2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 3 MB shared L2 Cache
1 GB (two SO-DIMM) 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 120 GB 5400 rpm Serial ATA hard drive; 24x combo drive
One FireWire 400, two USB 2.0 ports, DVI, VGA, S-video, and composite video (requires adapters, sold separately)
Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit) Ethernet; Built-in AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n); built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) module
13.3-inch (diagonal) glossy TFT widescreen display, 1280 x 800 resolution; Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard
Rating: - Couldn't have asked for a better computer
After my HP laptop died for the 7th time (never ever will buy an HP product again ... had trouble with 2 printers of theirs as well), I decided to go with this little wonder of a laptop, mostly because we use them in our middle school, and I figured, if these babies can get beat up by middle school students day after day after day, why not just buy one? It looks good, speedy, keyboard feels great, sleep mode and start up are almost instantaneous ... no more waiting for hours while the HP booted up like before. Since I also use some windows programs, I decided to install Parallels with XP, and it runs WAYYYYYY faster and better on this little macbook than it ever did on any other PC or laptop I've tried before. If you want a computer that will last you a long time, is reliable, can take a tough environment, and looks great, this one is it. The only caveat I have with the black one is that it shows fingerprints very easily, but they also wipe off easily. We have the white ones in school, and you can't see any fingerprints on the outside. They keys on the inside, however, and the wrist wrest can get quite dirty, so you may want to invest in a keyboard cover from iSkin (I'm using one right now ... fits perfectly and makes typing comfortable and quieter), and a wrist pad cover from marware, and you should be good to go if you're worried about dirt. I'm fastidious about keeping things clean, and these just fit the bill perfectly. DVD performance on this thing is outstanding ... there is no reason to not get this high quality computer from Apple. Apple really cares about their customer experience, from shopping to customer service. BTW, I recommend getting the apple care package as well ... always have been helpful when I had simple questions about hooking up wireless and printer. I didn't get my macbook from Amazon, but from the apple store in Braintree, MA. They were very helpful, had answers to all my questions. For Windows users who are concerned about the lack of a right mouse button, you can set up the track pad in preferences to read a one-finger tap of the pad as a mouse click, a two-finger tap as a right mouse click, and a two finger glide to scroll. Great!
Rating: - Better Value than the Macbook Pro
I'm a first-time mac user and have been very happy with this notebook. I thought 10 years of windows use would make the first month or so a hassle, but it was a surprisingly easy transition. Leopard is fast, easy to use, and has great features. The browser Firefox and Microsoft Word are the same, and bootcamp/parallels allow you to run Windows within Mac seamlessly if you need a windows program for some reason.
Just one tip for people trying to decide between this or the considerably more expensive Macbook Pro- aside from the video card, the main difference is the screen size and the speakers. For this upgrade, you pay about double the price. I suspect they deliberately kept the Macbook screens stuck at 13" to push people to go up a tier.
By buying the Macbook, you can afford to get 2 extra gigabytes of ram to compensate for the videocard, a full-size, 22" monitor, a decent 2-button mouse, and a mac external keyboard.
At your desktop, hook up the mouse and the keyboard to the macbook and make the larger monitor your primary one, and you have an excellent desktop computer. If you have parallels, you can run windows on the macbook monitor, and OSX on the larger monitor, and switch between then effortlessly. When you leave work, just unplug the macbook from the keyboard and monitor, and boom, your powerful desktop just turned into a laptop. It's the best of both worlds.
These extras more than compensate for the Macbook Pro's extras, And it'll still be cheaper for you to do it this way!
Rating: - Wow!
After owning several PCs and a Gateway laptop, we are back to macs. My husband had a Mac when we got married in the mid-90s. We bought the cheapest Apple laptop and we are very happy with it. I thought if a laptop is going to only last 3 or 4 years, why spend top dollar for it. I like the small size and the screen is plenty big. It is light-weight, too. When I don't know how to do something, I find the help menu, well, helpful. The battery life seems to be pretty good. I bought the Microsoft Word, Excel, etc. package and I go back and forth between a PC at work and the documents work fine. I use a MacBook Pro at work, but I'm perfectly happy with a MacBook at home.
Rating: - Great Investment
I was nervous to purchase a mac as all I've ever used were pc's, but I'm extremely happy I made the switch. The mac is amazing. The speed with which it starts up and shuts down is quite impressive. I'm still learning the ins and outs of the new OS but I'm rather enjoying it as the simplicity of the mac is becoming more apparent. The display and sound are great and moving your files from your pc to your mac is not difficult. I found out how to use my ipod for the task on apple's website. Overall the macbook was a great investment and I don't think I will ever be going back to a pc
Apple MacBook MB402LL/A 13.3-inch Laptop (2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB Hard Drive) White Reviews
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