A really nice laptop. Apple makes great GUIs with lots of eye-candy, and the whole unit is a lot of fun to use.

My concerns is with the laptop's reliability. A friend of mine had to have her hard disk replaced (it must be very sensitive to vibrations while it's working), and my unit had a faulty fan that needed replacing. After three months of use (occasional only, I also have a desktop) it started to intermittently generate a loud annoying noise that made the laptop unusable.

This isn't as robust as a portable as Dell, IBM/Lenovo, HP, Toshiba, or Sony laptops. These makers have much experience making laptops that withstand wear-and-tear that Apple still lacks. So just be extra careful when handling yours, and don't be surprised if you need to take it to the "shop" for occasional hardware related tune-up...

Other than these minor caveats, it's one of the best all-around laptops available today.

Really nice piece of kit.

I found really cool (I mean cool) software for everyone who complains on MBP temperature. It allows you to control the speed of MBP fans and cool down your Macbook Pro even to 40C (or to 50C with no additional noise).

I added it to Crowdstorm so just type or paste "smcFanControl" into the search box and you should find it.

Super duper fast. ;)

I have this and I love it

I can't get enough of this machine. It's the Cheetah of the laptop world. Sleek and powerful.

update: done latest firmware update and received a new battery from Apple. They have also announced that older models can get their fans replaced to stop the whining noise - we'll see. All the latest models seem to work fine - just the first batch was a bit hit and miss.

Did you try firmware update? The latest firmware is said to reduce whining sound. I installed it simply to be up to date, but I can't say if it helps with whining as I didn't have this problem before.

Yeh - good point Bartek. I got Apple to send me a new battery and everything works fine now. Except there is still a small whining sound from time to time - which means you should download a free utility such as QuietMBP to keep the fan quiet.

Apple announced battery exchange program for early MacBook Pro's. There are some problems with these batteries. It also includes mine so I'm waiting for the new battery from Apple now. If you bought your MacBook Pro earlier than two months ago (or earlier than one month ago in Europe), you should look at Apple pages for details and check your battery serial number.

early macbook pro's are failing with power management issues! Apple deny the problem exists so don't buy an Apple if you think it may break in the future (which it will)..

Of course I do Shopical - did you not get in the post last week? I knew that guy in the shell suit wasn't a real courier!!!!

Whisper: did you buy one for me?

I bought this a few weeks ago and really love the power and design of this laptop. It is the first time I've ever used a Mac and must admit to being a complete convert now. Battery lasts about 3-3.5 hours