[mrbach]

I think my vote goes to the 2000 Pismo as for the peak in notebook design. You had access to the hard drive, the option to use two batteries, removable DVD drive, plus the ports were on the back. It was a sleek design, nice curves that fit your hand and a rubberized grip area so you didn't drop it.
Now we have products that are built like disposable lighters with very little concern for ergonomics.
I mean, who was the person that thought it would be great to put all of the ports on the back of my 24 inch iMac?

[schafdog]

While Mac Pro housing is old, I really believe it holds out. I have not yet seen any other (PC ;-) housing that beatiful. And the interior is awesome as well. And I still does't own one (yet). However four drives slots is too small, compared to a PC housing

I was afraid that the new line of Macbook Pro would kill the current design, specially the keyboard. Design could/should change over time, but please, please do not kill a good keyboard for design or turn it colorful plastic.

I am going to buy real soon now... Mac Pro or 17" Macbook Pro... Can I get it in black ;-) ?

cheers,

Dennis

[gruth]

I really dislike the sharp edge that my hands rest on at the base of the Macbook. When I'm typing, my palms will get a crease in them after a few minutes -- and my students who also use Macbooks agree with this critique. Some even have put tape over the bottom edges of their Macbooks to make them actaully comfortable to usea?|

[aestival]

tablet... tablet, tablet, tablet! [end tantrum]

[G5guy]

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, why can't they just change or add a color option for the Macbook Pro? Anodized aluminum can be anything. I would pay $$ for a color scheme like the dark gray Razor with "airport-runway" blue backlighting for the keys and logo.

[MacOldHand]

I bought my PowerBook G4 in March of 2001. Perhaps the author was making a comparison to the final case design of the PB G4 line, but I find the current MacBook Pro's design similar in all significant ways to my 7 year old model as well.

[MacOldHand]

I've said this periodically as commentary to other articles, and I'll say it again: If foldable screen technology becomes viable for such a purpose, smaller laptop case sizes will be able to sport vastly larger monitors. Think 12" PowerBook sized case with a top that lifts open as per norm and folds out on the left and right to give an extra several inches of horizontal space. In my book, this would truly be worthy of MacBook and MacBook Pro case redesigns.

[wgood]

Having moved up from an iBook to a MacBook, I want to add that the MacBook design is worlds ahead of the iBook. A family member still uses the iBook, and when I compare the two based on thickness, weight, screen and keyboard, I am very happy that Apple decided to change so much. Both computers offer a great compromise on ruggedness and practicality, but the MacBook case just increases the efficiency.

We also have both a G3 iMac and a Core 2 Duo iMac at home, and I can't believe how far they've come. The current design is possibly one of the cleanest, most elegant designs I've seen in a computer. My dad, who has been using Macs for years, couldn't believe there was no additional computer attached to the "monitor".

In my opinion, Apple has found the sweet spot for the cases on Macs.

[earthsaver]

Other design difference I discovered this morning: Apple has dropped the integrated numeric keypad. Notice that the new Expos??, Dashboard, and iTunes shortcuts from the new aluminum keyboards have been placed on MacBook F-keys and the numlock key replaced among them. As I haphazardly discovered over the weekend, Mouse Keys still works for universal access with the same letter/number keys as before, but the numeric keypad itself is gone.

[pcharles]

I definitely miss having rear mounted ports. Very often I will stand my G4 PB on its end on the carped while I go do something else like make a cup of tea, but when I have firewire drives plugged in I cannot do that and so I have to put it flat on the floor with something under to raise the front or back of the carpet for ventilation.

I've been waiting for something to come along to give me the excuse to upgrade my G4. I was hoping for a super slim machine like the VAIO's or DELL's my Wife has bought, but the Air lacks firewire and so I'd need to buy a slew of new backup drives or the Time Capsule (not a bad idea) and a new camcorder, not to mention carrying an external DVD. I'm not sure I want to go that route when you consider Dell and Sony have ultralight machines with drives for under 4lb. However, I played with the Air this weekend when I visited Chicago to see Wicked, and it is a truly amazing machine, and I wanted one so bad. Pictures do not do the machine justice, but without the firewire I would be lost.

Interesting aside, while in the Chicago Apple Store a guy came in and asked to buy something like 6 iPhones. It turns out that Apple will only sell you three iphones in one transaction, so he had to leave with three and come back later! There were also plenty of people buying various Macbooks.

I like what the Macbooks offer, but I am torn between the Macbook and Macbook Pro. The smaller form and greater wireless capabilities are a huge incentive on the Macbook front, but wonder if I'd miss any of the pro features like bigger screen and faster video, not to mention FW800, since a couple of my externals are that flavor. Now that BlueRay has been settled, this throws another spanner in the works because it makes you think about waiting for the BlueRay drive version, particularly and the G4 I have is working fine.

[Peter Cohen]

My suspicion is that Jonathan Ive just hasn't found anything in Braun's catalog to be inspired by in a while. :D

[JanusKN]

I can't speak for the Pro but the MacBook is rife with design flaws. Moreover they are easily fixed.
-The wrist rest area continues to suffer from discoloration. SOLUTION: different materials
-The edge on the MacBook is uncomfortably sharp: SOLUTION: round it off a bit
-The raised plastic edges on the display that keep distance between the display and keyboard when the MacBook is closed are a terrible design. They are hard, long, and thin, and eventually break the plastic of the wrist-rest it keeps running into. SOLUTION: The bumpers should be round and soft, as they are on my PowerBook.
Now that I think about it, the Pro design has been incredibly prone to dents that bend large parts of the casing out of shape.
If Dell did these things, we'd call it incompetence and laugh at it. When Apple does it, we debate whether it's ever possible to improve it.

[MCJ]

I was also surprised that the MBP wasn't redesigned to resemble a fatter version of the Air, complete with chiclet keyboard.
I suppose that Apple is selling so many notebooks it didn't see a need to fix something that isn't broken.
And gimmicky case redesigns are probably not going to revitalise desktop sales, so why bother?

[jamus]

A welcomed display tweak would be to allow the display to fold fully backwards and lie flat. The current max angle is awkward when you are working while standing up.
The Mac Pro case just seems to BIG and heavy. The guts are beautiful to work in, but the outer shell just feels too big.