APPLE MAC BOOK PRO REVIEW

More powerful than ever, but should Apple have gone smaller?Just in the same way celebrity deaths always seem to come in threes, it's much the same with Apple notebooks. You wait around for ages only for them all to arrive at once.There are two versions on offer, the 17-inch beast for those who like to bathe in the full glory of their screen content, and this, the smaller 15-inch model.The new body design isn't a great move away from what we've come to expect. However, it now has a body cut from a single piece of aluminium. Apple has been hugely criticised for its lack of attention to recycling but this new casing, as well as the glass used in the 15-inch screen, goes some way to addressing the problem.The super glossy LED screen is eye-squintingly bright at its highest setting, and delivers fantastic quality. The screen has an impressive 1440 x 900-pixel resolution, which is surely high enough for even the most professional of needs. The glass enclosure is hugely reflective, but no more than most standard Super-TFT screens.The big change on the performance front has to be the use of NVIDIA graphics. The choice of the GeForce 9400M is great for those looking to edit video as well as play games, as it's 40 per cent faster than the previous generation of chips used in the MacBook Pro. On the entry-level model it comes with 256MB of dedicated memory, so you'll really see things fly, whereas those with the cash to flash can opt for the more expensive model and get 512MB.We're not complaining about performance, this model manages to chug along at a fair old rate. The Intel 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor is backed by 2GB of RAM and there is even a 250GB hard drive fitted.A range of ports are lined along the left-hand side of the case and includes two USB ports and a Firewire 800 port. The latter is an especially useful touch, as it proves faster than current USB speeds when transferring files to and from external drives.An interesting touch is the addition of DisplayPort technology, something you won't see from other vendors for a while yet. It means you can do away with DVi, HDMI and other digital connections. If you need to connect with any of these, you'll need to fork out £20 on an adapter.The keyboard is pushed to the back of the unit, which leaves a huge hunk of space between you and the keys, so you'll be hunkered over the laptop to reach the keyboard. The keys are individually punched through the aluminium casing, which makes for a nice amount of space and also makes them firmer in their mounts. The keyboard is also fully backlit, and automatically adjusts brightness as ambient light gets brighter or darker. Die-hard Apple users may miss the old keyboard seen on previous MacBook Pro's, but we like the new choice.The touchpad also gets an overhaul and manages to hide the mouse button away as it's incorporated into the same piece of aluminium. At first it's a little tricky to get to grips with, but once you get the hang of it, it works well.Pinched from the MacBook Air are the finger gesture controls, including pinching two-fingers to zoom in and out of documents, four-fingers to gain instant access to all open windows, and rotating your fingers across the pad to spin images onscreen.The right-hand side of the chassis features the slot-loading optical drive and also a Kensington lock slot.Flaws? There are a few, the lack of Blu-ray in Apple notebooks is well documented and the placement of the mean two USB ports so close together quickly gets annoying.Does this all add up to an object of desire or is it just another run of the mill notebook? There is no denying it's a great piece of kit to look at and even touch. Performance is good but for the price tag it should be. The screen is gorgeous and while the keyboard and touchpad feel great there is some lag when typing. It does get quite warm to the touch quickly and we've not convinced that it needs to be as heavy as it is.We were convinced that Apple would launch an Eee PC wannabe, but what we got isn't bad. We guess Apple just doesnt want tp play with the smaller boys...