Notebook Hunter

The Apple MacBook Pro 13in is on offer at Myer at a $100 discount ($1,349) which, for Apple products, is quite substantial. The MacBook is powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 (2.4GHz), one of the faster Intel Core 2 Duos. Don't be put off by the fact that in the Windows world, the Core 2 Duo is considered yesterday's technology, replaced by Intel's Core line (which is actually used in the 15in and 17in MacBook Pros). When Apple refreshed the MacBook line this year, it decided to stick with Core 2 Duo for the 13in MacBooks because it could keep the relatively powerful NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics card in the smaller machines. Steve Jobs himself explained that if Apple had included a Core i3 or Core i5 CPU in the 13in MacBooks, it would have had to jettison the card and use Intel's onboard graphics. Jobs said Apple felt a Core 2 Duo with the graphics card provided the balance that Apple wanted in the 13in MacBooks.

The MacBook Pro 13in also comes with 4GB of RAM which makes for a good well-rounded spec. The hard drive is a miserly 250GB, but it's all part of getting this allrounder notebook so light and thin.  The 13.3in (1,280x800 resolution) screen is stunning, even if not full HD. The MacBook Pro 13in weighs a mere 2.04kg, and is just 24.1mm thick, 227mm deep, and 325mm wide.

A unique feature of the MacBook Pro 13in - which helps give it such a desirable appearance and extra toughness compared to most other notebooks - is its machined aluminium case, which starts off as a solid block of aluminium and eventually carved out so the machines innards can be fitted. By contrast, the standard MacBook 13in doesn't have the aluminium case.

The Apple MacBook Pro 13in is a great thin and light notebook and, as an Apple product, you pay only a small premium, which is even smaller in this instance considering the $100 discount. You’ll want to use it in a store first to see if the user experience is for you, but if it appeals to you than $1,349 is a bargain price for what’s a rarely discounted product.

See the Apple MacBook Pro 13in in the Notebook Hunter database here.

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