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Sound:
It has the standard sound card
Feature:
For laptops it has firewire 800, firewire 400 and 3 USB ports.
Full size interface connections, no other laptop on the market, had this. The best thing is the new OS Leopard that has 'time machine' backup, and I've tried it, it works (unlike Mircrosofts crap backup system) Installed a new 7200 RPM hardrive myself, and it was a little touchy to do, but far easier than a Toshiba and far more difficult than a Dell. Brought all my NI Kore and Komplete files backinto the new harddrive via 'time Machine' and guess what? it worked! No long hours of reinstallation and reauthorization required for either NI or Ableton. Good job Apple on that one!
Ease of Use:
Mac OS is much simpler to use than windows, when problems arise. No registry errors, no dll files etc to deal with. One thing though, is it will freeze, just like a PC, if you throw too much at it or it doesn't like a program. You will have to 'force quit' the program, but at least the whole damned system doesn't crash. I have never had a problem running any of my softsynths or DAWs with my Macbook Pro. they simply don't crash as much as a PC does. user interface is a simple as Vista, but nicer, I think.
lastly it has Bootcamp, and I boot into both mac OS and Vista on the same machine to run FruityLoops. Very cool. PC cannot do this, so kudos again, to apple
Quality:
I have to give it a five because the metal is far too thin on this machine for my liking. It is a flimsy 'tin'ish material that if hit against something a little too hard, dents. My Express card 32 slot dented in and remains now, because after putting the MB in a Macally leather protection case and inside my Ableton Live softpadded soft bag, it still dented when bumped. Sucks! Macbook plain plastic is stronger thatn the MB pro. If you move it around for gigs, get a hard case for it.
Value:
You pay too much for it, but it does alot, so you have to consider the cost-benefit (easy backup, two operating systems on one machine, music related interfaces onboard). Mac as a company, sucks. They overrate, over publicize and over hype their products to do everything but wash your clothes and make your dinners and I really hate that stupid apple symple lit on the back of my notebook. I am NOT a walking advert for Steve Jobs, so I just went ahead and stuck a clear, Access Virus symbol over the apple, heh heh. Screw Apple as a company. they thing they are the Ferrari of the computer world or something. If there was a PC with the same specs and features without having to add express cards and whatnot, I'd have bought the PC and for backup, used a third party hard drive backup software. Other than that, it is a nice unit, just overpriced.
Manufacturer Support:
Again, 5 because apple tries to sell you $hit everytime you call them if you didn't buy the ridiculous Apple Care plan. Listen, it's a 2500 dollar laptop, did I not spend enough allready to get a few simple questions asked? I am not asking you to troubleshoot my machine, just tell me how to go into bootcamp
The Wow Factor:
it is a machine, it has NO sex appeal. As long as it works, I don't care. It is simple, though, in its concept, so that is what appeals to me, even though there is too much hype surrounding it.
Overall:
I'd give it an 8 because they charge too much for upgrades.
I bought the 15" rather than the 17" for portability. I installed my own 4 GB Ram and 7200 RPM 500GB drive, saving me about a grand over what apple would have charged for the upgrade. If you buy this product, do the same and take your ram and HD to an offsite guy who can do it much cheaper. You'll be happier and save ALOT of money. Oh, and if you are a giging musician, get a hardshell case for it and a leather cover from Macally, as it will save the cheap silver finish on these things.
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