Apple MacBook MC516LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop

amazon customer rates:

I will keep my review to key points aimed at perspective buyers. There is an excellent summary page for a Macbook and some really in-depth reviews with specifications and cool buzz words.

1-Selecting your vendor
Make sure you are getting the right macbook. The 2009 and 2010 models are very similar visually. Ensure you are getting the right model.

2-Special Offer
200 dollar discount on ipod touch and 100 dollar discount on printer from apple when you buy a mac product. It usually runs from june to early september, and can compensate the high price of the macbook(you have to be a card carrying educationalist to get it).

3-Pricing
If price hits you below the belt, consider refurbished models, last year models, open box models. All of them give apple's one year warranty and all can be brought into apple for repairs. All will cost you a few hundred less.

4-what's the difference from macbook pro?
4gb ram ,aluminum case, light up keyboard, extra ports(firewire/memory sticks) is whats usually mentioned. Macbook pro also has a screen protector built in and an ambient light sensor to dim your screen automatically. The latter two are nice, especially if you plan to treat your macbook like garbage and eat while working on it.
And all this for an additional 200 dollars on top of 1000 you are already paying for a notebook.

5-software.
Apple is good about not giving you trials. You get legitimate programs, no fills.
When you get a new mac, especially if you are new, go to apple website an watch some introduction videos. They are all under 5 minutes and give excellent summaries of mac basics and fundamentals of software that you just purchased. All of them are free.

Summary.
Macbook is a cost effective way to get a mac. I hope this review will make your choice a more thorough one.

amazon customer rates:

In short, I LOVE this computer! When I bought it around 6 months ago, I was debating whether buying this Mac was worth the extra $500+ over other laptops. Without a doubt after having this one for around a half a year and using my friends new PCs I am so glad I didn't go the cheap route. I will never buy another PC again. If you are worried about switching to a Mac go to the apple website and watch around ten two minute tutorials and you have just learned the basics of a Mac. The following are my pros and cons:

Pros:

Amazingly fast internet browsing - Twice as fast as the fastest PC I have ever used NO JOKE
Excellent battery life - Depending on the luck of the draw your battery will last you 5-7 hrs.
Multi touch trackpad - Switch screens, applications or go to your desktop with the swipe of a few fingers. The whole trackpad is one large button.
Pre installed programs - iMovie, GarageBand, and iWeb are just the beginning of an amazing lineup of programs that come with this Mac
Ease of use - If you never used a Mac you are 20 minutes away from being an expert
Doesn't get viruses (no security software needed) - Since less than 5% of all computers sold are Macs, nobody makes viruses for them

Cons:

There are a few online downloads that are PC only and won't work on your Mac - Most new applications being made are all Mac friendly though
Price - Yes it is expensive...but well worth every penny.

If you can afford this computer, you should definitely buy it. I rarely give any product 5 stars, but the Macbook 13" definitely deserves them all.

amazon customer rates:

I have a late 2007 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 1gb of RAM. I switched to the MacBook from a Toshiba Satellite. The Toshiba had many problems and was always riddled with viruses and malware. The MacBook has none of those problems, it worked straight out of the box. I know I paid more for it than a PC laptop but it was well worth it. Three years later my Macbook works just as well as it did when it was new. Its fast and easy to use. The battery life has dropped considerably, but thats to be expected. I can buy a new one on eBay for 40 dollars.
Pros: runs well, fast, Leopard is easy to use, Time Machine is much better than Windows BackUp, solid, iLife is awesome and has many features
Cons: laptop gets hot, battery life drops a lot, but this is normal
Overall, this was a great purchase and well worth the money. I am now looking to upgrade to a Macbook Pro, but will use this Macbook for years to come. Buy the Apple Extended Warranty, its worth the money. My Hard drive crashed and the DC Input Board had to be replaced and the charging cord stopped working. All repairs were free under the warranty. I would definitely recommend this computer to anyone searching for a cheap fast computer. I will never go back to another Windows PC again.

amazon customer rates:

The purchase of the Apple MacBook for my wife's office completes our transfer to an all-Apple hardware suite. The MacBook is very simply a great machine. Simple to learn, simple to use. Data conversion was a snap and the initial learning aspects were virtually nonexistent.

amazon customer rates:

So your in the market for a new laptop, maybe your a student. You need something portable, no 17 inch screens here. It needs to be light, well built, and easy to slip into a bag, for say, a ten minute walk on campus. But at the same time, you don't want a netbook. You don't want to squint at an 11 inch screen, type on a cramped keyboard, or put up with hardware that was out of date five years ago. In other words, you need something that just works, and doesn't complain about it. Well my friend, the Macbook might be just right for you. To me, it's the perfect "in between" product: its not so small and underpowered that your overall computing experience is compromised, while at the same time, its not so big, hot, and heavy that its only ever at home on a desk.

So what kind of computing is the Macbook built for, exactly? Its absolutely perfect for your day to day tasks, emails, word processing, web browsing (Hats off to Apple, after you get used to the multi-touch touchpad, every other laptop you touch feels sluggish and outdated) I'm sure with a serviceable C2D and a GT320, you could get away with some light content creation (Photo/Video editing, etc), but if you plan on using more intensive applications regularly, you'd probably be better off with a MacbookPro, or any number of higher powered Windows laptops.

Also worth noting are a couple of the Macbooks other superlative features. Exceptional battery life for one, I can easily make it 6 hours on a charge, under moderate use, Wifi, max brightness, everything that drains the battery. Speaking of brightness, the 13 inch LED is spectacular, it's bright without being washed out, colors are vivid and vibrant and despite a relatively low resolution, everything looks sharp. The overall construction and feel of the device, also, is excellent. The key's are well spaced and easy to type on. I also mentioned the touchpad, which combines a glass cover with multitouch to make probably the easiest to use notebook navigation I've ever seen. The laptop itself is very well built, very light, but still very stiff and solid. It doesn't feel fragile, in other words. The bottom can get warm after sustained use, but its also worth mentioning that there are no fan vents, and aside from the HDD spinning up, you won't hear the guts of this machine making a single peep.

To sum up, so far I've loved my experience with the Macbook, its perfect for my needs. Mac OSX fits well on a light processing laptop, and despite modest hardware, for the most part you won't feel it lagging or hanging. It's worth mentioning that I am NOT normally a fan of Apple. I will never buy an Iphone, iMac, or a Mac Tower, and I barely use my iPod. Unlike most Mac users, I am perfectly comfortable using Windows, am a big fan of Windows 7, and i'm no stranger to the unforgiving, enthusiast side of a PC. I've built PC's before, and my main computer right now is a high end, self built gaming PC (PII955/GTX 480). In other words, I'm not the normal Apple customer. But when it comes to a portable laptop that will breeze through every day tasks while providing stability and superb battery life, all wrapped up into that premium hardware/software bundle only Apple can provide, the macbook might just be the only way to go.