Foreword:

The latest in a long line of Apple notebooks, the sleek 13.3” MacBook is one of the smallest in its family. With an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, NVIDIA GeForce graphics card with 256MB of shared video memory (DDR3 SDRAM) and main memory up to 8GB DDR3 RAM, this portable notebook stands out on its own with its brilliant interior coupled with beautiful exterior design. It comes with a 160 or 250GB SATA HDD and has two USB ports, one FireWire 800 port, and an SD card slot.

+Ves:

• The design of the MacBook is sleek and continuous showing no breaks except at the bottom panel that covers the interiors. Not only does this look elegant, it also makes the notebook exceptionally sturdy especially because it is crafted out of aluminium. The lid creaks slightly under heavy pressure, but nothing out of the ordinary there (especially considering how thing the lid is). The only visible plastic panels in the entire notebook are near the screen hinges, and those do not squeak – build quality is excellent.
• The vibrant 13.3” screen has its color-gamut upped by 60% with respect to the previous models, delivering vivid colors and sharp contrasts in the glossy screen.
• The Chiclet-style keyboard is well spaced and comfortable to type on. It is fully backlit for less-than-ideal conditions. The keys are very responsive and do not have much noise when typed.
• The ports offered – two USB, one FireWire and one SD card slot – are appreciated, as the notebook also offers an Ethernet port for LAN, a mini-DisplayPort for video out and the standard headphone and mic slot.
• The battery is internal, completing the entire chassis’ ‘unibody’ design, and there is a mini battery gauge mounted to the side, with 8 LEDs showing the relative charge level when a button is pressed – handy for those who do not want to turn on their notebook to check battery levels. The battery life itself is excellent, even while running the MacBook-power-hog Windows Vista

-Ves:

• Though the chassis is beautiful, it does really get hot. With ergonomics taking a backseat to design, this laptop leaves much to be desired in overall comfort factor.
• The glossy screen suffers from the same problems other glossy screens do – stray reflections. This, coupled with the average view-angles of 20-25 degrees in the MacBook’s TN-LCD panels becomes very annoying at times.
• The sound quality is poor for a notebook. The speakers are enclosed, and do not stereo-separate well. There is little to no bass or midrange sound. Headphones or external speakers are your best option when listening to music.
• The touchpad has no external mouse-buttons, but is a resistive touchpad, in that you click the surface itself. This might take time getting used to.
• Very poor Windows driver support – the backlight does not work well under Windows, and the mouse itself is choppy and oversensitive. Battery life is shortened considerably when using Windows. Bottomline is to use OS X for the best experience of this MacBook.
• The HDD is limited to SATA-150 speeds

Final Word:

The most affordable MacBook does have some quirks when running within Windows with its driver issues, but beyond that it sure is a sweet machine. The fantastic build quality and great integrated graphics are definitely things to consider when the intended market for this laptop is usually professional designers and image and video crafters. The screen looks great and beyond the initial quirks of the mouse, you will get used to it on OSX. A great buy for those who have always wanted a MacBook at $1699.