs. I would rather the fans came on earlier and kept things a few degrees cooler.

*) The keyboard looks cool, and lots of people comment on whether they like it or not, its a personal thing. I like it, its alright. I can touch type on it ok, the feel of the keys are alright too and it hasn't slowed me down. Took a day or so to really get used to it after using my Powerbook for 2 years. Still even though I rate it as ok and better than most PC laptops (bar IBMs), it doesn't come close to the greatness of the Powerbook/Macbook_Pro keyboard.

*) The click button under the touchpad is naff.

*) I thought the built-in iSight would be a really neat feature. But the reality is I used it once, and that was to try it out. I'll probably hardly ever use it again.

*) I thought the remote and Front Row would be such a gimmick. But the reality is I use it a fair bit. Its great to sit back and watch stuff on the laptop with volume control and pause at your fingertips.

*) The built-in speakers could do with being a touch louder. The headphone socket is great quality (sounds better than my Powerbook using my Grados) and Optical out is a neat feature.

*) Battery lasts a while. It is not amazing life, but a very useful ~2.5hrs of doing stuff. Its average I guess.

*) Wifi reception is pretty amazing. I took it out of the box and found 3 wireless APs from my bedroom which I didn't know existed (my Powerbook and my sisters iBook can only see my own). Never lost reception at home with it, but I have with the old one.

*) The screen is fabulous! It is just simply a joy to watch TV (via MythTV), DVDs, and stuff on. Its bright and the colours are rich. I use it in the evenings at home and never had a problem with reflections. Never used it in a bright office. If you're a photoshop guru, you'd want the 17" Matte Pro one anyway for real colours.

*) 720p HD Movie Trailers from Apple.com are simply gorgeous on the 1280 wide screen with Front Row. It has to be seen.

*) Some people are complaining that their Macbooks are going a bit yellow in places. I think it is a load of s*** 'cos mine still looks like new. However, if you are a bit grimey, you may want to consider a Black one

I think that now a direct comparison of spec is possible with Windows notebooks that they seem overpriced.

I'm trying not to be a fanboy, I do try to be as platform agnostic as possible (I like Windows, and Linux, and BSD...) - but I think the Macbook is a really good deal, purely from a hardware point of view. I paid 770 for my one after a few quid student discount. Go on, find me a Dell or other Windows laptop that has the following:

• 1.83GHz Core Duo or faster
  
• 1GB RAM
  
• 1280x800 Widescreen Display
  
• Built-in webcam (decent one at that)
  
• Bluetooth 2.0
  
• Gigabit Ethernet
  
• 2.75cm thick or less
  
• Remote Control, Magnetic Latches, Magnetic Power Connector, Slot Loading Optical Drive, DVI+SVGA+S-Video Out, and Optical Audio Out (I'll let you off those! lol)
  

Hi i allways went for pcs till i got myself the 17" i mac which can be left running online for weeks without any problems.Ive now had that 4 years never had to re install anything or had any crashes got myself a ibook g4 had that 9months and im now thinking of maybe getting another mac .I even have them both wireless connected to a xbox 360 which all work fine together great for streeming i tunes around the house

However the Dual core RAM line' date=' is a crock, what he probably meant but didn't understand was Dual Core CPU, with Dual Channel RAM (If you have 2 DIMMS)[/quote']

ture the only thing with the ram is that apple recommend matched pairs to give the shared GFX a better through put (apples words not mine!) how ever i would imagine the difference to be minimal

Putting system RAM in pairs will give dual channel memory access and so significantly faster memory access. However a gfx card that has to use system RAM is going to perform like crap as the maximum throughput of a first gen PCIe x16 slot is 10Gbit Raw/8Gbit data per second, which is nothing compared to the onboard RAM of even most low end cards.