TWiT Picks
Apple MacBook Pro 15.4-Inch Laptop
Leo's personal laptop of choice.
Apple has moved even more up market with this product on many levels. There are two big changes that took place with the transition to the most current generation of Macbooks. First, they added powerful NVIDIA GPU graphics chips, and second, they switched to their totally awesome, though misnomertastic, "unibody" construction process.
Lets start off with GPUs. One of the most prevalent trends in the high power computing industry today, is the transition towards parallel processing in every application. GPUs have been opened up now with technologies like CUDA, and are being used to fold DNA, render pictures, and do number crunching applications like breaking encryption exponentially faster than was possible with CPUs. Apple has become heavily invested in this parallel computing concept, with their support of the new OpenCL technology that will be included in Snow Leopard. Very soon, when you have a system such as this current generation of Macbook Pro laptops, you will be able to use simple software updates to unleash a huge new world of power.
More important for the less silicon obsessed Apple fans, is the new "unibody" construction. I put this in quotes, because in this is a term that was stolen from the automotive industry, and by the definition that has always been used, every metal Macbook Pro has been a unibody computer since day one. The only difference with the new generation of Macbook Pro laptops is that they use milled, rather than stamped, aluminum pieces. This means that the metal they can use can be less maleable and flexible, and while it costs more to produce the laptops, they are a far more solid product when finished.
... and trust me, they are VERY solid. There is no computer on the market that has as solid of a "feel" to it. This computer feels like a solid piece of aluminum with no hollow space in side of it at all. This is fantastic because it means that your expensive tool, feels just like an expensive tool, rather than a toy.
The 15.4 inch Macbook Pro has a number of nice features to it. First off, unlike the 13" Macbook, it comes with a screen big enough to edit videos and pictures, and a Firewire port to connect to your capture devices. On the other hand, unlike the 17" Macbook pro, this computer is not so big that you would not want to carry it with you, and has a removable battery, so you can actually use it on the road!
If you are an Apple user, please go ahead and take a look at this computer, pick out your specs, and enjoy!
