I’ve had the new MBP, fully loaded, for 3 days and I’ve made a few observations.

Trackpad: The new trackpad is definitley a cool concept. New gestures, huge real estate and a slicker texture make gliding around almost as much fun as skating on a frozen pond. However, push clicks don’t register as effectivley as they did on the previous model trackpads, and the overall sound of the pad seems clunky, high-pitched and downright cheap by comparison.

The Screen: Back lit LED screen. The new screen is really, really sharp and vivid. I am a graphic designer, and let me tell you, the colours on this sucker pop like you wouldn’t beleive. Is it accurate? Probably not. I’ve been having a tough time calibrating it, but it does look spectacular. The gloss doesn’t seem to bother me too much either. I guess, if I had the choice I would probably ask for a Matte screen version, but… Apple doesn’t care. Quick shout out re: the Hinge issue that’s I’ve seen floating arround the Apple support site. Yes, when your’re lying in bed and have the MBP on your knee at a 45, the lid does close. The hinges aren’t bad by any means, theyre just… different.

The Keyboard: Back lit chicklet style. What can be said? If you like it you like it. If not… Apple doesn’t care. I think it’s pretty cool. The keys seems more spaced out to me but I could be seeing things. Other than that, I would go so far as to say that the plastic used on these keys by comparison to my previous MBP are of a much cheaper grade of plastic. Also, getting dust or hair under them is more of a nuissance than before.

Overall Design: Overall, the 4,1 MBP / Late 2008 unibody Macbook Pro, is really sexy looking. It may take some getting used to but I’m sure in time I will love it more than its predescessor.

I ran a few Xbench tests with noth system side by side. I will post the results when I get some time. I can confidently say that the new Macbook Pro beat its predescessor in every single benchmark. No question.

However, the 320Gb 7200 Hitachi in my new MBP lost horribly to the 320Gb Seagate I bought seperatley and installed myself. Hitachi vs Seagate. Seagate FTW.

I am noticing that the track pad is certainly not as responsive to push clicks as my previous MBP. However, I think this is largely to due the fact that the size of the “click-able” area is so enormous. It does seem that, overall, the new MBP is composed of cheaper grade aluminum and plastic components and does have a clunkier click sound than its predecessor.

In all honesty, I think I like my old (4,1) MBP better then the new (5,1) one. Only time will tell I guess.

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When I spoke to both Apple and Nvidia, they denied any knowledge of a faulty GPU and suggested that the problems being experienced by my colleagues and myself were simply coincidence. Today, October 10th, Apple quietly posted Article: TS2377 which states:

In July 2008, NVIDIA publicly acknowledged a higher than normal failure rate for some of their graphics processors due to a packaging defect. At that same time, NVIDIA assured Apple that Mac computers with these graphics processors were not affected. However, after an Apple-led investigation, Apple has determined that some MacBook Pro computers with the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processor may be affected. If the NVIDIA graphics processor in your MacBook Pro has failed, or fails within two years of the original date of purchase, a repair will be done free of charge, even if your MacBook Pro is out of warranty.

Wow! All of the speculation was bang on!? I better be getting a free upgrade on October 14th.

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Snyder has said that he believes that “each of us has within us non-conscious machinery which can do extraordinary art, extraordinary memory and extraordinary mathematical calculations… My theory is that there is a lot happening and maybe you could see it by shutting off that conscious part of the brain… Imagine if I could temporarily give you a child’s look at the world.”

The concept is fantastic, and if Snyder can successfully reproduce these effects he plans on using the device as a tool for enabling instant creativity.

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Could this be the next Macbook Pro? I see a glass touch pad! =)

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Straight up. I love my mac and I won’t ever look back. I even dumped my Blackberry for an iPhone which is totally badass. The first few weeks were a bit rough, with all the bugs and horrendous battery life, not to mention having to get used to a touch screen keyboard. In the end, however, I can type just as fast on my iPhone as I could on my blackberry curve and the things I can do with my iPhone (jailbroken, ofcourse) totally trump the blackberry.

Apple. Whatever you’re doing… it’s far from perfect. But it beats the hell out of Microsoft.

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My hat goes off to CTV though. They did a spectacular job transforming the Queen St. Studio into a 5 level club. Extravagant decorations, tented areas, decent service. All in all, it was very well done.

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Audio Quality

This refers to overall audio performance, both call quality and MP3 playback quality. As incredible as it may seem, the Blackberry BOLD has far superior audio quality than the iPhone 3G. In my opinion, this should certainly be the other way around, but it isn’t. The BOLD has the best audio quality I have every heard on a mobile device. It has superior low end, and sounds almost stereo. There is no noticable speaker, and the sound appears to emanate from the entire device. It’s actually pretty sweet.

Screen Resolution, Clarity, Function

I wil give RIM some serious props in this catergory. The screen on the BOLD is super high-res and looks beautiful. However, side by side, the iPhone 3G still dominates this category. How can you compete with a full screen that is completely interactive? You can’t. Although the BOLD screen does look very vivid, we have to keep in mind that is smaller than the iPhone, hence more pixels cramed into a smaller space = sharper image. iPhone 3G definitely wins this category though.

Web Browsing

No contest. The iPhone 3G dominates any PDA device to date. BOLD… good try, but not even close.

Email & Messaging

No MMS on the iPhone 3G. So What. With the myriad of social networks and other great online features, if you’re still using MMS you probably think fax machines are a necessity as well.

Email is an area that I use intensely throughout the day. IMO, both devices do a pretty solid job of handling emails and SMS. However, if you’re coming from a Blackberry it will take some getting used to. Here is a brief list of things that I’ve noticed about  both devices in this area.

1. Can’t search through emails or calendars on the iPhone. This should be a mandatory feature on any device this advanced. Then again, so should copy/paste. Wake up Apple!  Solution: when you need to search, have to use webmail.
2. No LED indicator on the outside of the iPhone. If you don’t feel the vibration or hear the ring, only way to see if you’ve received a message is to turn on the device and check.
3. Messages look 100 times better on an iPhone. No contest, blackberry is basically text, iPhone looks like an email client on your desktop.
4. SMS messaging. Both devices have their advantages. Even split here.
5. IMAP support, far superior on the iPhone 3G. The blackberry doesn’t sync properly with Gmail or Google Apps, your sent items, and drafts don’t get saved on the server. iPhone does a great job of keeping the folders in your mailbox in sync.
6. Push vs Fetch. No big deal. I find Fetch on the iPhone 3G just as effective as my Blackberry.

Overall Experience

I was probably one of the most adamant Blackberry advocates for quite a few years. I made the switch the the iPhone 3G for one reason really, RIM kept delaying the release of the BOLD and I wanted a 3G device. Do I regret my decision? To be honest, the first 2 weeks I was very disappointed with the iPhone 3G, so mych so that I went out and paid full pop for a BOLD the day they came out. I quickly rushed home, placed both devices side by side and started to realize that the BOLD, although a great imporvement for RIM can’t be compared the iPhone 3G and it’s potential. With the SDK released and people diving into mobile development the iPhone 3G is literally, a computer in your pocket. The BOLD, well, it’s a PDA. Another thing that really upset me is the fact that the BOLD seems to be very similar to the 8800 with regards to RIM’s urgency to start pushing out other devices immediatley after.

Similar to the 8800, it’s successors, the Curve and BOLD are much better devices. This is the same boat that the BOLD is in. Within several months, the Jevlain, Thunder and a few other Blackberry devices are going to pop up. Each with improved functionality and better form factors.

Conclusion

My advice. If you’ve been curious about the iPhone 3G, go out and get one. The BOLD is only the first generation of a new line of improved devices from RIM. Why drive the demo when you can wait for the production model to be released? The iPhone is new, exiting, innovative. Biggest draw back right now is the battery life. I have a charger at home, in the car, at the office and in my laptop bag. Does it bother me? Not, anymore, I just plug it in whenever I can and so far haven’t had the device die on me.

Those of you wondering about typing on the iPhone 3G touch screen. I type about 90 words per minute on my computer, and probably got pretty close on my blackberry. After 4 weeks of iPhone use, I think I’m pretty close. The technique is very different, but like all new things, you get used to it!

* Remember. If you really want to unlock the iPhone’s full potential, you can always Jailbreak it! Let me see you do that on a Blackberry.

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The iPhone 3G is blaring with issues, from spotty 3G coverage to horrendous battery life. Pegging this device as suitable for a business user is ridiculous. Aside from it’s evident hardware and software issues the iPhone 3G suffers some fatal flaws.

The inability to search emails or calendar entires is imperative for users that are regularly searching through hundreds of emails a week. It’s apparent disregard for key scheduling features such as meeting invitations via the calendar. Let’s not forget the fact that its ability to “push” email is a farce, unless you’re using Apple’s mobileme service, which has suffered it’s own number of issues since It’s launch. How many free days of service are we at now, 90?

Back to Rogers and their iPhone faux pas. Swithing from a Blackberry to an iPhone 3G wasn’t as difficult as I initially anticipated. The lack of a tactile keyboard is some that I have gotten used to quite easily. In fact, this entire post is being typed on my iPhone while sitting on the subway. Now, I know what you’re thinking. How can this guy be bashing the iPhone when it obviously seems useful? I’m not saying the iPhone 3G is a bad device, I’m simply saying it’s not a good one. Not when compared to a Blackberry, not when productivity or efficiency are important. If you’re looking for a device that gets the job done the iPhone 3G is not that device. If you want to look cool and don’t require abdevice that allows you to work from the road then it’s just fine.

I have determined a way to resolve the 3G problems with the iPhone 3G… Turn 3G off. That’s right! If you want the iPhone 3G to survive the day the first thing you must do is disable 3G all together. Great job Apple! Why did I buy a 3G phone if 3G doesn’t work? Someone, hopefully Rogers, please tell me.

Part II to follow shortly.

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