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Sat, Nov 21, 2009 - 03:43 PM EST  —  AAPL: 199.92 (-0.59, -0.29%)  |  NASDAQ: 2146.04 (-10.78, -0.5%)

PC Magazine hands-on with Apple’s new 17-inch MacBook Pro
Wednesday, January 07, 2009 - 03:33 PM EST

Apple StoreApple yesterday introduced "the MacBook Pro 17-inch (Aluminum) with the same unibody construction as the 15-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air," Joel Santo Domingo reports for PC Magazine.

"The MacBook Pro 17-inch (Aluminum) is obviously a bit bigger than the 15-inch model, but given that the chassis proportions are so similar, you'd never realize that from a distance, unless they were sitting next to each other. The giveaway when you get up close is that the speaker grilles next to the keyboard are just a bit wider. Looking at the bottom of the 17-inch, I get a sense of design déjà-vu. It's a seamless case, like that of the MacBook Air, iPhone, and iPods. The 8-hour (95Whr), 1,000-charge cycle battery is sealed in the case," Santo Domingo reports. "I was told by an Apple rep that, as with the iPod and iPhone, the battery will be an Apple Service item."

"HD video looks great on the screen, and can be displayed at the full 1,920 by 1,080 resolution," Santo Domingo reports. "All in all, it's a good update to the MacBook Pro line, and an 'about time' refresh for the 17-inch MacBook users out there who were waiting for a graphics and chassis update. We're looking forward to getting one in to PC Labs for a full tear-down test (look for that soon)."

MacDailyNews Take: So that he can complain about the lack of a built-in card reader, as usual (see related articles below). Forget about pucks, PC Magazine doesn't even have a pair of skates.

Full article here.

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Jan 07, 09 - 03:52 pm Comment from: Alec

You can put a card reader in the express card slot. Of course, I got an eye-fi card instead so my photos automatically load wirelessly to my Mac as I'm taking them. But the express card slot is great if you are into nostalgia and antiques.

Jan 07, 09 - 04:02 pm Comment from: Demon

The Empty space is used by the battery. You what gizmos and ports that most people will never and don't get used or do you battery life?
We can't swap out the battery. You want extra weight? Wasted space or do you want superior battery life? Only about 1% to 2% of people buy and carrie around an extra battery any way. And by needing to buy the battery for Apple and have Install it fewer batteries will end up in landfills and more of them will be recycled.
Removable batteries most of the dead ones end up in a landfill. Laptop Batteries makers should adopt the led acid Car Battery makers model, were by when you buy a Battery you pay a refundable core charge that you get back when you turn in the old dead battery. A standardized Laptop battery core charge of $25.00 to $35.00 would keep them out of landfills. Why so high easy tossing a laptop battery is easy and because it's easy it should cost a lot more, because if it were less say $5 or $10 like the led acid batteries for a car, few would get recycled.

Jan 07, 09 - 04:21 pm Comment from: Viktor

most of the people missing "card readers" are people stuck with PC, they are like those missing the "BluRay" player on macs. Mac users does not need card readers or bluray players, they are going to get obsolete before they get popular.

Jan 07, 09 - 04:31 pm Comment from: montex

I doubt Blu-ray will be obsolete anytime soon. Case in point - the music CD. They've been around since the early '80s and (guess what?) they're still here. Go to a record store and tell me if you happen to see any CD's there. If you do, remind them that the technology is over 25 years old and demand they remove them at once. See what they say about that.

Jan 07, 09 - 04:34 pm Comment from: Alec

Montex

Go to Best Buy and tell me how many Blue Rays you see there. Not very many compared to the regular DVD which is the bulk of the store. I bet Blue Ray dies before the DVD does.

Jan 07, 09 - 04:48 pm Comment from: thethirdshoe

I think it's something that they "crammed" the 1920 by 1200 resolution into a 17 inch screen. When the resolution independance is implemented, it will look amazing.

The other displays are due for updates. What if they crammed the resolution of the 30 inch into the 24 display?
What does anyone think the resolution of a 30 inch monitor could go to?

Jan 07, 09 - 05:50 pm Comment from: J

Let's hope the batteries don't go defective and catch fire.

Jan 07, 09 - 06:33 pm Comment from: kenzo

I love it when people that don't have blu-ray players diss blu-ray players. A blu-ray movie on a 46+ inch 1080p screen is better than going to the theater. I now refuse to watch anything else (not really, but I'm trying to make a point). Until i have unlimited download capacity and a 100mbit internet connection my primary way of watching movies will be blu-ray (my secondary solution is netflix "wannabe hd" streaming via the xbox).

Jan 07, 09 - 08:53 pm Comment from: HazMatt

kenzo says:
"I now refuse to watch anything else (not really, but I'm trying to make a point)."

LOL

Jan 07, 09 - 11:27 pm Comment from: Gary

I use Apple TV for movies. It's great.

Jan 08, 09 - 01:15 am Comment from: auramac

PC Magazine doesn't even have paper anymore!

I bought a cheap USB card reader a while ago, still haven't used it.

Jan 08, 09 - 08:38 am Comment from: ron

@ j, "Let's hope the batteries don't go defective and catch fire."

That goes for your pants too j.

Jan 08, 09 - 11:27 am Comment from: disposableidentity

@ montex,

Regarding CDs. They're still there, and they're obsolete.
The last time I touched a CD was the last disc I ripped to my iTunes library 5 years ago.

I feel the same about card readers. I don't want a sleek, modern notebook with 4 obsolete slots on the side (one of which I could potentially use with my particular camera, but wouldn't since I copy straight from the camera).

Doesn't everyone just dump their images from the camera directly to their hard drive?

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