TheMacJedi

Since you can find hundreds of reviews of the MacBook online mine will just focus of my own experiences.
Some of the problems with “Revision A” or the very first model released are noticed in this review.
As with most “Revision A” hardware, consumers find the bugs and “Revision B and so on” benefit from our finds.

Let’s get the MacBook Cons out of the way:

1. Staining. Yes I got one of the first models with the staining problem. But it didn’t happen at first, as a matter of fact it took it a couple months. I remember being asked by many people what I though of the MacBook and I would mention the staining as being one of the most talked about problems. At the time mine wasn’t stained.

Then almost overnight the stains showed up. My stains are more orange than yellow and they look more like something that received sun bleaching in reverse.

Here is a pic of my stained MacBook.

2. Hard Drive Clicking. I notice this mostly when I’m surfing quietly in my family room. It’s been reported on Apple Discussion Boards and here a few different times. It’s very annoying, like a ticking clock only in 15 second intervals. It happens when my MacBook is perfectly still so it’s not the SMS (Sudden Motion Sensor), unless of course there is a flaw with the SMS.

3. Case Separation. Before Apple released the MacBook firmware update my computer would get seriously hot. And I believe that heat began to cause the plastics to expand and separate. It’s only on the side the processor is on. The edge of the LCD has begun to shift outward leaving a space. Notice the gap between the plastic above the ports and the palm rest plastic. My MacBook spends most of it’s time on my lap so I always use it on the cutting board shown in the photos to assure air flow for the bottom of the machine. And yes my MacBook still gets very hot and warms the cutting board pretty good too.

Here is a pic of the case separation.

4. MacBook Bleeding. This was a random occurrence of something that happened after turning the MacBook on. I pressed the Power button and after the chime the screen bleed colors. Normally I would have restarted and never seen the problem again. So I restarted and it happened again, that’s when I decided to get it on video. The video of the screen bleed was the third time it happened. After that I shut the machine down, removed the battery, waited a minute, reinstalled the battery and restarted the machine. The machine started normally and I haven’t the screen again.

The pic I used above to show the staining on my MacBook was taken during the screen bleed.

AppleCare
I called AppleCare on 9/15/06 and talked with a very nice girl who took down all of my information. She said that the staining was definitely covered but I would have to send it in. She said the separation may be corrected when the stained plastics are replaced. But she said the HD clicking was not recognized and probably normal. As far as the video bleed she had me zap the PRAM even thought I told her it had not occurred again. I know they have to follow certain steps so I went along.

She informed me that all MacBooks for several months have used the new non-stainable plastics.

I’m not in a position to be without my machine so that was out of the question. Sending it in being my only option it will just have to wait. Since I purchased it on 5/19/06 I have plenty of time to send it in. My serial is 4H6201WMU9E and AppleCare gave me this Case #68173038.

I’m going to try and buy two new MacBook Pros, one for me and one for my wife (with glossy screens because they rock). Our business is starting to require a little more power than we currently have. If I’m able to get these new machines I will be able to send in the MacBook for repair.

I without question still completely recommend the MacBook.

Let’s get to the MacBook Pros:

1. Screen. Today is the first day I’ve been outside with my MacBook and I was surprised that I can see the screen without squinting. I normally sit in the garage while my girls play and ride their bikes. My old PowerBook (the last 15″ PB made) wasn’t bright enough for me to see without squinting especially when it’s sunny. Right now it’s sunny, I’m not squinting, I’m in my garage and I an having no problems seeing my screen. The Glossy screen is a new requirement of mine. The resolution is a huge improvement over the previous iBook screens. After using a MacBook you will see the difference.

2. iSight. I don’t get a lot of opportunities to use it but when I need it, it has been invaluable. I had the old iSight but it was a pain to use even though it worked very well.

3. Keyboard. The feel of the new keyboard is awesome. I like the separation of the buttons. I’m going to miss this keyboard when I upgrade to a MacBook Pro.

4. Trackpad. It’s wider and that’s a huge plus making it easier to use. Two finger scrolling, it makes you hate having to use other peoples machine. Two finger right click is genius.

5. MagSafe. As advertised this thing keeps you from damaging your computer. Mine has been pulled loose a dozen times saving my machine from possible damage.

6. Magnetic Closure. Unlike the original clamshell iBook this computer doesn’t use springs or pressure to close it uses magnets. As much as you might think it doesn’t matter it’s a very nice feature. The machine will never accidentally open.

7. Superdrive. If you buy a computer that can not burn DVDs you are wasting your money.

That’s it, the good and the bad as I’ve seen it with my MacBook.

UPDATE:
On Thursday November 2nd I sent my MacBook into Apple for repair. It was returned to me on Monday November 6th and the bezel around the screen, the top case (palm rest) and my hard drive were replaced. My MacBook now looks brand new and I no longer have to worry about the clicking hard drive. Thanks Apple.

My previous prediction that the iBook would be re-dubbed the MacBook was right on.

This thing is awesome, I continue to read peoples initial thoughts on it but I think overall people are forgetting one major aspect.

I’ve read several times about someone deciding to keep or stick with their PowerBook over the new MacBook. To me this just doesn’t make sense unless they have to use Adobe applications. We are in out first year of the Intel processor, the OS will continue to take better advantage of it as the PowerPC falls back. Imagine how the new OS is going to be able to use these Dual Cores. The new MacBook uses SATA drives which will become standard. These new MacBooks (including the Pros) have a built in iSight. I had an iSight and sold it, it was a great camera but a pain to use, and it was one of the easiest to use.

I’m actually going to be selling my PowerBook 1.67GHz DL to fund this MacBook. It’s funny to see people compare this MacBook to other notebooks and talk down about its graphics because they are integrated. The graphics on this thing are far superior to the graphics of a many PowerBook last year. Meaning, people would have paid big bucks for these capabilities last year, but this year when compared to the MacBook Pro they are rated so so.

The keyboard is a keyboard, no problems. The screen have the same width of 19″ displays I setup a few years ago, pretty awesome. The magnetic latch, you can’t see it but it works.

I’m going to like this MacBook a lot. I was never a big fan of the iBook because of it’s limitations but those things don’t exist here in MacBook world.