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Now that the crowds have died down a bit, I was able to spend a little more hands-on time with the new 17” Macbook Pro. The screen is a thing of beauty, but then, I like the glossy screen and the saturation it gives the colors.

As the owner of a 17” G4 Powerbook, I’ll say this: the Macbook Pro feels smaller, more compact, though that’s probably just a matter of it having a very thin, almost air-like screen. It’s a hair thinner than the previous design, but the tapered edges give it a razor-like feel.

It weighs a bit less than the G4 powerbook, but at 6.6 pounds, it’s still going to be a brick to carry around. Think long and hard about how badly you need that big screen, and how often you’ll need to be portable.

For those of you who love a good, tactile feel to the keyboard: you’re out of luck. These are the flat keys that are standard on the Macbook. They have a nice bounce to them, but the concave keys of the old Powerbook line that scratched up many a screen appear to be a thing of the past.

Here’s a short video showing off the 17” Macbook Pro’s physicality.