A MacBook: Wonder gadget

Mumbai, Oct. 24: Apple launched its new line of aluminium-clad notebooks barely 10 days after it was unveiled in the US and upgraded its entry-level white MacBook with a DVD writer that is sure to lure customers disenchanted with Windows Vista.

The new line of the more expensive, exquisitely designed metal MacBooks deliver stunning display made possible by Indian engineers in Bangalore who developed the revolutionary chip. NVIDIA, the leader in visual computing, got the order from Apple in April 2007.

NVIDIA, which has a presence in several countries, chose India for the work because of the presence of the brightest engineers recruited from IITs, a company official said.

With the new range of MacBooks, buyers now get more Mac for their money. These are really good-looking laptops, slimmer, lighter and hardier.

All of the new devices have an instant-on, back-lit LED glass screen and five times faster graphics, courtesy the chip from NVIDIA. The new Macs are terrific gaming machines.

The new trackpad with which you navigate your computer with your fingers is made of glass. Just as in the iPhone, you can pinch and enlarge pictures. Rotate your fingers and the picture rotates too.

New gestures allow users to activate the menu with a horizontal swipe or switch between applications at the touch of a fingertip. There is no clickpad. The entire trackpad surface is like a button. You can designate an area for a right click or a double click according to your choice.

The presence of Al Gore, former Vice-President of the US, on the Apple board of directors has ensured the new MacBook family is environment-friendly. Toxic chemicals have been eliminated with the use of PVC-free internal cables and displays that are mercury-free and glass arsenic-free.

The MacBook Air, too, has undergone a change. It has got NVIDIA’s new 9400M graphics and a 128GB solid state drive. This will only be available sometime in late November.

The new MacBooks will be available from next week at Apple’s Premium Reseller’s outlet, Imagine, at the Salt Lake City Centre.

Prices: The 13.3-inch MacBook with 2.0 GHz Intel Core2Duo and 2GB RAM and NVIDIA GeForce integrated graphics will cost Rs 79,700. The same with a processor speed of 2.4 GHz, an illuminated keyboard and a larger hard drive of 250GB will cost Rs 96,500.

MacBook Pro: This has a 15-inch display, 2.4 GHz processor, 2GB DDR3 RAM and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics and also a 9600M GT separate graphics with 256 MB DDR3 memory, and will cost Rs 1,19,600. The same with 4GB RAM and 2.53 GHZ processor and a larger hard drive of 320GB comes for Rs 1,49,000.

MacBook Air: The price ranges from Rs 1,07,000 to Rs 1,49,000 depending on the configuration.

The least expensive white MacBook with a DVD writer and 1GB RAM now costs Rs 61,800. All prices are inclusive of taxes.