Until yesterday, I have never owned a laptop. I have been mostly using laptops owned by my employer, which have been running different versions of Windows operating system. I really started considering of buying myself a new laptop a couple of months ago. It had become a burden to carry my current laptop between office and my home. As a Windows user I started looking for laptops running the Windows 7 operating system. However, I realized very soon that it was pretty damn hard to find a laptop, which would have the hardware configuration suitable for my needs. Of course every manufacturer has high end models, which would have been sufficient for my needs. However, the price of these laptops was very high. When I realized this, I started checking out what Apple has got to offer. This was the moment when something clicked in my brains, and I realized that less can really be more. I liked the fact that Apple had a very limited set of models available. This made it very easy for me to select a model, which is suitable for my needs. After the new models of Macbook Pro were published, I ordered one almost right away. After a “long” waiting period, it was finally delivered to me yesterday.
This blog post will describe my first impressions from Macbook Pro and Os X. I decided to create a simple list of pros and cons, because it is perhaps the easiest way to write down thoughts, which have arised during these few days.
Pros:
- Everything just works. The wizard started during the first start up was very intuitive and easy to use. After it was finished, everything was working as I expected. Application installation and uninstallation was so easy that I could not believe it. No more frustrating installation or uninstallation wizards for me. It seems that Os X is planned to made everything as simple as necessary, but not any simpler than that. I really love this kind of approach, which emphasizes usability.
- Battery life. The battery life of my Macbook Pro was unbelievable when comparing it to laptops, which are not made by apple. I can finally use my laptop at a train without worrying when I will have to to recharge it. I am really wondering why this kind of batteries are not offered by other manufacturers.
- High Quality of Hardware. Macbook Pro is a high quality product. This feeling took me over right away when I got my hands on to this laptop. The aluminum unibody makes it structurally solid and unique. The high resolution anti glare display produces the best image I have ever seen on a laptop. Also, it is worth to mention that the viewing cone of the display is very wide. I had some prejudices concerning the keyboard, but it has been a relief to notice that I was wrong.
- Fast startup time. The startup time is really fast out of the box. I know that one can shorten the startup time of other operating systems by reducing the number of services started when the computer is starting up. However, I don’t see any reason for doing this, if I can get a lot better result just by pressing the power button.
Cons:
- Price. Well, this one is pretty obvious. The price of my Macbook Pro was very high, and some people can rightly wonder, if it really delivers enough value when comparing the value delivered by cheaper alternatives.
- Keyboard is missing special characters and buttons. The keyboard layout seems a bit weird for a windows user, and it is missing some keys like page up and page down. Also, the creation of curly brackets is not intuitive at all.
It should be obvious that I am both very satisfied with my Macbook pro and convinced that I made the right choice. However, I have been having some problems with third party applications. I will describe these problems in my next blog post to the Becoming a Mac User category.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
The missing buttons are actually there and when you get used to them, they feel really good. Try fn+ arrow up/down. Should be page up/down, at least is on my older version.