Wacom Bamboo Tablet Review

The Wacom MTE450 Bamboo  is an A5 small tablet. It comes in black and connects from a mini usb at the top of the tablet to your Mac or PC usb connection. It works with a PC or Mac. I use it with Fireworks and Photoshop. This particular tablet is now under £50.
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Rain mStand for MacBook Review

The Rain Design mStand will fit all laptops up to 15”. The specification says 17” but personally I wouldn’t put a 17” laptop on it. The stand perfectly matches the unibody Macbook. It is made of the same aluminium, and has a good thick solid appearance. The mStand provides a very secure platform for your Macbook. It also passes the lid non topple lift test.

The design and angle of the mStand lifts your Macbook off the table by 6”. It gives much better ventilation and acts as a heat sink. The mStand angles the keyboard and screen make use much more comfortable. It also looks very cool on your desktop and allows for better use of a remote keyboard and mouse. The thick rubber feet and laptop pads gives a solid stick to the desktop and makes your Macbook stick to the mStand. The front support has a cut out to allow lifting of the lid and a rear hole for cable routing.

Concerns have been expressed about the Macbook lid lifting limits when on the mStand. I tested this and as shown in the picture later, it has more than enough opening capacity. I retested with my Speck case on, and even though the Speck case does limit the Macbook lid lift limit, I could still just about lift the lid to my preferred angle. Using the speck case is my preferred configuration and I have had no issues.

The mStand is competitively priced and is excellent when used with a remote monitor, keyboard and mouse. It is perfectly poised when using your laptop built in screen and keyboard. It looks very professional when on your desktop.

I found the angle perfect and very little give in the stand when you apply downward pressure on it. Its thick construction makes it solid and a compliment to your Macbook.  I have now had it 6 weeks and its not toppled or slipped.

The Laptop support size is about 240mm wide by 260mm high. It lifts the rear by 150mm and the front by 80mm. The rubber feet prevents it slipping on the desktop and the top pads protect the base of the laptop from scratches and keeps it stuck to the mstand.

The attached pictures show a 15” apple Macbook Pro on a Rain mStand. Some of the pictures are with a speck case on the MacBook.  The video at the bottom shows my unboxing and tests with the screen angle limits with the Speck case on and off

For full screen video visit my You Tube account HERE

Visit their homepage at raindesign

 

WATCH THE VIDEO

MacBook Pro Antiglare Review

I see many questions on the web asking about the Apple Macbook Pro antiglare laptop. Sometimes its referred to as the MacBook matte finish Laptop.  Having both I am able to see first hand the differences between the two.  This article concentrates on the MacBook Pro antiglare showing photo’s and a Video at the end

I also have a gloss 13′ MacBook Pro to hand, so have experienced both in all conditions.  I will try to give a fare comparison but my preference is the matte version

The first thing you notice with the antiglare MacBook is the silver bezel it has. The gloss MacBook has a black border.  I find this silver bezel gives the MacBook a more professional and expensive look.  Prior to buying I read a few comment saying it looked cheap.  However it looks fantastic and some of my close up photos will show this.  It does however make the matte screen slightly more difficult to clean rather than wiping over a continuous sheet of glass as on the MacBook gloss.

Out of the box and side by side I did feel that the colours on the MacBook gloss looked a little richer.  I did then calibrate the matte screen and that brought the colours to as good as the gloss screen.  I wouldn’t say they looked identical but both acceptable.  On the phone Apple tells me that their professional graphic designers use the gloss screen version in rooms which are correctly lit to prevent reflections.  Any differences seen when side by side are indistinguishable when you use either on its own.

The biggest issue with the gloss is that its very reflective. Almost like a mirror at times.  I found that in a well lit room the reflections gave me eye strain and couldn’t be used for extended periods.  Many times through the summer I used the gloss version on the patio. Although usable it was very difficult and would be used in this situation only when absolutely necessary.  The MacBook Pro Antiglare was flawless in any condition. The reflections were unnoticeable and is why this version is the one of choice.  The one situation where I felt the gloss was better was when using it in a dimly lit room where the light source was directly above the screen. I had a swan neck lamp which I placed above the laptop and it this environment it was a joy to use.

Finally.. On the MacBook’s there is a brightness control.  I do believe that the MacBook gloss version is slightly brighter.  I would say about one notch brighter.  Its a point to note, but not one to worry about.  Indoors you never use either at full, and outdoors a one notch difference isn’t distinguishable.

 Hope this article helps you make your mind up and if you still have doubts visit the Apple store and compare for your self.  To round up I would say the graphical and colour quality of both is very good it just about if you can put up with the reflections and the environment you will use it in.

Here is a video of the MacBook Pro antiglare version.  In my next post I will video some examples of its performance so keep checking back.

 

MacBook Pro Close up from Carlo Saltalamacchia on Vimeo.

The first of 2 videos I created to show of the MacBook Pro antiglare.
For a large screen version of the video click HERE