I've owned a white polycarb MacBook for just over a year, and recently bought one of these new ones. As such, this review largely covers improvements and differences between these two models. I understand that the older gen MacBooks are still available both new and secondhand, and as such many might be interested in knowing how they differ.
Sheer performance wise, this machine is on par with my older MacBook. This is significant when you consider that I upgraded that one to the same amount of RAM (2 GB) and that it had a more powerful processor (2.2 ghz, as opposed to 2.0). For sheer crunching power, it's a very fast machine- made more so by the innate superiority of the Mac OS. Startup time is measured in seconds, and it is good to go in a heartbeat from sleep mode.
The case design looks nicer, is less prone to scratching and discoloration, and is thinner and feels more solid. The whole package is lighter, and the screen seems to be improved as well (brighter in general, and sharper). Some customers have reported a lot of glare on the glossy display, but I haven't really noticed (admittedly, I'm known to not notice when my windshield is dirty either, though). The keyboard has a different feel to it than the previous one- less plastic and more rubbery. It makes less noise, but the general size, feel, and response is similar. I like it. The trackpad is now a 'glass' one piece pad, with no visible button. You push the bottom part to click, and can perform most iPhone-style multitouch input. It is a huge improvement over the old touchpad- far more responsive, especially when your fingers aren't perfectly dry. The surface feels much smoother as well, and it's easier to clean. One important thing to note: this 'low end' MacBook does not have the backlit keyboard. That's only in the high-end model. Personally, I don't really care- backlit KBs are more for show than function in my opinion, and it uses more battery power.
I am a gamer, and as such I was particularly interested in the improved graphics suite on the new MacBook. My older one used an Intel integrated X3100 GPU. It was fine for things that were 2 or more years old, but let's just say you probably don't want to try playing Call of Duty 4 on it. I loaded up WoW on it and got from 10-20 FPS in most areas on the lowest settings. Not too hot. Right off, I can say that the new MacBook has greatly improved graphics performance (in the case of WoW, at least 20 FPS on medium settings). While it might be a stretch to say it has 5 times better performance (as noted in the spec sheet) the nVidia GF 9400M is certainly at least double the power of the old Intel integrated. I wouldn't recommend you replace your gaming rig with a vanilla MacBook- for that, you probably want a Pro at least- but it'll do in a pinch.
The MacBook has a built-in camera and mic, and hidden speakers. All of them perform very well- I've used the camera and mic for videoconferencing, and they turn out as good a picture and quality as you'd expect out of any laptop. The speakers are good enough for movie playback; no complaints in that regard. As with the previous Macs, iLife suite and quite a few other tools are included, making the machine a true multimedia station right out of the box. The software is very intuitive and well designed.
Input ports are perhaps the only concern for the MacBook. There's a headphone, mic jack, ethernet, mini-DVI, and 2 USB ports. Unlike the previous MacBook and the Pro, there's no FireWire port. There aren't any good solutions for adapting FireWire to fit a USB or ethernet port, so if you have older devices that can't use USB you might be out of luck. While the DVI port is nice and small, you need to buy adapter heads to use it with anything. The SuperDrive is as good as ever, and seems to make less noise loading and ejecting than previous incarnations. Apple Remote is an option that you have to pay extra for now; it was free with my old machine. I liked it, but don't really miss it. The MagSafe power adapter looks completely identical to my old one, even down to the somewhat mismatched polycarbonate white casing.
Generally speaking, the new MacBook runs quiet and warm- rarely hot, and never along the entire case as the old one sometimes did. I frequently had the fan rev up to really high speed on my older machine, especially when viewing movies- this one handles it without so much as a whisper.
In terms of modifiability, replacing or changing RAM is very similar to the old MacBook. Replacing the hard drive is even easier- it's literally right there by the battery when you open the battery cover, and you can pull it right out. Apple used to purposely make it really hard to upgrade or swap components; I'm glad they've decided to steer away from that rather frustrating doctrine.
About the only major minus I've seen when comparing machines is battery life. The older MacBook definitely lasted longer and took less time to charge. I'm pretty sure this has something to do with the new graphics processor and perhaps some sort of logic board modifications (the older one was notorious for randomly failing). It is probably also why it tends to run cooler when plugged into AC power, which I think is a worthwhile tradeoff for slightly longer charge times.
Warranty-wise, Apple is very solid for repairs under coverage. I had a logic board failure in my old machine, and had it replaced and ready for pickup within the same day at the local Apple store. Macs come with 1 year full coverage, extendable to 3 years. I recommend you purchase that warranty, and additionally- if you bought from a third party vendor like Amazon- make sure that they have your actual purchase date in their records. They often go from the sale date to the VENDOR, not to you, and that isn't really right or fair. Call AppleCare and they'll be glad to fix it for you.
If you own an older MacBook, the question of upgrading is a bit tricky. I gave my white MacBook to a friend that needed a computer, so this was a replacement. If you're just shopping for upgrades, bear in mind that aside from style and video performance the new MacBook is not a great deal better than the old one. That said, the old one was pretty darn good as is, and if you're thinking of buying this as your first Mac or first Apple laptop, it comes with my highest recommendations. Frankly, there is no good reason not to choose a Mac over a Windows laptop, unless you simply can't afford one. Don't believe it? Go visit a local Apple store and see for yourself. You will be convinced.Get more detail about Apple MacBook MB466LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop.
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