Archive for March, 2006
Intel-Based Macs
I got the new Macbook two days ago. Normally I’d have waited like a sane person, but for this: I told myself years ago that when they come out with a Powerbook that can run Logic well enough to be useful, I’m getting it. And they did, so I did.
I’m the perfect Beta-tester. I can find a bug in anything within 5 minutes. It took me a few hours to find my Macbook bugs.
But first, the fun:
- 2 CPU indicators in Activity Viewer. It’s like I’m on my G5.
- SPEED! HOLY COW SPEED! Yeah, it’s quick.
- The built-in iSight and Bluetooth 2.0 are fun, even if you don’t “need” them. Heck, it takes your picture when you’re creating the account.
- Backlit light-sensing keyboard. Nice when your girlfriend turns the light out in the middle of typing. (That is, so you can very quickly finish your sentence and put the computer aside
.
The bugs:
- Flash Player 8 doesn’t work. (bug, or feature?). If you install it, Safari says you need to install Flash. Safari ships with Flash (don’t know which version), so just don’t upgrade it until Macromedia fixes this.
- Propellerhead doesn’t have a timeline for a Universal Binary of Reason. They say Reason 3.0 will run about as fast as it would on a G3. I do love Reason, but my last project had a lot less Reason in it already, and I’m sure as heck not waiting for them before I get my Logic portable studio running… I let them know they should hurry up (developers have had PLENTY of time to release Universal Binaries). If you like Reason, drop them a line here and tell them a Universal Binary is important to your mobile recording studio.
- Expresscard/34 slot. WTF? I think there are 5 Expresscards in existence currently (if you’re saying “Expresswhat?”, google it like I had to). This pissed me off mostly because I was just thinking of getting Verizon’s Wireless Broadband service, but it requires a PC card slot. Hey, I read about the Expresscard technology and it sounds like a good idea and all, but the Macbook got caught in the catch 22 of updating standards…
- It’s bigger than my old Powerbook 14″.
So that’s it for my first impressions with the new Macbook. Really, except for the PC Card thing, I love it. But hey, I’m at Starbucks enough anyway, guess I can stay with T-Mobile a bit longer…