MacBook 2.0 Ghz review
The 2.0 Unibody Macbook is equipped with a 2.0 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB of RAM. It also has a 160GB HDD and 13″ LED backlit screen. It lacks the backlit keyboard that its faster 2.4 Ghz cousin has.
The first thing one would notice is how beautiful the new aluminum MacBooks are. The screen is an overall improvement over the previous plastic MacBooks. Also to note is the faster NVIDIA graphics which are upto 5 times faster than the previous Intel graphics.
This does create an illusion of a faster notebook, but you will need Snow Leopard (out September 2009 for $29, Snow Leopard enables the graphic cards to speed up regular tasks by acting as an additional CPU) to experience that as the Intel processor is slightly slower than the pervious MacBooks when compared at the same price points. However, for must users the faster graphics will be appreciated for gaming and editing photos and videos and the processor should be plenty for most tasks.
Alot of positive exists in the Mac OS X operating system which is integral to the MacBooks. Apple does take a very refined approach to the UI but this doesn’t mean it is free of bugs. I had several including networking issues, Time Machine (backup) issues, and Bluetooth disconnects that still persisted after a Bluetooth firmware update from Apple.
Also equally frustrating is the Windows experience, should one choose to install it via Boot Camp. I think it requires a warning to those who expect to continue to use their old Windows games and software upon migration to Macs. Apple does truely treat Windows as a bastard child and thus my experience found the drivers that Apple creates to enable the Windows installation to be second class. I had issues with the trackpad drivers causing browsers to crash or creating sound hickups in other application like my games.
Also to note was the lack of firewire in these models. Apple quickly turned around and created newer MacBooks (dubbed the new MacBook Pro 13″) which were basically identical that now had firewire, backlit keyboard, sd card reader, and even better screens all $100 less.
It makes the point that these MacBooks could have been better both in better equipped hardware and better all software support for both OS X and Windows. I’ll note that Apple does advertise as a selling point your ability to continue to use Windows, but sadly thats all it is a selling point.
Overall I am very pleased with my MacBook 2.0 Unibody. However I do think Apple could have done better in several key aspects. Could be worse, could be better, but the speed is adequate, the design does make me smile and generally I’m having a good experience and its holding up quite well. 6.5/10
