Alright. So I’ve decided to start doing these “experiences” posts about different things. Sort of akin to reviews but based purely on my own experiences with the products and nothing to do with what I’ve read or heard or any outside influence. And here is the first of them!

I am what you could call a “Mac Girl”. I own a Mac Pro with 30″ HD Apple Cinema display, a 17″ Macbook Pro, and two iPods – an 80GB one and I think a 4GB iPod nano from way back when. I have yet to own an Apple I don’t like and that is why I’m a faithful Apple buyer. And I’ve had my fair share of PCs, from a crappy Packard Bell onward. So let’s start with the smallest eh?

Apple iPod Nano

My iPod Nano is a first generation (crazy to believe that for me,but whatever). I’ve had this baby since 2005 and let me tell  you, it’s been abused. Not only has it gone through the normal dropping, throwing, bouncing around, etc, it has also survived going through the washer and dryer. Yeah. It went through the WASH. It seemed to have died for a while so I put it away and didn’t bother with it. I ended up buying my next iPod thinking this baby was dead. But six months later I pulled it out of the box I’d stashed it in and voila, it worked! (It just needed to completely dry out is all)

The space was enough at the time and I still prefer to use the nano for working out because the full sized iPod is just too big for me to carry comfortably on any body part other than my hip/thigh and I don’t want to get another carrier. The nano is great for having just a couple different playlists and switching them out when you get bored with the selection that is on it.

Apple iPod

This iPod is a sixth generation 80GB beast that holds all of my music and videos, which I have quite a lot of. It is my best friend while traveling because I have all my stand-up comedy and movies on it and it has a pretty good battery life. The display on this iPod is more than enough for me and the bulk is actually a plus for me when I’m listening to it while sleeping. It doesn’t get so easily lost in the sheets heh. I’ve also given this iPod its fair share of beatings because I no longer keep it in a case (I have a plastic, hard case around here somewhere for it. Makes it look all pink instead of silver). I would have liked this iPod better if it were white like my nano and not silver. I’m not a fan of that for the iPod.

Apple Macbook Pro (17″)

Okay… so yeah. This is a previous gen for me, I wish I had the newest one simply for it being lighter. That is my only day-to-day complaint on this computer: the weight. When I used to carry it all day from class to class to work it was a pain to lug around. However, the weight is worth the power and ability to pretty much run anything and everything I want.

I run bootcamp on the machine to use Windows XP. I have yet to have a single problem running any program or game on this monster. The airport wireless in my house isn’t all too great (mostly due to my plaster walls) but out on other wifi it performs great.  I run all of Adobe/macromedia on the computer, various different games, and without speakers (just using the built in) it’s fantastic for watching movies and tv shows.

Battery life is great, however I have had a battery come apart after several years of use (I guess.. 3 almost 4 years?), which was very annoying but I was lucky enough to find a genuine battery for $55 online with a charge guarantee (which I just got less than a month ago and is working perfectly). The power cord for the laptop is a piece of crap really. The first one I had melted at the connection point (where it plugs into the computer) and the wires came apart under the melted plastic. And now the one I have (after replacing the last one, obviously) decided to try and come apart at the adapter. Annoying but was fixable with electrical tape. But I will say it’s nice that the power cord is convertible. You can either have the regular Type B plug (3 prong) or put on the piece to have it a Type A plug (2 prong).

Now… hmm.. No problems, at all, with the display. It’s perfect. Same today as it was when I opened the box.

Keyboard. Oh keyboard… lol Like all my electronics, it’s taken a beating haha I spilt a whole cup-o-noodles into it *facepalm* Yeah I’m retarded. BUT! To my surprise it wasn’t like 1000 dollars to fix. With labor and all it was $250 to replace the keyboard and cleanup everything else.

The SuperDrive. It does not like scratched discs.. at all. To the point where I keep getting discs stuck in it, which is a pain in the butt because the drive does not have an auto-release button so you have to do all these stupid tricks to try and get the disc to come out.

Apple Mac Pro

AKA  THE BEAST! lol This is what I call him (yes, it is a HIM not a HER). I have not had a single, not ONE, problem with this computer. Nothing hardware OR software related. Nor have I had to do a single upgrade (other than going from Tiger to Leopard, which was optional) to it. I haven’t had a single piece of software nor add-on hardware that this baby can’t handle either.

But here’s the catch. I paid eight thousand dollars for the beast. That’s right. Eight grand. Two thousand just for the monitor. But then again, calculate in the fact that four years later, I’ve not had to do a single thing to it and that I don’t anticipate having to do a single thing to it’s hardware for years to come. The only thing I do have planned to do to it is add another 30″ monitor. (The beast is capable of running another 30″ and a 24″ without so much as blinking. I’ve tried it out )

So other than some bugs with the Macbook Pro, I have very little to complain about with my Apple products. And I have to say I’m very, very happy with them all. Even at their seemingly outrageous prices (which are slowly coming down).

And.. I want to add an iPhone to this list. And honestly now that I don’t really use my laptop out and about I’m still wondering if I’d be happier with a Macbook Air.. who knows!