Good & Bad Points with Good Winning

I recently got a deal on a MacBook 2.2 Dual Core with 4 GB RAM for $1,100, not including roughly $105 in rebates (white case) so I decided to take the plunge and buy one.

This decision was based upon my less than stellar experience with Windows Vista Home Premium which was notorious, at least in my case, for computer freezes, incomplete boots, and loss of apps without reason (and assorted other maladies too numerous to mention). Of course, XP started this way, but that OS had quick corrections issued in no time. Microsoft seems to be holding back on major Vista improvements.

I’ve owned Macs before going back to the infamous Lisa but was forced to come back to Windows either because of work or school (on an odd note, the school I attended still has a working Lisa model to this day).

Without boring you with mundane details about packaging (it’s nice but not that spectacular, folks) and nitpicky things, I’m just going for the meat of the topic.

First, the good points:

No bloatware! I’m so used to a few gigs of unsolicited ads and programs on my Windows machines it was actually refreshing to see no such nonsense on the Mac. That’s worth the price of admission alone. My last Windows machine took me hours to get rid of programs I didn’t want or ask for. Worse yet, even Windows uninstaller didn’t get rid of everything and little pieces of some program you deleted would still be hanging around to bug you in the future. Most notorious was the Norton package that insisted on searching for antivirus updates even though I had uninstalled the AV package.

Fairly solid case with no cracks, mismatched seams, or creaking. Once had a Windows laptop where the lid hinge cracked after a week. Judging from how many older Mac units are on EBay, I can imagine this Apple will hang around 7 years or so.

The longest boot, to date, is 35 seconds from a cold start. Windows? Even with Vista it took at least 3 minutes before I could open an app. Unfortunately, most of this time was spent waiting for anti-virus programs to kick in and Microsoft to download the usual GB of updates because yet another flaw in the system was discovered (you think I’m joking? So far, MS has downloaded close to 3 GB of updates for an OS that’s not much larger).

The sleep feature works! For giggles I had the unit plugged in and on. I followed the instructions and shut the lid. Not trusting anything I came back and opened the lid and the screen came back to life within a couple seconds right where I left it (one time I was playing an internet radio station and it actually connected back to the signal). As a test I put the system to sleep for two days and came back. It was still there, just as I left it. Windows? It never worked properly that I could remember. It just locked up the pc to the point I’d have to do a forced shutdown (and then you get that idiot response that you failed to shut Windows down properly).
Want to shut down the computer? Push the power button lightly and the menu comes up. Beats going to the “Start” button to “End” the process. Even on a bad day the shut down process takes all of 10 to 15 seconds. Windows would constantly hang up, no matter how many applications I closed before shutting down.

Screen resolution is actually good for a 13 inch screen. Side by side with my larger screened Acer, the MacBook stood its ground.

Want to download a file that’s more than 2 GB? No problem with the Safari browser. Try that with Windows and you’ll get a warning that Internet Explorer can’t handle files larger than 2 GB (later versions, up to 3 GB from what I understand). I sent an email to Microsoft asking for a solution to this problem. What did they recommend? That I download Safari for Windows. Here’s one for ya, Microsoft – how about you fix the browser?

Sound is among the best coming from a laptop. On par with some of the best Microsoft machines. Of course, what do you expect from any laptop? Symphony sound this ain’t.
Wireless is on the spot and has found signals I didn’t know existed in my neighborhood. Never drops a signal or hasn’t yet. Windows insists on giving you an on screen balloon stating you’re now connected to a wireless signal and that balloon would stay there until you acknowledge it, just like some kindergarten kid wanting attention for spelling a word correctly. With Apple you get an icon on top of the screen showing signal strength. Simple and effective.

The slot loading DVD/CD makes little noise. It’s a little eerie, actually. You can hear it wind up but I’m used to the Window’s clanking and grinding noises. The only thing it won’t do is take mini DVDs. Full size or no size at all.

Likewise the cooling fan makes little noise and you have to listen to hear it turn on. You will feel heat, though (see note under bad points below).

Nice keyboard, on par with IBM units (the industry standard). Some complain of the Chiclets style key assembly, but I see no problem other than the possibility dirt could get in. I would recommend a keyboard cover (millions of them are out there for about $10). Key response is crisp without lag (I type quickly and this keyboard can keep up).

Installation of programs in really too easy. You put the disk in (or download the program) and it gives you a desktop icon. Drag that icon into the applications box and it loads the program for you. For the technically impaired, it even gives you a visual clue as to what to do in the form of a drawing in which you can drag and drop the new applications without having to open the physical applications box. How much easier can it get?

You actually get recovery disks! Most Windows machines require that you burn them and most never work right even when you do burn them or they give you a “light” version of the OS. Apple gives you the most recent version (Leopard in this case).

Love the magnetic power plug! I thought it was a fad until I really did get it snagged and it popped off without dragging the computer to the floor. Glows orange to tell you the battery is charging and green to tell you it’s charged.

Also love the power pack itself. My last Windows pc was a sub laptop weighing in at 4 pounds, but the power pack added another 3 thereby diluting any weight savings. The Apple power pack is about the size of a cigarette pack and weighs about as much. Also like the included prongs for the excess wire, if any, and the extension cord attachment if you need it. The Apple power pack is also flatter than comparable Windows based units. My old IBM laptop had a power pack that was 25% the size of the computer itself.
Battery life seems to stretch out to about 4 hours, give or take. Using the DVD player will drag that down to 2.5 easily. Power saver options are available.

Locks up and freeze outs? Not hardly. For fun I opened all available programs I could find. Just kept chugging along with only one application freezing and that was my fault (I interrupted a download).

I don’t know how it does it, but all downloads seem to stay at the same 300+ kbps range, no matter how many downloads you’re doing at the time. I had 3 downloads going at one time and it still staying in the 300+ range for all of them. Fat chance you’ll get this in Windows. Even with a download accelerator Windows would still putter along at around 200 kbps or so.

Everybody told me my Samsung laser printer wouldn’t work. Not only did it work, but the computer found the driver and downloaded it. Windows tried this with the same printer and stated it couldn’t find the driver online (well, Windows, it’s right there at the Samsung website – the same place Apple found it!). It couldn’t find the driver from my digital camera, but it merely treated it as an external flash drive and downloaded the pictures anyway.
While Apple/Mac specific apps are few and far between, Linux apps that work on Apple machines are not. Oddly enough, most of the Linux apps I used under Suse work just fine on my Mac. Of course, this is due to the fact that OS X is mainly a customized Linux OS. You may have to do some tweaking (plenty of help is online) but they’ll eventually work. By the way, before you start doing this, check online and you may find a Mac version of a current Linux app already exists.

The touchpad is a little gimmicky, but nice. It has options like squeeze, pinch and move – things you probably won’t use that often, but they are nice to have. Still lacks a right click but Apple will never include that feature just to tick off Microsoft.

The included webcam is nice, if not a little alarming. Better brush your teeth and comb your hair because this thing is high resolution and will show warts and all. A nice touch is the fact you can change the background or color aspects (go to black and white or psychedelic if you like).

Little touches are nice, like the cleaning cloth for the fingerprints that will invariably show up on the screen.
While I wasn’t particularly enamored with the battery gauge on the bottom of the unit (see my note below), I do like the button on the bottom you push to get the current state of battery charge (it has glowing dots to illustrate the percentage of battery life left).

Boot Camp is pretty neat if not a little intimidating at first. This allows you to run Windows and OS X from the same machine with you choosing the option at boot. Once you get past the obligatory warnings about impending doom if you screw up, it works just fine. Might want to spend the extra money for outside software (like Parallels) allowing you to open Windows while OS X is also open, but Boot Camp is decent if you don’t use Windows that often and don’t mind choosing one operating system over another at boot.

Customer service seems good at this point. They answered an email within a copy of hours and phone calls seem to be answered within the usual 10 minutes you have to allot going through the automated system. Beats the time I called customer service on a Windows computer only to get, “The number you have dialed has been disconnected or is no longer in service…” (this isn’t a Microsoft problem, the vendor went out of business shortly after I got the unit).


Now for the bad:

Who dreamed up the RAM replacement system? Geez, you have to remove a battery, then a three screw base plate, then the old chips, put in the new chips, replace the base plate and, lastly, hope you got it all right. Worst part is, the three screws that have to be replaced cannot be removed using a regular screwdriver. You have to get a mini version used for eyeglass repairs. If you’re off by just a tick the base plate and battery won’t go back in properly. If you have bifocals, like me, be prepared to use a magnifying glass because the screw heads are so small somebody with eagle eyes couldn’t see them.

The slot drive CD/DVD burner easily adds $200 to the price. Most Windows units come with the DVD burner as standard equipment. C’mon Apple! This is especially disconcerting because all Apple laptops come with the CD burner/DVD player, just how much could it cost to make it a DVD burner, too?

Black or white, your choice. Want color? Pay some guy to paint it or do it yourself. How about some color, Apple? Here’s one for you – Candy Apple Red!

Nice case, but it’s a static magnet. I put the unit on the floor to attend to something and when I picked it back up, fuzz was sticking to the bottom (yes, I do vacuum). Inexcusable and a potential hazard to the innards.

iChat is nice, but it includes functionality with AIM and not much else. I use MSN Messenger and so do my friends, so I had to download that program in order to use the webcam feature. Minor inconvenience.

A little too much flex in the palm rest area, but only when you press down on it. In normal use it has no flex. Screen frame seems to be rock solid, though.

It gets warm, but not hot. More so than most Windows machines I’ve used and all the heat goes to the bottom where you place it. Great if you live in Canada or Alaska and need the heat, not so great in Florida during the summer. Oddly enough, top keyboard area always stays cool, unlike Windows machines that normally get warm in that area and stay cool on the bottom.

The new dock design is really goofy, but I’ve never been a dock fan. Just give me desktop icons and I’ll figure out the rest. Takes up too much real estate. Fortunately, you do have the option to make it hide. Get ready to remove some icons on the dock anyway. If you have too many the icons get so small you can’t tell what they represent without doing a mouse over. Previous dock versions I used had right and left arrows to make the dock move to show icons but this version just keeps shrinking them down.

If you maximize a window, such as Safari, it takes up just 75% of the screen instead of all of it. Not a good thing. I haven’t found a way yet to stretch the windows to fill the screen.

The minimize, maximize and close buttons in windows are on the left instead of the right as with Windows machines. That isn’t the problem. The problem is these buttons do not light up until you mouse over them so you have to know which is where or jump over with a mouse. They are also sometimes reversed. The X is on the right for Windows programs, the X (to close the program) is on the left in Apple programs.

Mac still insists you kill a program through the file menu for each program. Clicking on a window’s X merely puts the program back on the dock where it still remains active. For Windows fans, if you’re used to setting preferences in a browser window, it ain’t happening with Apple. You have to go to the disconnected top window bar to set those. Once you’re used to it, it’s no biggie.
iTunes is still the greedy pig. Put your music in, but no guarantee you’ll get to do what you want with it. If you load the music to a MP3 player it won’t allow you to load the music from the player back to iTunes. I ended up deleting that program and going to Windows Media Player for Mac.

The Time Machine function hasn’t worked yet. I’ve tried to create a partition on my hard drive but it won’t recognize it. Mac is working on this as I write this. Appears to be a faulty software installation they plan to fix.

Apple has always put their battery power indicator on the bottom of their laptops in the form of green LEDs. Who thought this up? How about putting them up top? In all fairness, there is a power gauge on the screen itself, but it’s a minor aggravation flipping the machine over to check battery status while charging.

Available apps are limited and always will be. Apple/Mac constitutes less than 10% of computer users so Windows apps will always be the majority; however, this may change since Macs are now using Intel processors. You’ll probably see more cross referenced apps in the future. See my note about Linux apps in the good points referenced above.

The stupid mouse you can buy as an option. I like the right click and always will. In all fairness, all you have to do is install a Windows mouse and the right click works.

How about a card reader, Apple? Geez, even the Wally World specials have card readers in them!

While the slot drive is great, it’s a bear once it breaks. My last Apple laptop (an older 500 MHz model) finally died after 7 years of use, but the slot drive died after about 4 years. It just wouldn’t eject anymore and I later found out it would cost more to replace than the computer was worth. Pop out CD drives aren’t necessarily any better as far as longevity, but they are easier and cheaper to replace. Of course, you could just buy an external USB drive, but that defeats the purpose of a laptop.

In the end analysis is the MacBook worth the $1,000+? Both yes and no. Yes in that you get a very flexible machine that is nearly bulletproof. No in that such a machine is better priced around $800. Apparently Apple has never been told they could capture more of the market by being a little more competitive in the pricing area, but they don’t seem to care. Look at the iPod Shuttle. Apple recently dropped the price of their 1GB until to around $70 from the original $99. Too bad comparable units sell for $40 to $50 less elsewhere and don’t require that awful iTunes software.

The major part of this situation is that Apple sets the price and will not allow retailers to lower this price via sales. The only way to adjust the retail price is by offering rebates via the retailer. Some system. Probably why so few retailers carry Apple as a main product. Until Apple gets rid of their “exclusive machines, exclusive clientele” mentality, it will be just the same old sold and dance.