I have had my MacBook Pro for a year now and it’s my primary machine both at work and at home. I have since upgraded it with 8GB RAM (which has come down in price by more than half in the last 9 months) and a 160GB SSD. At my day job, I work with Visual Studio inside a VMWare Fusion VM and have been pretty happy with the performance. Here are some accessories that I have found useful for my MBP:
- Anti-Reflective Screen Protector
: I bought the glossy screen MBP, and that turned out to be a big mistake since I frequently hack at coffee shop/restaurant patios and the glossy screen made the code unreadable. This Moshi iVisor screen protector fixed that and gave the screen a matte finish. It was also very easy to apply without any air bubble issues.
- Keyboard Cover
: I bought the keyboard cover after it showed up in my Amazon recommended products list (probably because the screen protector is from the same company), and I have been pleasantly surprised with it. It is quite thin and does not take much time to get used to. It has also already saved me from serious trouble once when I spilled Diet Coke on the keyboard.
- Spare Apple MagSafe Power Adapter::) I haven’t been able to find a good docking solution for the MBP, but carrying a spare power adapter saves me the trouble of crawling under the desk every day to plug/unplug it.
- Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter: I have already flown to India (>20 hour flying time) twice this year, and the airline adapter is a lifesaver for such long flights. Just make sure you get a seat with a power port (I use www.seatguru.com to choose good seats), and you are good to go.
- mStand Laptop Stand
: I use this at home, and find it to be quite elegant looking. It also has a gap at the front for easy access to the laptop lid for opening/closing.
I have been meaning to check out the HyperMac external battery, looks like a great product if you go to conferences frequently, or are a road warrior. If any of you have tried it out, please do leave a comment about your experience with it.