So I have had this bad boy for about two weeks. When they first announced it would have the glossy screen I balked. I just don't love the glossy, actually I hated it. Probably something to do with my advertising/design past. I've gotten used to the glossy screen and it really hasn't been an issue.

I think I was most excited about the trackpad. With its glass surface and smooth gesturing I was in love. Unfortunately it has been the most frustrating and disappointing part of this computer This trackpad has the clicker built in. I thought that would be nice and convenient. It would be if it worked. I believe the problems lie within the software that allows you to have all these different trackpad gestures that do different things. I think it is getting confused by my fingers and thinks my thumb that is trying to click is actually another finger trying to do some sort of fancy gesture. The end result is I click and click and click with no response. To top it off the clicker is L O U D. So loud that I am trying to use the touch click option which can suck as well as it can be really sensitive and click on things when I'm trying to just maneuver my cursor. I think the unresponsive clicker is probably something they can fix in a software update. The really loud clicker is unfortunately going to be a hardware issue. I will have to wait and see if they address this.

I love the keyboard. I know it's black and that seemed to upset quite a few Mac peeps on these boards. I love the feel of it, and after 5 years of having PowerBooks and MacBook Pro's that have all looked nearly identical I am happy to have something that screams "I'm New!!". I know this may seem silly but it gets old having your computer always look the same.

The new unibody construction makes this thing seem rock solid. The hinges that they used on the display have a lot more play. This means if you use your machine at any funky angles your screen might try and close on you. I don't, but my husband does so the hinges on his are driving him crazy. I do like that they dropped the closing latch and went with the MacBook closure.

Firewire 400 was dropped on this computer and the MacBooks (actually Firewire was dropped completely on the MacBooks). This kind of sucks. I don't have a single FW800 peripheral. And at one point Apple even dropped the FW800 port on their laptops as no one was using it. So to make the decision to drop FW400 from the MBP line and drop FW altogether from the MB line is odd. I know I have seen FW400 to FW800 cables. I guess I will need to invest in that as my external drives are all FW400. I was worried that this would be an issue as I often need to FireWire Target Disk Mode computers to my computer, but most recent machines have FW800 so I haven't been put in a place where I'm dead in the water. I am concerned about the ease of use factor for some of you in your future upgrades. In case you don't know what FireWire Target Disk Mode is, it's the mode you put your computer in when doing a data transfer between your new and old Mac. They do give you the option to do it over a wired or wireless network but the transfer speeds are oh so slow. We tested it.

Overall I like this machine. I am very much looking forward to a solution with the trackpad and a less loud clicker. If other applications could support the gestures that this trackpad is capable of that would be nice. I would love to get all fancy in Photoshop. I think they are really onto something with the trackpad. I think I would like it if it got to be more like a built in Wacom tablet. While a touchscreen would be nice- my iPhone gets nasty with finger prints. I can wipe that on my pants. It would be much harder to do that with a laptop screen.

Should you run out and get one? If you have a computer that is over 3 years old, probably. Should you give it 3-4 months? I would. They should have the trackpad software issues sorted out by then and hopefully be shipping it with a quieter clicker. I really try and give you guys honest reviews- keep in mind I have to upgrade. It's my job. I figure out all the problems so my clients- and you guys don't have to.