Black MacBook Review by scott evans

My new Core 2 Duo Macbook has been with me for a couple of weeks now, I have been very busy using it to make interesting things that I can hopefully put in my portfolio soon. I was very excited to have it arrive. On the whole my experience with it has not been as great as I would have hoped. This will only serve as a mini review, simply pointing out what I love about my new toy, and also what has let it down.

Top three likes

The remote: The little remote is great, Front Row is a bit of a let down and I suggest getting hold of some other software to help make the most of it.
Boot times: I have not actually timed this but I would estimate the computer is ready in around 10 to 15 seconds. The old Powerbook was much slower (60 seconds?), it would seem Intel have done well with these new C2D chips.
The Trackpad: My Powerbook did not have one of the new dual finger trackpads, it is really useful when away from a normal mouse and I already find it hard to use anything else now.

Top three hates

Wireless networking: Apple have started to ship a new wireless pre-N chip in all their new products. I have noted that they have good range (I see networks I have never seen before) and once connected good transfer rates. The problem lies in getting a connection, the Apple Forums are full of people who cannot get these new cards to join a large number of Wi-Fi networks. I am one of those people and it can be really annoying. One router in particular causes the machine to kernel panic every time I am in range.
Rosetta: If you have no idea what Rosetta is then read the Apple site. I think my biggest problem with it is how slow the Adobe programs run, and how unstable they have become because of it. I know this will be fixed with the release of universal Adobe binaries, but for now it can be a real pain. Running Photoshop, Illustrator and Indesign together really slows everything down and causes lots of software crashes...
Software crashes: My old Powerbook was very stable, on this new machine I would say I have at least one program crash every hour. Its not just Adobe; it is Firefox, VLC, Flock and even System Preferences has crashed a number of times. As yet I have been unable to figure the cause of such an unstable system, it is not expected from Apple's products.

A couple of other things worth mentioning are the case (the Blackbook case is really nice, feels well made), the speakers (not as loud as the Powerbook 12"), that it stays cool (in comparison to the Powerbook) and the 13" Widescreen makes it so much easier to work on. I have yet to try running Windows using Parallels, I am hoping to give that a try in the new year. Finally here are some must have programs that I have come across recently:

Applications:

iAlertU: See who is stealing your laptop and warn them off with an alarm.
Aurora: Alarm clock and timer for automating your Mac. It can even wake it up from a powered off state.
Handbrake: Backup DVDs and take them with you. It takes 15 minutes for a 25 minute program which I think is very decent, especially as the Powerbook quoted 10 hours for the same length.

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