Now is probably the best time to get your own Mac laptop

Oct 16, 2008 12:46 GMT  ·  By

There are several reasons why Apple fans are encouraged now, more than ever, to buy a MacBook. One of them is graphics. NVIDIA's new 9400M brings huge advantages to gamers, artists and regular consumers alike. But this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as the benefits go.

Another home run hit by Apple's new notebooks is, of course, design. The devices are by far the best looking on the market. Even other products in Apple's lineup can't hold a candle to the new laptops. Upon introducing the designs, Apple itself revealed that it started from scratch with its best selling Mac (the MacBook), using a solid brick of aluminum to carve out the shell for the device.

And if you're the environmental type, you have one more reason to go for Apple's latest Macs. Strongly connected to the aluminum brick method are Apple's ongoing efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, from smaller packaging to Arsenic-free glass and Mercury free displays. Implicitly, the customer's carbon footprint is diminished, as the notebooks themselves use up little power and are highly recyclable.

But what is a good looking laptop without some great software to make it useful. Just as important is the software shipping with these babies. Not many people know this (otherwise, they'd all be choosing the Mac), but Apple's MacBooks ship with a huge library of software, compared to other manufacturers, who just slap Windows in there (glitchy-ol' Vista, too) and tell you you're good to go. Apple, on the other hand, offers the iLife suite, dozens of useful apps, like the Time Machine backup utility, and even a solution to get Windows up and running on them (Boot Camp). So, that's another reason for ya'.

Review image

Apple's just-upgraded MacBook lineup Credits: Apple

How about the pure pleasure of using the dang thing? With a Multi-Touch glass trackpad, a glossy LED-backlit display, a full-size keyboard, while the whole device just feels great in your hand, how could you resist?

Then, there's that eons-old belief that Apple doesn't offer too much upgradability. Well, who needs upgrading when you get the coolest-looking MacBook packing one LED display, two gigs of DDR3 memory, a 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo processor and NVIDIA's latest integrated solution? And who, by the time these specs become totally obsolete, doesn't just go for the next best thing? And, just for the record, they are upgradable enough so the users don't break them.

Who here has more benefits to share regarding Apple's new notebook line?