Pros: Really nice 2.2Ghz Core i7 Processor
I got the high end 15" model with the Radeon HD 6750M and 1 GB of GDDR5
8GB of 1333Mhz DDR3 Memory
750 GB HDD - while its a slower hard drive (at 5400 RPM) space is a must for me
I got the high res glossy display
Cons: While I have no real complaints to make about this mac, I will say that the price is a lot to pay. I also feel like thier AppleCare should come standard with each and every mac. (not for an extra $250 After the education discount).
Summary: This Macbook Pro is a great machine, and is my first macboook, but my third mac. I really really love it. One thing that really sold me was Time Machine. Time machine comes standard on any mac, and all you have to do is plug in an external hard drive and click "Use drive with Time Machine" Once you do that, the mac will do an initial backup, completely hassle free. After this, If you make any changes to the system, the files you changed are backed up, along with any older versions. Time Machine has its own interface that lets you view your computer as it was on a certain date so if you need a particular verison of a file, or if you want to work with an older copy, it lets you do so quite effectively. The best part is that you can back things up at your own liesure. If you're working on something extremely important, you can leave your drive plugged in, and the mac performs backups on a 1 hour interval. At the same time, you can remove the drive and plug it in later and it will do the backup of that moment. One last thing to note is that you can set up time machine for multiple drives, letting you maintain onsite and offsite backups with ease.
Another thing about the Mac OS is its significantly easy to use management of everything. almost anything is 1-2 clicks away. Even files buried in the deepest folders ever can be accessed through spotlight. The dock makes launching applications easier, and always stays there, so you can launch applications without ever having to leave what you were doing. This simplifies workflow.
On the hardware side, I cannot wait to see where Thunderbolt will go. Intel announced that the fiber optic version of thunderbolt would run on the current macs because the laser emitters will soon be included in the cables. This ensures that I will not have to worry about issues down the line when Thunderbolt goes totally Optical.
What I do on my Mac:
I edit HD video. Lots of it.
I play some casual games in windows through bootcamp
I have many many apps running at once, including CS4, Photoshop, and Final Cut.
I do a little graphics design, some CAD as a hobby... etc.
Web browsing and working with documents, spreadsheets and keynote presentations.
I also store all my photos on this mac - iPhoto is great for organizing those, and is a very flexible program.
Finally, I highly recommend this notebook to anyone who considers themselves a power user. If you're on the fence about switching to the mac, now is a great time to dive right in. It took me about a week to get totally used to the Mac OS (not very long, to be honest).
Once you go mac, you never go back :)
