 "Macbook Pro 17-inch")
Here’s some high-end portable computing for professionals such as designers and photographers – the powerful, sexy, no-nonsense MacBook Pro 17-inch.
Build
Apple always concentrates on the design of their products more than anything else, so there’s a lot that one can expect. Crafted from a single block of aluminum—which is common to the latest MacBook Pros—the uni-design body is straight lined, yet incredibly stylish. The holes for the built-in speakers are laser-cut, hence precise and they offer that eye-candy and a feel-good factor.
The track pad’s surface is made of glass and it still has a matt finish, which is its most attractive aspect. Although the design and looks are simply excellent, there are a couple of glitches. The sharp edges of the MacBook Pro are a turn off, simply because they’ll give you sore forearms after prolonged usage. Also you can’t use the laptop on your lap, because it turns quite warm after a while. All-in-all it’s a heady mix of style, portability and power.
Features
If you’re a photographer or designer, consider buying the MacBook Pro 17-inch. We reviewed it and noticed that the overall package is impressive, with video and photo editing seamlessly handled by the hardware. The large screen along with the discrete graphics pretty much suffices for the intended audience.
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The most prominent and striking feature was the huge track pad. It allows various functions, and when using multi-touch, each function changes as you go on adding a finger on the track pad. For instance, you can zoom in and out, pan and tilt and use more variations. The entire track pad is one large button, so click anywhere you like.
Other features include a webcam, three USB ports, FireWire 800, audio jacks, a slot loading DVD drive, a Kensington lock slot and a mini display port.
On the hardware front, it’s built around an Nvidia nForce 730i chipset and is powered by an Intel processor which features a whopping 6 MB L2 cache. Discrete graphics are courtesy Nvidia’s GeForce 9600M GT and the hard drive is quite roomy—320 GB.
Applications and Performance
The home-brewed applications from the iLife suite are quite utilitarian. For instance the iMovie is great for video editing and the iPhoto is an excellent photo-organizing application.
Even running third-party applications on the MacBook Pro is a treat. As per deliverance, on the pre-installed Mac OS10 10.5, mainstream applications such as the Microsoft Office 2008 and high-end applications suites such as the Adobe CS3 work like a charm. For playing popular games, you’ll have to switch to Windows. The built-in Boot Camp application takes care of that. All you need to do is have a Windows installation disc handy.
Conclusion
At its price of Rs. 1,48,800, it is intended for people from the entertainment industry such film makers and photographers, where the need for such powerful and portable machines is more.