Apple MacBook Pro 2009 (2.66GHz, 17-inch)

Apple MacBook Pro 2009 (2.66GHz, 17-inch) Review

If you've been a fan of Apple laptops for a while or owned an Apple Mac before, you may very well recall the announcement of the revamped 13 and 15-inch MacBooks back in October of '08. The noticeable absence though was the 17-inch version of the MacBook Pro.

A few months on in January 2009, Apple announced what would feature in the soon to be released Apple Macbook Pro 2009 (2.66GHz, 17-inch) laptop. These include a button-less trackpad, "unibody" aluminium chassis, and LED backlit display with edge-to-edge glass. This makes it ideal for eager Apple fans that want the improvements of the 2009 model in a desktop replacement design.

Starting at $2799 for the 17-inch version, the Apple MacBook Pro isn't the cheapest of laptop computers, but still remains a popular model for photographers and media professionals. The improved chassis, trackpad and integrated nVidia graphics chipset are certainly welcomed additions to this improved Mac Book Pro.

One thing that Apple laptops undoubtedly have is simple but high-quality designs. The 17-inch Macbook Pro is similar to the 13 and 15-inch models in that it is manufactured from a solid aluminium block in to a thin and light laptop that still has a strong chassis.

The glass trackpad is the same as what is found on smaller models, but does away with the separate mouse button, creating a much larger surface area. You'll find that the entire trackpad is clickable like a mouse button, but also works when tapped (like a PC laptop) when the option is turned on in the settings.

Following on with the trackpad, you'll find some very useful features. Slide four fingers up on the pad and all of your apps will hide away. Sliding four fingers left and right will scroll through the applications...very useful for easy switching and hiding of applications. If you find it useful to use the right click feature of a mouse, then the option to designate a corner of the touchpad to act as right click comes in useful too.

The widescreen 17-inch screen size is more than enough to work on photo editing and video production using the 1,920x1,200 display. The colors are vibrant and deep, but you may find that light rays catch the screen particularly well. Apple does have a matte-screen coating option as an added extra for $50 to help prevent the reflection.

We've always been a fan of the keyboards on the Apple laptop computers because they are flat-key and wide-spaced designs. The Pro and high-end 13-inch Macbooks come standard with backlit keys which we think is a really nice feature.

Whilst the MacBook Pro has the FireWire port that has won over many admirers, we think the option of a Blu-ray drive and CF or SD card slot wouldn't go amiss. It seems a shame to not make the most from the vibrant big-screen display with top of the line optical drives.

Apple sell a number of external dongles to provide you with any video output, as this laptop comes with a mini DisplayPort rather than mini-DVI or VGA port. For an extra $750 you do have an option of a 256GB solid-state hard-drive, though more in reach of most customers is the 7,200rpm 320GB hard-drive (extra $50) if the standard 320GB 5,400rpm is not to your liking.

The standard 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor performs very well on benchmark tests, but it is only slightly faster than the 2.6GHz CPU on the 15-inch model. A 2.93GHz chip is available as an upgrade, but will set you back $300 extra. Benchmark tests with similar CPUs measured on Windows-based laptops also perform very well, but for the fact that many applications like iTunes and Photoshop run quicker on the Mac OS X you may find better results when making comparisons with PC laptops.

In addition to the integrated nVidia GeForce 9400 GPU, which is also found in smaller Apple MacBook models, the MacBook Pro has a dedicated GeForce 9600M card. The two chips work in either high-performance or power saving mode. For longer battery life there is the option of using just the integrated 9400 chip, and for high performance the 9600 chip can be turned on, which despite the Apple Mac Pro not technically being a gaming laptop does provide good resolution graphics on some of the latest games. Although you don't need to reboot the system for the settings to take effect, you do have to logout and back in, which means closing applications.

The design of the Apple MacBook Pro, despite being great to look at, does have a few people complaining about the sealed battery compartment. This means it's not possible to replace batteries when on long journeys or out on business for long hours. However, the battery fitted into this laptop is capable of over 4 hours of use, which is often double what most other desktop replacement laptops can achieve.

Despite having so many good features to Apple notebooks, the 90 days of toll-free phone support is rather short. This means the Apple Care warranty option is almost a necessity, but one that will set you back $349. We love Apple laptops at LaptopSearcher.com though, and the Apple MacBook Pro 17-inch 2009 model is one model that performs great, looks great, and will be on our list of the best desktop replacement laptop computers.

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