Apple MacBook Pro user reviews (17-inch)

Pros Great Machine

Cons Being reviewed by CNET

Summary From MacDailyNews.com I agree completely.

MacDailyNews Take: Knocking 2.7 points off because of a made-up port issue is typical CNET. Hence the large discrepancy between the 9.0 user rating and CNET's 7.3 out of 10. Apple 17-inch MacBook Pro users who need a modem will get the $49 Apple USB modem. 17-inch MacBook Pro users who want a media reader will use the ExpressCard slot. 17-inch MacBook Pro users who want to output to S-video or Composite will use Apple's $19 DVI to Video Adapter. The Dell Inspiron E1705 to which CNET compares the MacBook Pro regarding ports comes with USB overkill (6 ports) and no FireWire 800 port. We'd rather have the MacBook Pro's FireWire 800 port, three USB ports, and 1.4 lbs. less weight than a 6-port USB hub built into an ugly, thick, heavy, OS-limited Dell slab. Get real, CNET. Your reviews are increasingly out-of-touch. Only Apple Macs can run both Mac OS X and Windows, how many points is that worth? CNET (as usual) give scant mention to the OS and included software in their review and fixates instead on some conjured-up hardware issue; in this case, USB ports. Three USB ports, the lack of a media card reader, and "only" 90 days of toll-free technical support are not worth the 2.7 point deduction that CNET gives to the MacBook Pro's rating. There is no other 17-inch portable computer on the planet that can do what Apple's 17-inch MacBook Pro can, but leave it to CNET to find a way to give it a 7.3 rating to a machine that they describe as "a dream." CNET's absolutely ridiculous sometimes.

Pros Fast, Camera, Bright Display, and did I mention Fast

Cons Would be nice to see a different design. But this is super fast!

Summary I actually can't believe how fast this baby operates. I have tried to open exactly 12 DVD movies converted into .mov files and played them simultaneously via Quicktime. It handeled it very well as if there was only one Movie. I even tried adding iTunes application to the work load and boy did she boogie. I would have to say, this is the fastest laptop on the market. If its anything like my old laptop (PowerBook G4 17" 1.67GHz) which was reasonably fast (even though I did occupy the whole of 100GB Hard Drive and still gave lots of performance, I will honestly tell Windows users to make the switch with the new 13" Latops by Apple to experience Apple's user friendly interface. Don't believe the bad rumors your've heard. In the end, its your loss, not mine, although I would prefer if you don't buy them anyway because I don't want viruses to start targeting our Operating System, not that they would have any effect whatsoever.

Pros Has everything you want

Cons No internal media card reader

Summary Okay cnet I understand that the macbook pro 17" does not have a media card reader but you can buy a usb powered one for about $20. This computer is not more expensive than others considering all of the extras it comes with (iSight, iLife, Bluetooth, Microphone, and the only computer able to run TWO operating systems without a computer degree). And tech support? Macs are made so well that if used correctly, you should never have any big problems. And as far as other connections, it has a Firewire 400 and 800, DVI, and multiple USBs. You dont need anymore unless you are hooking it up to a media center and if you are, a laptop is not a smart option. CNET should give this laptop at least a 8.5. THIS IS THE BEST LAPTOP ON THE MARKET.

Pros Beautiful, bright screen, fast gfx processor.

Cons Arrow keys not full size, wish you could get other color than silver

Summary I made the switch, finally. I used to be a diehard PC fan, my previous notebook was a Dell XPS2. This machine is almost perfect. Way thinner than my XPS2 and lighter. Keys feel good, they glow in the dark which is a plus. Screen is way brighter than the old Powerbooks. My favorite feature is Bootcamp, I can run all my games I boought for my XPS and also run OSX. The rebooting can be a pain, hopefully Apple comes out with a way to run XP within OSX at native speeds.
My only complaints with the system are the tiny arrow keys, Apple wants the keyboard to look like a solid rectangle, but they make the arrow keys like chiclets. I use my external KB for gaming because of this.
2nd complaint is that it only comes in silver. I wish it would come in black like the new macbooks.