Monday was quite an exciting day as I had a couple of new toys!
First, I got a 500GB Western Digital My Book Home Edition. I plan to use this as my primary photo library for Lightroom.
Second, I got my copy of Matt K’s Layers Book! I just browsed it because I had to setup my new toy (see next paragraph) but will post a review once I get to read it.
And finally, the last one I got (and the most exciting one) is the new Mac Book Pro! This is the one that just came out last week with the new Penryn chips from Intel. I got the base model -> 2.4 Ghz, 200GB HDD, 2GB RAM and 256 VRAM. It is a sweet machine and it’s really nice to smell the freshness of the machine as I was unpacking it from its box. 
I will post the un-boxing photos later.
I was able to copy all my apps (while reinstalling some of them) and data to the new laptop in a couple of hours. I didn’t do the Migration Assistant of Leopard since I wanted to know what to move. I basically prepared the data beforehand by moving them to an external storage the night before. In short, everything was flawless!
So how is the new machine? Well, here are my observations after a day of having it ->
#1 – It is Fast!
I did some tests with RAW editing in Lightroom and wow, I am glad I upgraded. These new machines are really faster compared to my Powerbook. When I move the sliders, the changes immediately take place on the image without me having to wait a few seconds for the laptop to render the image. This is a huge help in my post-processing workflow! Now if only I can find the time to edit the photos…
#2 – Multi-touch trackpad – a nice to have
I was surprised to find out that I was able to rotate and zoom PDF files in Preview. Also, the desktop icons can be zoomed in by using the new trackpad. However, it doesn’t work with LR yet.
#3 – USB port is better!
I don’t know if it’s the Intel Chipset but my Powerbook could never load an external drive via USB if I don’t use both the USB ports. I have to use a USB extension cable to power up a external HDD. However, with the Mac Book Pro, I can already power it up! Cool!
#4 – No Apple Remote!
When I opened the box, I was surprised to only see the following: the laptop (of course!), adaptor, DVI cable, extension cord, and the box of goodies. That’s it! I was expecting to see the remote there. After carefully checking Apple’s site, they really removed the Apple remote from the package when they introduced the new models. 
Why? Beats me. Maybe they want to earn $20 more by me buying the remote separately. But then, this has been a trend with Apple. Remember the first few generations of iPod when they included the dock in the package?
#5 – There’s a black piece of cloth
Yes, there’s a piece of cloth with an Apple logo that comes in the black box (the one where the manuals are included). I think it’s a screen cleaner because it’s too small to be a protector for the keyboard and the screen (like my Radtech sleeves). I’ll do a little more research on what this really is.
Enough blogging for now. Will tinker with my new toy. Gotta calibrate the monitor first…
Btw – I got a really good deal for the WD Hard Drive. So, for those in the Philippines who want to get this, let me know and I can hook you up.
