At 5.1 pounds, the MacBook weighs about half a pound more than the 12-inch PowerBook and 1.3 pounds more than the VAIO SZ. When calculated with the AC adapter the MacBook is 6 pounds at total, so we can count it in portable category.
When Apple released the attractive MacBook,
everybody loved the brilliant balance of productivity, design and portability. If you think thats all it got, you are wrong, the MacBook has lots of attributes under its sleeve. Even though the new MacBook is completely different earlier one, there are upgrades of course. For example a better processor, 802.11n Wi-Fi for a better wireless performance, and as expected more battery juice. Although the new features are not sufficient for convincing existing MacBook owners to buy a new one, its a good choice for an all purpose notebook.
Unibody, Apple's preferred term, is a bit of a misnomer, cause of the bottom panel is seperated, as are the multiple parts that make up the lid and display. This MacBook is completely quiet in terms of creaks or noise. Although the placstic hinge on this model is more fragile than the hinges on the Aluminum models, its not useless. Rather than a LCD latch mechanism all MacBooks use a magnetic latch. White plastic polycarbonate is used on this model, the material that we know for a long time now. Like its predecessors (I can say I owned three versions) build quality is hit and miss. Where panels connect there are small gaps and also the battery sticks out a little bit. Controlling tolerances with plastic construction is harder than when using metal.
Apple choosed building MacBook laptops not from metal, from a single chunk of polycarbonante, the though material we all have been using for a long time; from CDs to bulletproof windows, from Nalgene bottle to MacBooks now. From the sculpted sidess to the very center, which can typically feel a little soggy on poor quality laptops, the MacBook feels, well, bulletproof. MacBook Pro felt the same way too when they started building them from polycarbonate.
The 13.3-inch display, at 1,280x800, is now LED backlit (it is a standard feature of Apple merchandises recently), which is better for both energy consumption and environmental concerns. Still, they are not the same as more expensive Pro models, you need to pay more money to get a better display. Also MacBook lack a backlit keyboard and an SD card slot and we would like to see a change on screen aspect rate towards to 16:9 as they are becoming the standard. The MacBook's 13.3-inch wide-aspect display is just about the perfect size: it's large enough for watching movies or working with two windows open side by side, still its small enough to allow you to put and airplane table on your lap.
It's also incredibly bright (measurements show 230cd/m² which is above average), and its 1,280x800 native resolution offers the perfect amount of detail for the size of the display. In a first for an Apple laptop, the MacBook offers a glossy screen for starker contrast and more intense color, keep in mind to be careful of bright places, gloosy coating causes glare.
In fact, I am not a fan of Chiclet-style keyboards, I always enjoyed traditional keyboard clicks, but Apple's is one of the best in the business.
FireWire fans should note that the port has finally left the building. We would have thought this would be a good opportunity to add the same SD card slot found on the Pro 13-inch, but it was not to be.
Generally performance is good, but there are speedier notebooks on the market from brands like HP, Acer and Dell at about the same price. None of them have what are the MacBook's best features; OS X and iLife.
When our video playback charge drain test is applied, the Apple MacBook kept going on for 5 big hours plus 42 minutes. Toshiba's Satellite T135-S1310, however, showed the advantage of using an Intel ULV processor, going for an additional 30 minutes to pass 6 hours of total running time.
