MacBook Pro is a "promising start"

Technology guru Walter Mossberg has posted his review of the the recently released MacBook Pro, comparing it to a late-model PowerBook and a roughly similar Windows laptop, the new H-P Pavilion dv5000t. Writing for The Wall Street Journal, Mossberg says that "the MacBook Pro is better (subscription required) than the PowerBook and better than the H-P, though it has some drawbacks. It is faster than previous Apple laptops, but the speedup isn't as great as Apple's claims suggest. At a starting price of $1,999, the same as the PowerBook it replaces, the MacBook Pro costs more than the H-P. But in my opinion, the price premium is more than justified by its superior design and features." The article notes a battery of life just shy of three hours, but says the new screen is a bit bigger and a lot brighter than the previous PowerBooks; however, Mossberg says the cheaper HP alternative--with a few more features for $230 less--is not quite worth it, giving the edge to the MacBook Pro because of software, built-in software, better video card, portability, and more.

Filed under: Apple