According to Ken Mingis of Computerworld, the new 17″ MacBook Pro rocks! Well granted, he got the top of the line, 5,000 dollar version with the 256GB Solid State Drive and 2.93 Ghz processor.

Still what he writes is nothing short of amazing. He particularly loves the screen of the new MBP.

The integrated battery is also great but battery life is dependent on the usage. The author got about 6 hours of battery life out of it. Not bad for this monster.

Read the full review here.

It’s been a month after I’ve upgraded to the Unibody MacBook Pro. I know a lot of people have wrote about it and really it’s been out in the market for months, so it’s nothing really new. However I just wanted to really give my take on it.

Build Quality

Easily this is the most well built (from structural standpoint) computer I’ve ever owned. Nothing about this says it a cheap ass computer. It shouldn’t! As prices of computers plummet Macs have dropped slower than others. It’s still quite expensive. That being said, it’s worth the money.

I love the engineering on this thing. It’s sleek and it’s sexy.

Glossy Screen

I really thought this might be an issue but it’s not. I’m loving the screen on this baby. I work mostly in a controlled environment so I can minimize the glare, so it doesn’t really bother me. Colors are vivid, the LED screen makes the whole display even. Colors on the edge of the screen don’t get darker unlike my previous MacBook Pro.

Keyboard

Some people like the previous keyboard, I like this one. Plus, the keys are inset on the body itself, leaving less room for dirt to go into. The black keys also hide dirt better so the keys don’t look as dirty as they really are when you’ve been typing on them a lot.

Battery Life

This one sucks. At least from my experience. I thought I’d be getting decent battery life on this but I don’t. I barely get 2 hours on this machine.

Although I’m not sure if there’s something wrong with my machine because other people get 3 to 4 hours on theirs. Although most of those who get that long a battery life use the 2.4 ghz version.

I’ve tried using both the integrated video card and the dedicated one and offer only a slight improvement.

Here’s some comments at the Apple support thread.

Performance

One thing I truly, truly love about this is the performance. It’s a step up from my 2.33 Ghz 17″ MBP. The one I’m using right now is the 2.53 Ghz. The .20 Ghz addition plus the 4GB Ram and the 512MB video card really bumps up the performance.

I’m now able to run Parallels without really having to worry about if I have other applications running and it doesn’t take much of a performance hit.

All-in-all

With the exception of the dismal battery performance, I’m quite happy with the Unibody MacBook Pro. It’s a worthy successor to the previous MacBook Pro. In terms of design, performance, etc..

It’s a good evolution of the previous design which I thought was really hard to top.

It’s only been a month so we’ll see how well it holds up.

Cnet reviews iWork09. Generally the review is very positive. A really good sign for iWork. In my personal opinion iWork is almost at the point wherein it’s really a good alternative to Office, at least for most consumers. Office buyers will probably be those people who are power users. For everyday tasks, iWork09 will certainly be a great alternative.

Here’s a quote from the review

iWork ‘09 makes many of the already user-friendly features from last year’s version even easier. While there is some learning curve to get up and running for former Microsoft Office users, iWork ‘09 offers an extremely intuitive interface and has plenty of advanced time-saving features to make it a worthy replacement for the much more pricey Microsoft solution. The lack of an integrated business-level e-mail client is still a disappointment, but Apple’s included Mail program pre-installed on Macs will suffice in most cases. Though iWork.com is a welcome addition for sharing iWork files online, we would have liked a more collaborative online solution, but we expect this is probably slated for future versions.

Read the full review here.

[image courtesy of Gadgenista]

Our very own Lia over at Gadgenista got an iPod Touch 32GB (2nd Gen) this Christmas. Lucky girl. She writes about her initial thoughts about this wonderful gadget.

From squelching here lust for the iPhone to raving about Wifi and the battery life, Lia’s experience might just help you decide if the iPod Touch is right for you.

I for one am a happy iPod Touch user. Sure it’s still a 1st gen but I’m happy with it nonetheless.

Smashing Magazine, one of my favorite web sites has a run down on vector based programs. It’s a mix of Windows, Linux and of course Mac programs. Our interest is of course the Mac programs. Illustrator, CorelDraw are still the pinnacle of vector based illustration software but both are also expensive. So for people on a budget, especially in the current financial turmoil we’re facing, cheap alternatives are welcome. Of course cheap should not mean crappy.

The software you should focus on are Inkscape, Ipe, ConceptDraw, Drawit, Jfig, ZeusDraw, Nodebox, Scribus and SK1. All of these offer Mac versions.

Check out the review here.

[image courtesy of Apple]

Apple recently began shipping its new 24″ LED display. Macworld reviewed the display and gave it a 4 out of 5 rating.

The new display currently has a limited audience, it being owners of the new aluminum MacBooks and the the new MacBook Pros. Both of which sport the new Mini DisplayPort.

Since the new display is using LED panels, startup or warm-up times are faster, energy consumption less and it should last longer. The glossy screen also should give a more vibrant image although it also comes with glare.

Macworld says its strengths lie in great viewing angle, usb 2.0 connectivity and a 3 headed cable that supplies power, display and usb connectivity. The power connection will negate your needing to use the Magsafe adaptor that comes with your portable. You can keep that in your bag.

At $899, it’s not cheap. Then again Apple products aren’t meant to be cheap. If you’re a new MacBook/MacBook Pro user and you’re in the market for a new monitor to extend your desktop or just to have a bigger workspace this might be a good choice. It is pricey though but it just looks so darn good.

Here’s some unboxing pics from AppleInsider.

If you’re a photographer or doing a lot of Photoshop work, chances are you’ve heard of Scott Kelby. He’s a renowned photographer, author and Photoshop guru. He co-hosts Photoshop User TV with Dave Cross and Matt Kloskowski.

Scott wrote his review on the new MacBook Pro. The jist of his review says that as a whole he loves the MacBook Pro but there are some issues with the trackpad and Photoshop that are preventing him from fully embracing the MacBook Pro.

Having been able to play with a MacBook, I understand the trackpad issues. It’s a great trackpad but there are still somethings that bother me about it. It also takes a bit of getting used to.

If you’re a Photoshop user and if you are considering the new MacBook Pro, Scott Kelby’s review might be worth a read.

Sure there have been many reviews that have been written about the new aluminum MacBooks, I’ve read a lot of them. Until you’ve actually used one, the words you read don’t really do justice. That being said, I’d like to toss in my 2 cents.

I was able to get my hands albeit briefly on the new aluminum MacBook. For a few hours I was able to play with the 2.4 Ghz model. What can I say, the MacBook is a beauty.

I’ve always been a huge fan of the aluminum finish. I’ve loved it since I first got my hands on the PowerBook, I love it still. There’s something about it that evokes class. I’ve never been a big fan of the white plastic of the previous generation of MacBooks. While they’re still way better than most PC counterparts It’s just not as good. So I was happy to see the aluminum material get transferred to the MacBook line.

The build quality of the MacBook is top notch. If you feel bad about spending that much on a computer, don’t. You’re getting what you pay for. Cheap is not in its vocabulary.

The keys are similar to the MacBook Air. They’re fine. If you’re coming from the MacBook Pro they will take a bit of getting used to. I personally love the old MacBook Pro keyboards but the ones on the MacBook aren’t so bad either.

Performance wise it seems faster. It felt snappier but that’s just maybe because it’s still a new unit and not much in it.

The trackpad feels like the ones on the MacBook Pro. I know it’s made of glass but they made it in such a way that it still feels familiar. I thought I’d miss the button but I didn’t there are some quirks like clicking and dragging are a bit more difficult, at least with the way I do it. I LOVE the new gestures which were similar to the iPhone/iPod Touch.

The screen is both good and bad. The good is that it’s better than the previous generation’s screen. It’s sharper, colors are better. Since it’s LED the colors are more even across the screen. It doesn’t get darker on the edges.

The thing I hate about the screen is the “glossiness”. The old one was glossy. This is glossy times 2. I love myself, don’t get me wrong but I hate staring at my face all the time. That’s exactly what happened the afternoon I was trying out the MacBook. It was looking at my face most of the time. If you’re coming from a matte screen, it will take a lot of getting used to. Some people have reported getting headaches because of it. Two of my friends told me they did.

As a whole the new MacBook is really a step up from the old one. I can compare the old MacBook as a boy and the new one is now a man. It feels more mature, stronger, seems tougher built. It’s a bit more polished but still with a rugged aura to it. It’s classier. It’s definitely a winner in my book.