Apple MacBook Pro 13.3" Laptop - MC700LL/A (February, 2011)

The negative reviews on this item are most certainly by people who never actually used this item. I've been an apple user for over 30 years, and none of the contrived reviews on this product have any credibility. Apple products are unsurpassed in quality, reliability and service; period! These crape hangers are just angry, jealous windows freaks who want to give Apple bad press when there isn't any, in truth. With the exception of sweettooth520000's review, the rest are just defamatory lies. Nothing almost ever goes wrong with an Apple product, and if it does, it's usually minor, and their customer service response will be unparalleled! I had an iBook G4 that was run over by 2 cars and an 18-wheeler on the highway after it fell off the roof of my car, and other than the cracked screen, the thing booted instantly without a hitch when hooked to an external monitor! I STILL use this computer at home as a network print server, after 5+ years! All I can say about sweettooth's problems is that he must have been using bad software on the mac side, or else rendering in a much higher resolution than on the windows machine, etc. Don't believe the bad reviews; Apple is he best, bar none! This is born out by all the CR ratings and the rating of every consumer review source on the planet! Both my daughters were given free windows machines from their online schools, and now that they've graduated, they can't wait to get back to a Mac! Even a free windows machine can't complete with a full-priced Mac! It also is the reality for every Mac owner I have ever met or known in my life. It's Windows that deals in the cheap crap, not Apple! You get what you pay for, and a whole lot less with Windows!

So I bit the bullet recently and bought my first MBP. I ordered the 500gHD/2.7ghz(i5)/4gRam version. I've had it for about two weeks and honestly my hopes were not quite met. I've seen raving reviews, and people swearing off windows based PC's for life but I just can't see myself doing so.
Size/Weight: Okay the computer looks nice, it has a minimalist build, and clean edges. The casing is worth maybe 200-300$ IMO, so perhaps a bit overpriced. The laptop for being a 13 in is actually quite a bit heavier than I suspected, but it runs about on par with other similar sized laptops.

Batt life: This is where this laptop shines. At default settings I managed usually around 6-7 hours of word editing/internet browsing time on one charge. Now the screen is set to turn off nearly every 30 seconds, which is annoying, but it does keep the batt. life long.

Performance: I was just dissapointed in this field. I felt like for this price I should be getting a bit more. (yes I know this is built for portability) But still the computer took 5 hours to render a video I shot that was only 20 minutes long. I did the same processing on my desktop and it took 45 minutes. Seems way too big of a gap for a computer that prides itself on video production. For photo editing it ran fairly smooth with Adobe suite software, editing images at 18mp+. I know these are not built with any form of gaming in mind, but I have a 5 y/o dell laptop that runs SCII better than this. Any form of 3D is just a bit too much for the integrated cards used in these. I'm sure this is to prolong the batt. life though.

Value for money: It's an OKAY laptop. If you are on the fence over Windows or OSX, seriously just try both systems before you decide. That's what you are really paying for anyway. The build quality is nice but if you pay 1400+ for a machine, you'd have to be pretty daft to not use some form of case or sleeve at all times. The screen is pretty nice, so kudos there. I'd still have to recommend putting your money into a Windows system though. You'll get 100x's the power of this laptop, at a fraction of the cost. And all you're sacrificing is coffee shop cred.

initial opinion is that of a very positive experience. i will update again in a month once i have had the opportunity to spend more time on my macbook.
1 drawback - i noticed that pc microcenter had the same macbook pro for 50 bucks less.

Being self-employed in our home construction business requiring the use of a PC, I have never used a Mac before, but wanted the graphic opportunities of a Mac for advertising and design capabilities for marketing. I purchased the MacBook around the Thanksgiving holidays so I'd have some 'down time' with it before I HAD to start using it full time.
Expecting a learning curve after using PCs for 20+ years, I allowed myself 2-4 weeks to adjust, during which time I took full advantage of the online and computer loaded tutorials, even watching some videos several times.
I transferred all my outlook files and contacts easily, and was able to set up and migrate to the Mac Mail easily. My difficulty was finding files and 'moving around' in the new Mac. Overall, it was much easier than I expected, but I did fumble my way through the normal windows and PC methods some.
I am pleased now and am really glad I made the move. If you can get through the disorientation feeling and view the tutorials, I think you can make the transition fairly painless.
Battery lasts longer, usually all day with a full charge. I'm on it a good six hours/day, if not more. I am totally pleased with the MacBook. I actually purchased a MacBook Air too, after this one, to carry with me while I meet with customers daily.

I have always been a PC user until I got an iPad last year, I liked the iPad so much I decided to take the plunge into the Mac world and get my first Macbook Pro. I have to say it was slightly frustrating at first to make the transition from PC to Mac because of the obvious differences in the two computers operating systems but I am so glad I did join the Mac world. Now I see why everyone I have ever known that uses a Mac sings their praises. The 13" Macbook Pro I purchased is a very nice experience, first the screen is much sharper and clearer and the functions are just easier to use since I'm not a computer guru by no means. The Macbook is faster than my brand new PC I had just purchased when Im surfing the internet (using the same WI/FI) and the body of the Mac seems to be more solid. Granted there was a $400.00 price jump when I moved to Mac, but I have to say it is worth it in the long run, at least for me. I have been extremely pleased with my Macbook Pro 13" even though I was using a 17" windows laptop before, I don't feel like I lost anything because the clarity of the Macbook's screen is superior to my Windows machine. And last but not least, the touch pad control on the Mac blows away the touch pad of any Windows machine I have ever used,it is so responsive and easy to use I have no desire to find a mouse to plug into it like I always did on my Windows PC's. Bottom line, unless you want to do a lot of tinkering around with the insides of your computer and change things, get a Mac plain and simple, it just works.