Apple MacBook

Apple MacBook Pro MB166LL/A 17″ Laptop (2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor,2 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD SuperDrive)
- 2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6 MB on-chip shared L2 cache, Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard
- 2 GB RAM (two SO-DIMM) 677 MHz DDR2 SD-RAM (PC2-5300), 250 GB 5400 rpm Serial ATA hard drive, slot load 8x Super Drive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
- One FireWire 400, one FireWire 800, three USB 2.0 ports, and ExpressCard/34 slo
- Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit); built-in 54 Mbps AirPort Extreme (802.11n); built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
- 17-inch (diagonal), 1680 by 1050 resolution, matte TFT widescreen display with NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 512 MB of GDDR3 SDRAM and dual-link DVI
Apple Innovations
The MacBook Pro is the culmination of years of refining hardware and software design to an integrated art, and Apple’s Multi-Touch technology is just the latest innovation to be added to it. The advanced trackpad now allows you to flip through photos, enlarge text, and adjust an image using just your fingers. It also comes with a MagSafe power adapter connector, which offers a magnetic connection instead of a physical one. So, if you happen to trip over a power cord, you won’t send MacBook Pro flying off a table or desk–the cord simply disconnects, without damage to either the cord or the system.
The magnetically connected MagSafe power adapter breaks cleanly away, without damage to either the cord or the MacBook Pro. |
The MacBook Pro has battery life that rivals most notebooks in its class. If you’d like to make that battery last even longer, Mac OS X has a few tricks up its sleeve. Go to System Preferences, click Energy Saver, and change battery optimization from Normal to Better Battery Life. Or tell MacBook Pro to reduce its screen brightness and give yourself a little more time untethered.
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
Experience improved energy efficiency, expanded wireless connectivity, and amazing battery life with the 45nm Penryn series Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 processor, which has a 2.50 GHz processor speed, super-fast 800 MHz front-side bus (FSB), and a super-sized 6 MB L2 cache. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system’s performance. The FSB carries data between the CPU and RAM, and a faster front-side bus will deliver better overall performance.)
The new hafnium-infused circuitry–which reduces electrical current leakage in transistors–conserves even more energy, giving you more time away from the wall outlet. With a whopping 6 MB of shared L2 cache, data and instructions can be kept close to the two processor cores, greatly increasing performance and allowing the entire system to work more efficiently. And, because the processor cores share the L2 cache, either can use the entire amount if the other happens to be idle.
Your hands have room to spread out on the full-size keyboard with crisp, responsive keys. |
Hard Drive and Memory
The 250 GB Serial-ATA (SATA) hard drive (5400 RPM) quickens the pace with a higher speed transfer of data–akin to FireWire and USB 2.0. The 2 GB of PC5300 DDR2 RAM (two SO-DIMMs of 1024 MB) have an industry-leading 667 MHz speed, and the RAM capacity can be increased to 4 GB.
Wireless Connectivity
The built-in 802.11n wireless networking provides up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g, but it’s also backward-compatible with 802.11a/b/g routers, enabling you to communicate with the a wide variety of Wi-Fi resources. It works seamlessly with the new AirPort Extreme with 802.11n. Use the built-in Bluetooth wireless technology to connect to your PDA or cell phone, synchronize addresses, or download pictures from your cell phone. You can also use a wireless headset for iChat audio chats and VoIP calls as well as quickly share files with a colleague.
Display and Graphics
The 17-inch widescreen TFT display offers a native resolution of 1680 x 1050 pixels and an antiglare widescreen display that’s perfect for color-minded professionals. It’s also better for the environment, thanks to its new mercury-free display.
Video and graphics are powered by the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT card, which is boosted by 512 MB of GDDR3 SDRAM. GDDR3 (Graphics Double Data Rate, version 3) is a graphics card-specific memory technology that’s better able to deliver fluid frame rates for even the most advanced games and applications. The GeForce 8600M GT brings a new level of realism to the MacBook Pro with its 16-lane PCI Express architecture, 16x full screen anti-aliasing, 128-bit High Dynamic Range rendering, and a texture fill rate of up to 8.2 billion per second.
- Three USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 400, one FireWire 800, ExpressCard/34 slot
- DVI output port; VGA output using included DVI to VGA adapter
- 8x slot-loading SuperDrive with the following write speeds: 8x DVD±R; 4x DVD±R DL (double layer); 4x DVD±RW; 24x CD-R; 10x CD-RW
- Backlit keyboard with ambient light sensors for automatic adjustment of keyboard illumination and screen brightness
- Internal omnidirectional microphone and built-in speakers
- Combined optical digital output/headphone out (minijack)
- Combined optical digital input/audio line in (minijack)
- 68-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery providing up to 6 hours of battery life
- Kensington cable lock slot
- Measures 15.4 x 10.4 x 1 inches (WxDxH) and weighs 6.8 pounds (including battery)
Connect to your network, a desktop monitor and all your peripherals with three USB 2.0, one FireWire 400, one FireWire 800, one DVI video output, and one Gigabit Ethernet. |
Preloaded with Leopard, you’ll enjoy enhanced productivity and a clutter-free desktop (thanks to the redesigned 3-D Dock with Stacks). |
Preloaded with Leopard and iLife ‘08
The biggest Mac OS X upgrade ever, the Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard operating system features over 300 new features, including:
- Time Machine, an effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac
- A redesigned Finder that lets users quickly browse and share files between multiple Macs
- Quick Look, a new way to instantly see files without opening an application
- Spaces, an intuitive new feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them
- A brand new desktop with Stacks, a new way to easily access files from the Dock
- Major enhancements to Mail and iChat
Categories: Computers
August 18th, 2008
