I’ve now had my brand new, shiny, lickable, 2.16 Core2Duo, 2 gig, black MacBook for 2 weeks and man, oh man do I dig it!

What’s not to love? Apple have outdone themselves in the design and execution of this very high-end consumer laptop. I’ll say it right now, for those of you considering a laptop purchase in the near future…buy a MacBook and you won’t go wrong!

I’ll also state, for the record, that I am a big fan of Apple products. I owned an Apple computer back in the mid 80s (an Apple //c for you true geeks out there) and returned to the Apple family in 2005, with the purchase of a 20” G5 iMac. It was the smartest and coolest purchase I ever made.

I saw how amazing Mac’s operating system, OS X worked, how stable, easy to use and intuitive it all was, I was sold.

Once I put my entire music collection into iTunes, I knew I was onto something. When I synched my contacts with Address Book and my diary with Calendar, all paired with my Bluetooth phone, in less time than it takes to brew a cup of tea, I knew my life changed.

Apple makes the things you actually want to do with a computer, easier. Like set up the system. Edit video. Store and organise your music, or photos. It all just works, right out of the box.

For example, take my new MacBook. Guess how long it took to go from the time I signed for delivery to the point where I was online, looking at the Google homepage on the gorgeous 13.3 inch LCD screen?

6 minutes and that included unboxing it slowly and carefully. OS X walked me through the set-up process, set by step, including joining my existing wireless network with straightforward ease.

If computers intimidate you, or you’re tired or wrestling with bullshit Windows preference screens and Bios settings, come over to the light! You’ll never see that dreaded “blue screen of death” again.

My shiny new MacBook replaces an iBook that I sold a few months back.

The iBook I had, the 2nd to the last revision sold, was a good, solid little laptop and had the MacBooks not come along, I would still own it. It was a very portable size, reliable, and easy on the eye, but the MacBook just offers more.

A faster processor, a better brighter screen, built-in iSight, magnetic latch, MagSafe power adaptor, thinner, lighter and it came in black – I had to have one!

The design is very sleek and minimal, and typical for Apple. I paid the extra for black, which many of you will think is silly. You can get a similarly spec’d white one for around 70 or 80 quid less.

What can I say? I like the black better, so I spent the extra money. Racing stripes don’t make your car go any faster, yet people pay extra to have them put on. Is this any different?

Using the MacBook is a dream. It is very fast and responsive and I especially like the “multi-touch” trackpad that can sense when you are using 2 fingers or one.

Tap the trackpad with 2 fingers and you produce a right click, which is a revelation for me. I use context menus quite a bit and being able to reproduce a right click with one hand on a laptop is a very good thing. Drag 2 fingers on the trackpad and the display scrolls, up, down or side-to-side if the applications allows. Very cool.

I wasn’t sure how I would like the glossy display, but after using it for 2 weeks, I think it is great. I was concerned about glare and seeing my face smugly reflected back at me, but this is not the case. The screen is so bright; even with the brightness reduced to conserve battery power, that it remains stunning and sharp.

I downloaded some trailers from the Apple site, in glorious 720p Quicktime HD goodness and they played back without a stutter and looked positively amazing!

I haven’t done much with the built-in camera, but I’m not much of an internet chatter or webcammer, so this is not surprising. When I was setting up my user account on the MacBook, PhotoBooth came up and I was offered the chance to take a photo, right then and there, to use as my login and system picture. A cool feature, that shows you right out the box, how user-friendly this computer is.

The magnetic latch clamps shut with a satisfying, firm thud and the MagSafe power adaptor literally leaps from your fingers into the socket on the MacBook when you bring it very close.

Battery life seems decent, I’ve had the Bluetooth turned off, but the wi-fi on most of the time and I’m getting nearly 5 hours.

Rip a CD, or play a feature length film from the hard drive and you can see the battery drain faster. I’m guessing you could probably watch 2 feature films back to back on a full charge, but if you’re concerned about using it on a long flight, they do sell a MagSafe airline power adaptor as an optional accessory.

As far as everything else goes, what can I say? It’s a Mac, it’s as stable and solid as my iMac and that goes for the hardware and software.

I’ve been on OS X for coming up on 3 years and I have never had a system crash. I’ve had applications crash, sure, but the actual operating system doesn’t go down with it. I don’t know anyone with a Windows computer who can say the same thing.

I ran Windows at home for years and I still use it where I work. I was never a fan, but now that I am a Mac-head I positively despise it! I restart my PC at work repeatedly, because it’s always crashing or freezing. When something goes wrong, the IT guys (who seem to travel in pairs these days), spend a lot of time scratching their heads and going off to thing about what the problem is, rather than actually fixing it.

Look, if you like Windows, and you think its great, and you are happy with it, fantastic and well done you! But if you’re like me and you think it is bloated, messy and about as stable as the SS Poseidon on New Year’s Eve, then I implore you to investigate Apple computers.

Have you ever met anyone who enthuses over his or her Windows PC? Or Windows? Find someone else who has a Mac and ask them if they like it. Prepare to have them go on and on, in glowing terms just as I have.

There’s a reason why people are enthusiastic about Apple. The toys they sell live up to the hype. Have you got an iPod? I bet lots of you do. Do you love it? I bet you do. Well, Apple computers are even better than their iPods!

Got an iPhone? Want one? I think we all fall into one of those two categories, with the second one currently being the larger of the two. Wouldn’t a matching Apple computer be nice?

You have no reason to fear Apple; Steve Jobs is your friend. He makes stuff to make your life easier; to make your life better.

Bill Gates makes stuff to complicate your life and frustrate you; at home and at work. He is very successful at this, that’s why he is the richest man in the world. You don’t have to buy what he sells; yet you do, anyway.

Apple computers are not more expensive, when you factor in all the software you get. I have read countless comparison studies done on comparably spec’d systems, with similar software packages and the Windows version always costs more. By the time you add all the extra crap you need to bring a Windows PC up to the level of a Mac, you’ve ended up spending a lot more money.

Let me describe my current home set-up:

- My 20” iMac, my main system, a desktop. I use it for surfing and writing, some downloading and I dock my iPod with this system, so it has my mobile music library on it. I also use it for my serious heavy lifting, like video editing on Final Cut Express and recording music on Logic Express. The G5 processor is showing it’s age though, especially compared to the MacBook and even my MacMini, so if the rumours are true about a major overhaul to the iMac line…I could be replacing it sometime soon.
- My MacMini – connected to a 32” Sony LCD and my stereo, it also streams music to two Airport Expresses. Used for all things media, it has my complete music library (my tunes, plus Mrs. Hippy’s), it also handles all film and tv downloads, streaming video content and video playback. This system gets used a lot, I like my media

- My shiny new MacBook – surfing on the sofa while watching TV and all of my mobile computing needs. I write on-the-go and it will be going to work with me. Now if I can access the company wi-fi network, my work-porn needs are solved!

- Airport Extreme – brand new, purchased with the MacBook. Only set it up a couple of days ago and I have to say, the set-up was a bit Un-Apple. I’ll do a separate post on this, but in the end, it’s now working flawlessly.

- Airport Express number 1 – used to be my wi-fi hub, it is now in my bedroom, connected to a set of speakers, which receives music from iTunes via a wi-fi connection and is rebroadcasting my wi-fi network upstairs. I think that’s called WDS.

- Airport Express number 2 – Is in my kitchen, connected to a 2nd set of speakers. All this one does is receive music.

- My 60gb black video iPod – holds my entire music collection and a few videos. I can’t say I have used the video very much, but as a music player, it sees loads of use. I have a dock in the car that is an FM transmitter, which lets me play it thru the stereo. It’s a Macally FM Cup and it works very well, even in central London.

I’ve edited films, turned them into DVDs, recorded songs with real musical instruments and MIDI, I’ve written 2 novels and blogged my motherfucking socks off, all on Apple computers.

I can play the same music, at the same time, throughout my entire house. It makes blitzing the place with the Hoover a lot more pleasant!

I’ve been recommending Apple systems to all my friends for a little while now and every single one of them is grateful.

If you take my advice too and end up all grateful, a little gift wouldn’t go amiss. This hippy likes presents, so please send me something cool and preferably expensive! Just post it off to “the hippy” in north London and let the postman do the rest. I’m famous, just like Santa Claus, I’m sure the package will reach me just fine!