So, I’ve had the new 17″ MacBook Pro for a couple of days now, using it enough to form more than just the cursory first impressions ( pretty, big, fast, cool, etc… ). Here’s a quick rundown on what’s struck me as the most significant & impressive elements of this beast so far.

The Screen: It’s not just that it’s big (which it is), it’s also that it’s so clear & bright. Frankly, the reason I pushed to make the jump from the 15″ to the 17″ was in the hopes that the extra workspace on 17′s 1900×1200 display (as compared to the the 15′s 1440×900) would be more than worth the extra 1.1 lbs. It is. It would be worth another pound. The extra screen real estate is useful, empowering, and gorgeous. WIN

The Body: I’ve watched the videos on the new MBP unibody design. I’ve even handled my mom & dad’s 13″ & 15″ MBP’s a few times. I knew they were solid. But I didn’t know just how solid, and now (and I use this word advisedly) sensual, the unibody design was until I got the chance to live with this 17″ MBP. It’s solid, supple, and just plain nice to touch. It feels good, and that translates into a computer that’s nicer & easier to use. The tolerances to which it is engineered are simply amazing. Everything fits. Everything works. My old 15″ MBP was solid, but this one makes it look/feel creaky & flimsy by comparison. WIN

The Keyboard: I’ve long been a fan of the new style (sleek, low-profile) Mac keyboards. I use one on my PC at work, and have one as the external keyboard for when I have the MBP “docked” & connected to a second monitor at my desk. The 17″ MBP has one of these keyboards (the old 15″ MBP didn’t), and in combination with the unibody engineering, typing on this is simply a joy. No stress, no strain, & great tactile feedback. Granted, it’s no IBM Model M – but what has ever matched that? No, pair the MBP keyboard with the fabulous multi-touch trackpad, and you’ve got a big WIN

The Battery: This MBP has one of the new Apple-designed, lithium-polymer, long-life batteries that is hardwired into the laptop. I.e., you can’t swap it out on the fly. I don’t care, as it doesn’t really impact me. I never had that come up with the old MBP, as I’m not a road-warrior type user. This new battery is rated for 1000 full discharge/recharge cycles, and up to 8 hrs of (theoretical) life per charge. Thus far, out of curiosity, I’ve done two cycles just to see what I could get using as I normally would if I had it plugged into the power. And I’ve gotten right at 4 hours each time. WIN

The other stuff is expected, really, in that it’s not surprising that a C2D 3.06 is fast, that 4GB of RAM is roomy & fast, that a 500GB 7200RPM HD is big & fast, and that the whole package is perfectly integrated with Snow Leopard.

All in all, I’m pleased as punch, and about as happy as a Mac fanboy can be…

-ghp

This is way, way cool! (yes, I’m a tech geek, and I’m ok with it…)

The sounds of those old drives and components is just, well, comforting. And to hear it used for the good of one of Queen’s greatest hits? Well, that’s just a sublime experience, now isn’t it?

-ghp

This bad boy turned 25 years old this past week!

I almost got one of the original 128k Macs, in August of 1984, but ended up with an Apple IIc instead, much to my everlasting chagrin. I had to wait 3.5 years until I got my first Mac, but that’s not the anecdote I want to pass along here.

No, what I do recall from that original Mac intro/release was that I lusted after it. I had all the marketing slicks & promo materials. There was just something about that Mac OS, and the whole ethos that shrouded and enveloped the Mac — above and beyond that which distinguished Apple itself and the Apple II line — that I bought into, identified with, and wanted. I’d like to say that I knew that it was the future of computing; and maybe I did, on some way, way, way subconscious level that was so buried that it didn’t really count (my dad and I had many arguments because I wanted to use the computer as a means to do things, and thus wanted to buy software to facilitate that, and he viewed the computer as the tool by which you built the software to do things — I said he was cheap, he said I was lazy ). Anyway, I was bit by the bug.

Something that solidified it was that a classmate, Laura Behling, did get one. And for our Honors English class (with Mr. Stelmachowicz) we had a project to create a couple of satirical newspapers. Which is what we did. The Pansophical Pasquinade. And Laura “published” it on her Mac, at least the original copy, after which Mr. Stel ran off copies on the mimeograph machine.

I’ll pause here to remember the intoxicating smell of fresh mimeo copies……….

Ahhhhh, that’s nice. Who didn’t like to sit at the front of the row & get the stack of fresh, damp, purple-inked copies to hand back? C’mon now? Fess up…

Anyway, the newspaper, such as it was (and the copies of it that I still have in my greedy little hands!), is a fine example of using every font that the original Mac had available at the time (Chicago, New York, Geneva, London, San Francisco, Toronto, & Venice), in almost every style combo possible (bold, outline, underline).

Ah, memories…

-ghp

I’ve just started getting this same request from my own little redheaded daughter. And she’s showing some amazing rationalization abilities in trying to justify my spending the money on getting her a laptop that, at this point in time (with her being a 5th grader and all…), she doesn’t need. She has all the computer access she needs using the family computer. She doesn’t like hearing that, of course, but it’s still the truth.

Anyway, I’m glad this strip gave me a reason to blog. Keeping up with my various/main vocations this week has been busy & rather trying – what with school starting back up for the kids and at work, teaching a class, and all the stuff that goes along with all of that. I feel more wrung out than usual…

-ghp