Shiny new Mac!

[krasnoludek]

I got my new MacBook Pro in the mail today! This was a total shock, since I was only supposed to get the free iPod Touch in the mail today. When I checked last night, the laptop was still on a flight from Shanghai, having been delayed since 1) FedEx took over a day (local time) to pick it up after Apple gave them the shipping info and 2) FedEx had

Comments

[once_a_banana]

Heh, this is why I thought you were excited about the 13" one, and I was surprised when you announced you had ordered the 15"! These are not small laptops

[krasnoludek]

yeah, I didn't realize it would be so heavy. Oh well.

I was surprised about the port layout too, since Christian's Mac didn't have this issue at all. It did seem like the older layout was much better to work with.

I've now had to deal with the trackpad a deal and even though it's far better than the previous trackpads, I'm still not crazy about it. I haven't taught myself the scrolling and zoom yet, but for dragging something to the trash, for example, it's really annoying because I can't do it in one motion.

[once_a_banana]

Yeah, I'll give you that -- that rapid and precise pinpoints of the pointer for things like clicking and dragging are a bit easier with a mouse for me too. I still use it for when I'm involved in "srs bizness" like editing a movie soundtrack, since there is a lot of precise clicking at places on a large screen (coupled with mostly key commands). The rest of the time I'm getting up and moving around a lot and also not pointing and clicking nearly as often (e.g. working on dissertation at cafes), while simultaneously having to scroll a whole lot, so there you go...

The other advantage is being able to shift-click and command-click with one hand. Though *not* being able to right-click at all, or even ctrl-click with one hand, is a bit annoying. I suppose I should try to get used to doing the trackpad's version of a right-click, which is to leave two fingers on it like you're scrolling and then click. Hmmm, it does seem to work pretty well. I wonder why I usually ctrl-click instead?

[krasnoludek]

the non-existence of right-click by default on Macs was one of the design issues that most irked me about them. I just set up my trackpad to have the lower left corner be the "right-click" area. I find that works well.

But yes, the trackpad is worst for precision clicks or for drag and drop across "large" distances.