The Macbook Reviewed After 6 months of Wear and Tear

March 16, 2007 in AppleCare, OS X, Personal, Software, Switching

Update #2: We have now moved to Macweek.ca, please navigate to: The Macbook Reviewed After 6 Months of Wear and Tear

It was 6 months ago, to the day, that I received my shiny new Macbook in the mail, a 2.0 Ghz Core Duo if you’ve been wondering. It’s been quite a ride, especially being my first Mac after years of being a hardcore PC user, and realizing my Mac envy was too much to bare. I was exhilarated just a few weeks before then when I was notified, after much deliberation, that my father would finally purchase a Macbook for my daily use.

My Macbook was great to me during my first week of ownership. I had configured it to my hearts content, installing programs and transferring files, at last switching to OS X as my primary OS. Then…It happened, I was sitting down quietly, surfing the web on
my glossy white ‘book and BOOM! I obviously hadn’t realized it when I had gone to sit down, but my to younger brothers were playing Soccer in the house, much to my despise, and regret, they had launched a soccer ball directly into my glowing Apple. My sexy new Macbook’s screen had been smashed to bits, leaving nothing left but a backlight to illuminate the shattered screen. I called AppleCare that night and brought my “little issue” to their attention. Argument after argument, I had finally convinced them to replace my screen.Apple had referred me to an authorized reseller to do the job, I went to dmac. Even though I was quite relieved that I would have my Macbook to hold in my arms (or on my lap in this case) again, I hadn’t done so for a full two weeks, and I reckon those weeks may have been some of the longest in my life. My Macbook was working, but not as it should’ve been. The screen was periodically shutting off every few minutes, and I put my Tech-Support troubleshooting abilities to use, and I concluded it must’ve been a video inverter problem. I called AppleCare again, and without trouble, they again referred me to dmac. The video inverter problem was diagnosed and fixed within a few days. Recently, I had smelled something odd while working on my Macbook, after investigating the fume, I had found the culprit, my Magsafe! It was melting! I unplugged it, careful not to burn myself. I called AppleCare immediately, and without hesitation, they shipped me a new one, which I received a couple days later. In the meantime I borrowed Ethan’s (My fellow blogger here at Mactropolis) Magsafe to ease the pain.

Throughout these ordeals, I was still immensely enjoying my Macbook. There is very little I can complain about, though the build quality and durability is questionable the rest is simply awesome! I had never before enjoyed using a computer as much as I enjoy using my Macbook.

I can do everything I’ve ever wanted to do with it: code, surf the web, chat, blog, audio and video & audio editing, email as well as blogging of course. I can also do many things I would not do if I did not have a Macbook, Skype and iChat video-conferencing, Garageband, Photo Booth, Quicksilver, and plenty of virtualization in Parallels! Overall, there are many features I can now proclaim I cannot live without:

-My iSight, mic included (for video-conferencing)

-Expose (being the fact It’s my first Mac)

-Spotlight (I never have trouble locating files)

-Parallels (I can run almost any app, in almost any OS on-demand, on one little laptop)

-Xcode (In my opinion, there is no better Objective- C environment)

-Quicksilver (Though I’m not the most efficient with it, it’s one of the best apps out there for OS X, period)

and…That’s about it! I’m still envious of the Core 2 Duo’s, with their Wireless N capabilities, I’ve been keeping my eye on that Airport Extreme!

Update: After looking at many comments both on digg, and this site, I am aware I was being far too “fanboy-happy” with this review I’d like to write about the “aging” of my Macbook.It has become slow, I mean SLOWWWW! It takes nearly 6 minutes to start up, and launching programs is significantly slower than it used to be. It scratches far too easily, after a few weeks with it my wrist-rests and case were far too scratched up. In response to this, I purchased a Tucano Second Skin, a neoprene case. It does help, though only when I am NOT using my computer, which is a minority. The Macbook’s screen actually lost it’s gloss, and there is a significant, I believe, permanent smudge which is highly bothersome. There are many,fairly large, extremely bothersome particles of dirt, which are completely suck in my keyboard and irremovable. The Macbook sides are blade-like, and I have significantly injured myself many times due to this. I am also experiencing slight case discoloration, but it’s nothing compared to the issues with the first generation Macbooks. I’d like to mention that I use my Macbook extensively, at least 10 hours a day. The screen breakage, though not an issue with durability, was extensive for the amount of force in the collision, very little….I just wanted to mention that. Though it is not perfect, It’s still a solid computer, especially for the money.