Apple MacBook MC516LL/A Review

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Apple MacBook MC516LL/A
1,500 $ at amazon.com
  • Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 (2.4 GHz)

  • NVIDIA GeForce GT 320M

  • 2 GB RAM Size

  • 250 GB HDD Capacity

2

Our summary of all reviews

  • Performance

    28 /100

    With this good level of performance, office work, multimedia programs, and multitasking run smoothly. This laptop also supports games such as “Half Life 2” and “World of Warcraft” adequately. Potential users will be quite capable of running all tasks efficiently for a minimum of 2 years.

    • 3DMark 06 1024 x 768

      4734 #

    • 3DMark Vantage

      1865 #

    • PCMark 05

      4921.5 #

    • PCMark Vantage

      4069.5 #

    • Cinebench xCPU 64Bit

      4703 #

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  • Design

    4.0/5

    The design delighted the majority of all reviewers and they predicted it to be at the taste of most users. The notebook’s appearance walks a fine line between function and form.

  • Build Quality

    4.7/5

    The extremely solid build quality provides for absolute protection of the inner components of this laptop. All the outer components -hinge, display panel, and chassis- are highly stable, with no gaps or cracking sounds ever experienced. This computer is ideal for people with very active lifestyles, requiring absolute endurance and solidity of their laptops.

    • Base Unit Flex

       : 

      4.7/5

      Active people with lifestyles requiring traveling, and who place a high value on perfection will be very satisfied with this laptop.

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  • Display

    4.0/5

    The monitor provides good potential for professional designers and photographers. Gaming and multimedia users will be satisfied with this display. Looking at the screen both indoors and outdoors is a generally enjoyable experience. Therefore, even demanding business users will be satisfied with this great display.

    • Display Resolution

      1280 x 800

      This resolution does not allow for much multitasking. Opening two windows next to one another is quite annoying as much scrolling is needed to view the content of both. The users might get lost between their windows, as a continuous expanding and minimizing is required. Viewing highly detailed pictures demands quite a lot of zooming, and only low resolution picture and video editing is possible. Gamers could be satisfied with this resolution as many graphic cards support the native resolution of this display and run very smoothly. The gaming will not however be experienced to its full potential, as viewing graphic details is limited. The majority of movies will be viewed with black bars at the top and the bottom of the display.

    • Color Reproduction

       : 

      3.5/5

      The color spectrum covered by the display is acceptable. Both color saturation and natural appearance of the pictures are good enough for viewing HD movies and gaming. Professional designers however will find that only a higher level of color reproduction will satisfy their needs.

    • Contrast

       : 

      4.0/5

      This computer features a good contrast between black and white. Dark letters are very easy to distinguish from the bright background, fulfilling the needs of office workers. Mobile users will be content, as this contrast improves outdoor readability. Shadows are well displayed bringing this screen to the liking of any Horror, Mystery or Action movie fan. This notebook will also conform to the needs of professional designers and gamers alike. Small displays will particularly benefit from this contrast.

    • Contrast Value

      791 :1

    • Brightness

       : 

      3.5/5

      The maximum brightness of this computer is adequate for viewing the screen comfortably, even under bright ambient light. However, the users must be cautious to only push the brightness to its maximum in bright conditions, eg. outdoors. Setting the brightness to a high level will drastically decrease the battery life. In addition, using the notebook at maximum brightness in a dark room will be tiring for the eyes.

    • Average Brightness

      227 cd/m²

    • Reflections

       : 

      3.0/5

      Viewing the display without major difficulties is achievable in almost all indoor lighting conditions. Office workers should be satisfied with this laptop. Reflections on the display will however cause discomfort when outdoors, unless the laptop is positioned in shaded spaces.

    • Viewing Angle

       : 

      2.5/5

      Looking at the screen from the side causes color distortions. Two people watching a movie have to sit close together for both of them to get a good picture. Even when you move in your chair color deviations will be noticeable. On the plus side, this display provides for some privacy in public spaces.

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  • Sound

    2.0/5

    The internal speakers of this laptop provided for a below average sound quality. Low sounds are still recognizable. Music can still listened to although the users should account for the necessity of external speakers when planning to watch a movie with a group. Musicians should not even stop to consider this laptop for their work, and gamers will be disappointed as the sound will be convincing. Even maximum volume will not make the sound experience enjoyable.

    • Maximum Volume

       : 

      3.0/5

      The peak volume of this laptop is acceptably loud. If relying only on the maximum sound output of the internal speakers of this laptop, watching movies with a group of friends should be manageable. It will be as well quite challenging to clearly distinguish sounds at peak volume if you are at the other end of the room.

    • Lows

       : 

      0.0/5

      This laptop has Zero bass. The sound has no dynamics and it will close to impossible to differentiate different sound levels. This laptop should be then ideal for users with hearing impairment, or those not needing sound to be integrated in their laptop usage.

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  • Keyboard

    4.3/5

    This keyboard has been rated by most reviewers as quite convincing. If your daily life relies heavily on typing, then this keyboard has been manufactured for you. Whether you are an academician, a journalist, or an office worker, you will find this keyboard providing for both comfort and speed. Gamers will be as well satisfied even after long hours of use.

    • Layout

       : 

      4.0/5

      The layout of this keyboard stands firmly within the ranges of conventionality. The positioning of the keys conforms with the standard layout, thus reducing the users adaptation time to their new keyboard.

    • Keyboard Size

       : 

      5.0/5

      This keyboard is characterized by large keys, thus dramatically reducing the frequency of typing mistakes. Typing is as well made very comfortable thanks to the deep palm resting area, which is as well handy when playing games, or for any activity requiring long hours of commitment. The whole keyboard is well proportionate with just the right spacing between the keys, providing for an ideal size for most users.

    • Key Responsiveness

       : 

      4.0/5

      This keyboard’s responsiveness provides for quite a satisfying typing experience. Not much pressure is needed for key feedback and key action feels smooth enough to allow the users to enjoy typing for extended periods of time. This keyboard is as well characterized by good key feedback, which allows for an above average typing speed. Most users should be pleased with this keyboard.

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  • Touchpad

    5.0/5

    The reviewers found this trackpad to provide for a perfect combination of size, accuracy, smoothness and resistance. All these qualities make this trackpad a perfect fit for laptops with big displays, or everyone who plans to use the touchpad extensively only for gaming you will find an external mouse needed. The buttons are as well suited for all applications even those requiring a high level of accuracy such as picture editing or design. In short, this trackpad will ease you into adapting to your laptop in quite a pleasing way.

    • Touchpad Surface

       : 

      5.0/5

      The touchpad surface of this keyboard is nothing short of perfect. The manufacturer has managed to keep the tricky balance of smoothness and resistance. The touchpad feels great, accommodating for users requiring either relative roughness against sweaty finger, or smoothness to help with sliding across the screen. No matter your needs, this surface will not disappoint you.

    • Touchpad Size

       : 

      5.0/5

      The generous size of this touchpad will remind of limitless playing fields when you were a little child. You can reach the furthest part on the screen with a single slide over the touchpad, even with big displays.

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  • Webcam Quality

    4.0/5

    The picture quality of the webcam is quite nice.

  • Battery Surfing

    8:33 h

    The battery life is outstanding. You will be able to use your laptop for the better part of a whole work day. This of course requires you to turn down the brightness of your screen, as the display uses a lot of energy. You should also only plan to do office work and light browsing. If you are going to play games, stream videos, or surf websites with a lot of flash advertisement, the expected battery life will be considerably shorter. The energy saving mode should be enabled at all times, if not this will of course cause the battery life to drop even shorter.

    • Battery DVD/Video

      6:00 h

      The battery is among the best available. You can carry out energy demanding applications such as streaming online videos, preparing for long presentations, or even watching several movies in a row comfortably for extended hours (5 hours and more). Playing games requires much more energy and thus the battery will last for a shorter period of time.

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  • Weight

    4.70 lbs

    This computer is for most users still comfortable to carry around, although for those used to lighter computers, it might seem a bit heavy at the beginning. Mobile users will most probably need a somehow large bag to carry this laptop around, a backpack in this case would be ideal. Even when factoring the extra weight of the charger, walking with this computer will still be fine for most users.

  • Noise

    4.0/5

    This laptop stays pleasantly silent most of the time. It is well fitted for use in public places when one does not want to annoy others. Most users will hardly ever notice any noise coming from the laptop fan, hard-drive, or any other parts.

    • Noise Idle

       : 

      5.0/5

      You will not notice any noise when the laptop is idle.

    • Noise Normal Use

       : 

      4.0/5

      While doing office work or browsing the web, the noise emitted by this computer is barely noticeable. In a quite room, you can rest assured, the low noise of the fan will not hinder with your concentration.

    • Noise Full Load

       : 

      2.0/5

      The notebook can get quite loud when watching movies, editing videos, playing games or any other kind of performance demanding application. If you are in a quiet environment, you might want to avoid running such high performance applications to avoid annoying the people around you.

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  • Temperature

    2.0/5

    The laptop often gets too warm. Most reviewers found, at normal room temperature, it may be okay to keep the notebook on your lap when you are just surfing the net. The laptop will definitely get hot when you stress it, watching a movie or alike.

    • Heat Top: Full Use

       : 

      5.0/5

      The laptop keeps quite cool at normal use. That’s very convenient.

    • Heat Top: Normal Use

       : 

      2.0/5

      The notebook can get a little bit warmer on top.

    • Heat Bottom: Normal Use

       : 

      2.0/5

      The bottom of the laptop can get a bit warmer. If you don’t want to use it on your lap, it will be okay.

    • Heat Bottom: Full Load

       : 

      2.0/5

      There are some spots where the laptop gets a little hotter.

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4

Where to buy

You can get the Apple MacBook MC516LL/A for 1,500$
A

All external reviews  Apple  MacBook MC516LL/A

Language Source URL Review Date Author

English

www.pcmag.com 6/11/10 Cisco Cheng

English

www.techradar.com 6/7/10 Ian Osborne

English

computershopper.com 5/31/10 Jonathan Rougeot

Deutsch

www.notebookcheck.com 6/8/10 Klaus Hinum

Deutsch

www.macwelt.de 5/26/10 Christian Möller
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Total number of reviews: 5