Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 11-15 of 221
 Got this for my Mom, and liked it so much I bought a new Aluminum Macbook for myself! February 19, 2009
Antonio Alvendia (Los Angeles CA and Ebisu Circuit Japan)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The plastic Macbooks are great. They pack everything you need into a tidy little package. If you have the money to spend, I would definitely pay more ($[...] more) to get the newer style unibody Aluminum Macbook, because the screen is better and I personally prefer the aluminum casing because I'm always on the go, and I travel so much. I have a friend with a 2 or 3 year old plastic Macbook, and his laptop has plastic cracks on the edges, and little tiny slivers of plastic broke off of his computer. This being said, I opted for the aluminum version, with the nicer screeen.
However, the plastic Macbook was great for my mom. She basically only uses the internet (Safari/Firefox), MS Word, and MS Excel. I've also been encouraging her to use the Apple Addressbook and iCal to manage her contacts and calendar/schedule. She loved the fact that she could find and download all her fav old music on iTunes, but even though I set her account up, I doubt she uses it at all because she probably doesnt know how.
We got her signed up for One on One at the Apple store, so she can be more proficient in getting up to speed with the Macbook. Even this plastic thing has way more functionality than what she needs, it's great.
I'd definitely recommend one of these plastic Macbooks for an entry level computer, or light computer user. However, if you have an extra $[...] to spend, try to get an aluminum unibody macbook. It's built better and has a better screen.
 Still an awesome computer February 19, 2009
Craig Huber (Where things are weird...)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is still, even after the arrival of aluminum macbooks, an outstanding sexy computer. If you review the specifications and some of the benchmark tests on macworld, it is only slightly slower than the current (Late 2008) macbook generation. If you want to save yourself some cash, pick up one of these used or refurbished, and spring for a 4gb upgrade and a 7200RPM drive. Should be more than enough for most people.
Only negative I can think of is fingerprints, but hey, what are you going to do!
Great Deal! February 16, 2009
K. Chapman
I have been wanting a macbook for awhile, and I came across this fantastic deal on amazon and couldn't pass it up. Free shipping, no tax, low price. I LOVE this computer! I have had no problems so far and I've had it about a month. Purchase an external hard drive and back up your entire computer with the included "time machine" software.... no more individually backing up every single picture, song, file, etc. Thanks again Amazon for carrying these big ticket items!
 Expert Windows User - not impressed with Mac February 14, 2009
Mansoor Ejaz (Austin, TX USA)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
After watching so many Apple's ADs that downplay Windows/PC, i was expecting Mac to be wonderful when switching over from Windows. I bought the "BlackBook" - a fairly powerful Mac with 250GB HD and 2.4GHz Core2Duo. Also bought the Switching to Mac Missing Manual. As a previous Amiga user and now an expert Windows user/developer, i was not impressed with it. The most irritating part was lack of keyboard controls - you have to use the mouse with this one to carry one task or the other. I am used to using keyboard for everything but not on Mac. Its like a BMW forcing you to use iDrive to control radio, AC, and all vs. providing separate dedicated buttons for quick access to all features. I also find it to be a little on the heavy side - weight wise. Finally i feel they skimped on documentation. There is no document (even in PDF format) that explains the Shell commands or all the utilities that came with it. If you connect an external HD, good luck trying to figure out how to format it. And once you find the appropriate utility (in Root->Applications->Utils), there are 6 different types of formats - which one should you use? Good luck, no documentation as to what are the differences between them. There's also an AppleScript built into it but again no documentation for it. You have to buy all the books separately if you want to use those features.
If you are stumped by technology, i'd recommend buying one of those $300-$400 EeePC or similar units that provides all the basic functionality that one needs. New models are coming out even with full version of Windows. If all you need is browse the Net, send and receive emails, do word processing etc. - those lightweight (and affordable) sub-notebooks are perfect for you.
On the plus side, I like the fact that now the MacOS is based on Unix and that it can also run Windows. Its plenty fast and played FullHD video clips without any hiccups - even when running on dual monitors. Startup and shutdown times are real short. Design is simple and clean - not a single sticker placed on the laptop. Even the the underside has just a two-liner neatly printed than various stickers and gazillion serial numbers. Turn a single locking switch and unlock the battery, expose hard drive and RAM for easy upgrade. Battery has LEDs to show how much juice is remaining. No cooling vents on underside, just a thin slot at the back and i have read that the reason the keys on keyboard are designed with so much gap and openings under them is to serve as heat escape. But that means you should probably not use some keyboard skin/cover as that would cause it to heat up. Meaning your laptop is always at risk of spilled liquids.
If there is a blaring bug in Mac it is the iSight camera - once i used it in say PhotoBooth, everytime i restart my Mac the camera comes on by itself and showed "busy". I am no longer able to use it! Initially shutting it down completely and restarting it used to fix this issue but now it seems like the only way to fix it is to zap the system PROM by unplugging the battery and holding power button for 5 seconds and then putting the battery back in. Read other forums, it is a common problem.
True you don't have to worry about antiviruses on Mac (for NOW) but instead of paying $$$$ for Mac, i'd rather pay less than five hundred dollars for a PC and buy a $30 anti-virus for it. BUT if you are going to spend same amount of money on a Windows laptop as this one then by all means go ahead and buy it: you can still install Windows on it and enjoy 2 machines in one for around same price.
MacBook for Traveling February 12, 2009
Rodney Dowdle (Northern Virginia)
After experiencing Mac's in college and having multiple PC's at home I decided to turn to the Macbook to replace my older PC-based laptops for travel. I HATED being on the road missing a driver or disc or network adapter and just wanted something that worked well, focus on Internet connectivity, playing DVD's & some games to while away the travel hours.
This macbook definitely does the trick!
Like other reviewers mentioned, I did not find the 13" screen to be inadequate when watching movies (once engrossed in a movie you don't notice it) and in fact preferred the smaller size when traveling. Internet works flawlessly -- easily connecting to "whatever hotspot is out there".
My only complaint has to do with the fragile power adapter. I haven't broken mine YET but just read up on it and you'll see the VAST majority of people who've complained about it. I'm now afraid it will break when traveling.
Perhaps you're thinking, "No big deal I'll pick up a 3rd party adapter" -- wrong. Apple for some idiotic reason has placed a patent on its poorly designed power adapter and made it super expensive -- as in $70 expensive! So in a nut shell they are forcing you to spend $70 for a faulty piece of equipment every few months while increasing the fustration/worry factor -- very very poor move.
Instead, I found a 3rd party supplier in China through eBay and ordered one from them with a 3 year warranty.
Its only the power adapter worries that had me rate this 4-stars. Once Apple fixes this all should be well.
Although I LOVE Amazon.com and purchase from them regularly, I have to say I got this through MacConnection for under $1000.
Showing reviews 11-15 of 221
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