May 26, 2006
For shame, Apple...
I finally got over to an Apple Store to check out the new MacBooks. First of all, yes, I am an Apple fanboy, blah, blah, worship Jobs, etc. While I wish they were a little smaller (see the discontinued 12-inch Powerbook), they still seemed very nice. I like the lack of an external clasp to hold the lid shut, as well as the slightly slimmer form factor.
What I didn't like very much was the black Macbook, and I'm not saying this because of the bloated price. They're matte black, not glossy like the white (or the iPods, for that matter). The store models were covered in finger prints, and I've heard that the track pad (black like the rest) gets easily marked up. Cyndi made the analogy to those stainless steel appliances: look pretty, not practical.
But what's worse is the marked up price. You can order a white model with the exact same specs (including the 80 GB hard drive) for $150 less than the black model. Is a different color plastic worth $150?
kwc at May 26, 2006 04:09 PM
Don't forget the extra $100 in black-matte-protection accessories :). They probably chose matte b/c the shiny plastic would collect fingerprints even more-so and would invite more scratch lawsuits.
I actually find the white MacBooks impractical as well. Most other laptop manufacturers will use magnesium or a more scratch-resistant plastic. With a white MacBooks you have to spend money on cutesy stickers to cover up all the scratches or use Brasso on it every couple of months.
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