Find out what you can get in your next macbook and watch the unboxing as I share the tech specs on the 13″ Macbook pro and my decision to buy one.

Unboxing Video of Macbook Pro

Here’s the video I did and I can barely control my excitement as I unbox the laptop I’ve been drooling over the entire summer!

Here are the specs on the 13″ Macbook Pro

Size and weight

• Height: 0.95 inch
• Width: 12.78 inches
• Depth: 8.94 inches
• Weight: 4.5 pounds

Connections and expansion

• MagSafe power port
• Gigabit Ethernet port
• One FireWire 800 port (up to 800 Mbps)
• Mini DisplayPort
• Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps)
• SD card slot
• Audio in/out

More Tech Specs

• You get Wireless, Bluetooth and 100/1000 ethernet
• Same NVIDIA GeForce 9400M video card in the base models in 15″ and 17″
• All Macbook Pro’s come with the built-in iSight camera
• 8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
• You get iLife which includes iMovie, iPhoto, Garageband, iDVD and iWeb
• Plus the latest version of the Mac OSX, Snow Leopard (10.6)

13″ Macbook Pro Models and Cost

I went with the base model which has a 2.26GHZ Dual Core processor, 160GB hard drive, 2GB of DDR3 Ram.  This has a price of $1199.  To get the 2.53GHZ Dual Core processors with a 250GB drive and 4GB of memory would be $1499.

I got the base model for $999 by going through Apple’s refurbished store.

Which Macbook to Buy?

I asked people on Twitter, via Skype and email their thoughts on if I should get a 13″ without Firewire or wait it out.  I wanted a small laptop ever since I went to NYC for 2 weeks in 2004 and had to leave my laptop because bringing it along with me to the city would have given me a backache.  At the time, I had a Dell laptop that weighed about 7lbs.  The 13″ Macbook was 4.5lbs.  I’m glad I didn’t get on in the spring because in June Apple released a 13″ Macbook Pro! Oh how I began to drool and plan how to make this little Macbook mine…more on that in a later post.

Macs Are For Video Editing

I first thought about getting a Mac this year when I began to experience frustration editing video on a PC.  When I started doing live streaming at AskAdria.com, I didn’t think past connecting with my audience and figured it would be easy to pick up video editing.  Wrong!  I struggled with file types like .flv, .mov and .avi as well as video dimensions, FPS (Frames Per Second), lighting, editing software, HD widescreen and adding things like title clips.  I started using Sony Vegas.

Chuck of The Uptake helped me create a video contest entry for my coop, “Keeping It Fresh, Keeping It Real” where the 1st prize was a Macbook.  I didn’t win but it really got me thinking that I needed a Macbook.

When I was in Chicago for one of the blogging conferences, I stopped in at the Apple store to ask about the different Macbooks, the video editing software and if I really needed a “Pro” to do the type of video editing I wanted to do.  The staff person was super nice and took the time to show me how to add a title clip in iMovie, drag in video, merge clips and preview.  I thought, “Wow!  That seems really easy!”

Later, I was at a BBQ for The Uptake and heard the same message about Final Cut Express and iMovie from folks who did video editing often.

Summary

I am in love with this little notebook.  I think it’s sturdy, easy to work on, compact, user friendly and a great value for someone who needs a reliable mobile computer to work on.  Since I enjoy learning, I signed up for the Apple One-To-One training where I can attend live events at the Apple store for one year and learn about how to work on a Mac.  Some technical folks feel they’re too proud to be taught but I subscribe to the school of thought (haha) that in order to teach, you must be teachable.