Mac Book Review

If you are looking to buy an Apple computer then your timing is perfect. Apple has just refreshed their computer lines and also offers special deals, like “back to school” or “Buy a Mac for college, get a free iPod Touch”. Enough said about marketing policy. If you are looking for a MacBook a few reminders are necessary. Remember that the 2008 MacBook line is not exactly the same with the line offered in the autumn of 2009. Apple made a really good move last year by adding to the MacBook plastic models new aluminum models. The plastic model received an upgrade also. Making this move Apple offered more value for small notebooks. But the MacBook line for 2009 suffered another change. From now the white plastic notebook is the only model standing on sale (at $999) in the MacBook line, while the aluminum 13” are now the entry – level notebooks for the MacBook pro line.

If you are looking for a good MacBook under $1000, than you should definitely look after the new MacBook. Some of the advantages that the new model has are regarding the small price, good design (most of the build flaws are gone), good battery life and a video chip. At the border of advantages and disadvantages stands the 2 GB RAM (for an everyday user, their enough). Let’s see a few specifications for the MacBook refresh: Intel Core 2 Duo 2,13 GHz, 2GB DDR memory, 160 GB hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics, white polycarbonate shell. For extra money you can configure your own MacBook (4 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800 MHz – add $100, bigger hard drive – from additional $50 to $200 for the 500 GB unit, iWork, Final Cut Express 4, Aperture 2 and other accessories).



The dimensions have not changed: the height is 2.75 cm, depth 22.7 cm, while the width is 32.5 cm and the weight reaches to 2.27 kg (not a light small notebook). Surprisingly the plastic MacBook is thicker and heavier than the 13” unibody MacBook pro. In terms of construction the new MacBook is better build. The screen gives away that we are dealing with a low entry Apple notebook. The screen is not as bright as the ones from the aluminum models. MacBook’s screen size is 1280 x 800, medium value on a general basis, but good value for the 13” screens. Don’t expect vibrant colors or great viewing angles.

The MacBook uses a Intel Core 2 Duo 2.13 GHz CPU. It’s smaller and cooler running with 3 MB of level two caches than the older model. The speed is now at the value of 1066 MHz. the MacBook consumes less power improving the battery life. A good feature is the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M. The chip has 256 MB of dedicated shared memory. Video playback is good. But then again all notebooks, with or without video chips, are capable of video playback.



Apple OS’s runs better and with less memory consumption than the Microsoft Vista. Immediately after booting the amount of random access memory used on the white MacBook is 290 MB. Microsoft Vista on the other hand is not such a great performer for the MacBook. After the boot the RAM memory used climbs to 600 MB. This is not a tragic result if you don’t depend on Vista software daily. For everyday use you should go with the Mac OS X on your MacBook and only use Vista when you don’t have a choice.

Apple upgraded the MacBook correctly. It is not a pro model but the features are enough to accommodate a normal user. The $999 price is attractive only if you don’t select special features. If you pass the $1000 line, you should consider buying the 13” aluminum MacBook pro.