OK, but not a buy

I stepped by the local Apple Store yesterday to play with the 13.3″ $1200 new aluminum MacBook Pro.

Here are my reactions:

Positives:

• Rolls Royce look and feel
• Super sharp, bright screen – excellent for photo processing
• Easily user upgradeable for more RAM and bigger HDD without voiding the warranty
• Price – great value at $1200
• Excellent Nvidia 9400 graphics card
• Backlit keyboard
• Fast CPU

Negatives:

• Glossy screen with no matte option
• Black keys – not my thing
• I suspect the aluminum case will dent whereas a plastic case will bend and spring back
• Store employees were unclear whether it will drive the 30″ Cinema Display (the 15″ and 17″ models will but they have an enhanced 9400/9600 card – I checked the system profile on all three models). Subsequent checking on the Apple site confirms that the 13.3″ model will drive the 30″ Cinema Display (though there may be issues with other makers’ dual DVI monitors) at full 2520 x 1600 definition
• Still too heavy – my netbook (no DVD drive) is 2 lbs lighter at 4.8lbs, but you have to hack it to run OS X

I will wait for the ($700?) Tablet which should be out by 2010, presumably with a touchscreen like the iPhone but with a much faster CPU than used in that device. However, if your current Mac is dying or you have finally decided that your time is worth more than the time sink that is Windows, this would be a great starter machine with the ability to drive very large displays.

…. and it’s still the only Superbowl ad anyone remembers.

To this day, this inspired piece of anti-Big Brother propaganda convinces consumers that their PC maker of choice is a struggling start-up fighting the forces of evil, when in reality the company has $28bn in cash, 50% operating margins, a $100bn market capitalization and a presence in just about every country and seemingly on every Main Street on earth. Heck, IBM is smaller than the eponymous fruit company now.

You can fool all of the people all of the time and, no, I will emphatically not be watching the Superbowl with its hopped up, hyper-thyroid, cortisone injected ‘athletes’ any more this year than I did 25 years ago. I will, however, be watching the ads, as usual, to see how consumer trends can benefit investing strategy.