MBP Second Looks

Its been a couple months since my previous "MBP First Looks" series and I think its time to make an update.

MBP + More Memory = OSX + Vista ^ XP
I recently bumped my memory from 2 GB to a very nice 4 GB for the ability to run OSX, Windows XP/Vista using VMWare Fusion. There are some software development tools that are only for the Windows environment (*cough* Visual Studio) so I'm forced to stick with having some form of Windows installed. I was extremely happy to find that the MBP ran smoothly while running OSX & Vista, and OSX (obviously) with XP. I haven't tried running all three at once yet, but it is on my mind to test it out at some point. Leopard rocks with Spaces. I can easily switch between OSX and Windows in a heart beat.

I have yet to really dig into the Mac OSX Leopard operating system, so the next article will have more on it. I am attending an Apple workshop on Leopard, hoping that I'll learn some new things about it that I haven't uncovered yet.

Battery Life
I've used the MBP while on battery a few dozen times and am pleased that even with Vista (with Service Pack 1 RC) it lasts a good 3.5 hours under "medium" load (Web browser, half-brightness, and a couple MS Office apps). Before I installed the service pack I was getting roughly 2.5 hours, so I'd say that Microsoft is making great strides in its OS's performance. When not running Vista (natively or virtually) the battery life increases to about 4.5 hours to 5.0 hours depending on what other applications I run. Do some people get higher than that with their MBP?

The Only Problem: The Keyboard
This is purely a personal preference. I am getting used to the keyboard keys, but its still a long ways off from the MacBook's keyboard keys. I find I have to press the keys hard for them to register. This affects my train of thought somewhat when I type (and I type a lot), leading to a bit of aggrevation. I have a work around for it though which is basically to just raise my wrists up about a half-inch. That seems to force me to press the keys a bit harder naturally.

The Future
I like using Mac OSX Leopard so much, that I'm seriously considering ditching my desktop computer for an iMac. No longer will I have to deal with the mess of wire's getting in the way. Plus, I've been meaning to get a larger monitor for some time so that solves 2 birds with one stone.

Overall I'm pleased with the MBP performance as it does everything I want it to do which in a nutshell is the following statement: Run Windows for daily work related tasks, iLife + OSX's simpler to use interface for multimedia stuff.

 

Nice work, dbam987! Glad to hear you're still enjoying your Mac, and thanks your second looks!

 

I decided to pick up the aluminum keyboard from the Apple store yesterday and am glad I did. Its amazing so far.

 

You mean the new thin ones? How is it? I would get it, but my desk doesn't have the room for a keyboard. It's kind of a 'two story' desk, and the top 'story' has my external monitor, and the bottom has my macbook.

 

If the keyboard was backlit...that'd be even more awesome!

 

Yep I got the thin (wired) aluminum keyboard. It's spectacular in its extremely small profile, and the keys are just the way I like. You could get the wireless bluetooth version of it, but that one lacks the numberpad.

The one I got is extremely small, with minimal footprint on a desk. Its even got 2 USB ports (but they don't provide enough juice to recharge stuff like an iPod or MP3 player) but none the less works very well with thumb drives and USB mice.

That would be awesome, but I see it more of a gimmick than anything else. If you find yourself typing away in the dark often then a different option to light up the keys would be necessary.


Edit: Just to add more about the aluminum keyboard, it doesn't require your wrists to curl up so your fingers can hit the keys. You can rest your fore-arms on the desk (if space permits) and have a much better angle at typing. This might save your wrists from a world of hurt and reduce the chance of Carpel-Tunnel Syndrome (spelling?) occuring in them.