purchased macbook, have doubts. keep it or return it?

i purchased a macbook a few days ago purely on an impulse buy, and now i'm starting to doubt my decision. i posted a quick review on redflagdeals.com (a canadian website), to see if anyone could help me this predicament.
here is my copy and pasted review:

i've decided to write up a short pro/con review here for the benefit of those who might consider purchasing a macbook. also, so that i might recieve some feedback to help me decide whether or not i should keep mine.

pros
-sexy white finish
-lots of great little extras (remote, icam, bluetooth, magsafe - this adapter is the best i've ever seen, magnetic latch)
-slot in optical vs tray
-mac os and bundled software
-keyboard is great
-large trackpad
-thin

cons
-heat from bottom top left (had to use smcfancontrol, because the heat was unbearable, but after tweaking the fan rpm i'm more than satisfied)
-battery life is disappointing (i was expecting 4 hours with decent settings but got only 3 hours)
-selection of ports is disappointing (2 usb ports, and you MUST buy the -adapter for vga/dvi, no pc card slot)
-ram and hd configuration is comparable to something on a $600 acer
-screen quality is disappointing (the vertical viewing angle kills it)
-hinge is weak and cannot fully extend to 180 degrees, and i am very doubtful about long term quality
-overall build is extremely cheap (they did an awesome job of convincing -people of luxurious cosmetics, when in fact the body probably is one of the cheapest to build on the market)
-discoloration is not a flaw in manufacturing, it WILL happen to any white laptop without exceptions.
-outer shell is VERY prone to scratches
-i HATE the feel of the trackpad. the worst i've ever used. however, i absolutely love the size of the trackpad.

i tend to be very rough with my laptops, especially since i just came from a magnesium lid vaio and a thinkpad, so i can't stand how alert i have to constantly be in order to keep my delicate macbook from scratches/damage.
also, the value of the hardware is simply not there. if i compare those laptop to what i consider to be the closest PC rival, it falls short in almost every way.
an equivalent hp dv2000 would have the same processor, better screen, 2x the harddrive, double the ram, additional media controls, twice the usb ports, a pc card slot, and a dvd burner. the dv2000 will also come with a remote that can be left in the pc card slot and the battery life will be equivalent. the dv2000 will not have a magnetic latch, bluetooth, nearly as nice of a power adapter, or a slot in type drive. but, to be fair, it also has its shortfalls. it weighs .2lbs more, the trackpad feels equally as bad (in its own way) and the keyboard sucks.


Summary:
if you love your macbook, do the following:
-install smcfancontrol to rid yourself of the heating problem
-buy more ram (2x1gb = ~$100)
-buy a larger faster HD (100gb 7200rpm hd = ~$120)
-buy a set of vinyl covers from macstyles.com or bestskinsever.com******Seriously something to consider
-buy a decent bag to keep your macbook safe

if you're on the fence and don't care if its mac os or windows vista:
return your macbook and purchase the t61 for $1500, or wait for hp to release an intel based tx1000 (check out the tx1000z at hpshopping.com)

please share any advice you may have, because i'm trying to decide myself...

-leo


end of paste

mind you, the prices and configurations listed are all based on what's offered in canada.

anyone else have similar experiences?

 

basically, i'm irritated by the build. low quality plastics, that are far too delicate for a device thats meant to be mobile, and the weak hinge do it for me.
i love everything that makes it a mac, and the hardware configuration i can live with because i would eventually upgrade the hd and ram, but the shortfalls really are the deal breakers for me.

 

Keep in mind the target audience for Macbooks are consumers, not business men. Luckily you didn't buy a Dell Inspiron or a HP Pavilion because you would be VERY irritated by the build quality.

I guess you should stick with Thinkpads as they're known for durability and battery life.

 

thanks. that's basically what i'm leaning towards. getting a t61, x61, tx1000 or possibly the new dell tablet. however, i'm still not 100% so i'm seeking advice to reinforce my thoughts.

 

There is one big advantage to the mac and thats OSX.
I switched to a macbook about 6 months ago, and I'm really glad I did. I find
the build quality to be very good on mine. In comparison to my wifes hp tx1000 the mb is better in almost every way, except for the few extra slots you mentioned. But to be honest I never use the apple remote, or the hp one, the laptop is on my lap seems, .....so it seems silly to use a remote when the keyboard& trackpad are right there. Likewise for the pc slot never used it, and I got the vga dongle, but only used it once in 6 months. Also I disagree about the screen quality, if you compare it other 1k laptops its exceptionally good, kicks over my wifes hp, as does the battery life, I can squeeze over 4h out of mine at the office just by dimming the screen to below half (still very useable) and turning off bluetooth/wifi which I dont need.
I too used the smc fan control but the fix apple posted a month or so ago has removed alot of the heat so now I dont bother, and for eg, right now my laptop is cool to the touch all over, after about 1h of internet and email (battery)... which is lucky cause its on my lap!

That said if you don't like the mb by now you probably never will
a

 

You are comparing a Macbook, a consumer product, with Thinkpads, which are business product. For a more fair comparison I would recommend MBPs, although their downside would be the limited size factor.
Macs tend to be more expensive than PC counterparts spec wise, but they are the only machines that run OS X, which would be the main reason for getting a Mac. It seems to me that you are a user that doesn't have the need for OS X that much, and would be better off with a PC running Windows.
Oh yeah, most of the speed increase due to the better specs in PCs are totally hogged by Vista anyway

 

If you are rough with your notebooks, the ThinkPad seems like a better choice.

 

actually, i'm not looking for any of the business oriented features, but simply comparing across the board given the price range.
the cheapest mbp is about $1000cdn more, and so is out of the question, at least for me.

you are right though, i don't need os x. which is a shame, since i was raised on macs and actually prefer the os, except for gaming of course. however, my love for hardware outweighs my love for software.

 

Agreed.
But keep in mind that we have plastic, and we have plastic. Macbooks seem to be a better plastic, and def. superior to some of DELL laptops' buiild quality.

The only thing that should make you hesitate about a T61 (that killed the deal for me) is its screen brightness. Go look at a t60 or a t61 when it becomes readily available to see if you like it or not. If you find it too dim and a pain on your eyes, then don't go with a t61. IMO, the screen is the most important part of a laptop (along with its keyboard, and fan and heat vents, and HDD noise, and CPU speed and available memory, and build quality, and )

 

Go with the T61. You seem rather set that your MacBook is of poor quality. The T61 is an excellent notebook, and you won't regret your decision.

 

Just get a T61 and install Ubuntu... virtually the same as OS X except more software available and you can maximize your windows