Macbook Pro 2.4 Ghz $2499 Final Cut Studio 2, $1299, $499 upgrade. Applecare for Macbook Pro $350. So I decided to pick up a Macbook Pro with the new LED backlighting and Santa Rosa Intel chipset. Which now includes wireless N, 800mhz bus, on and on.. I won’t bore you with the details. Visit Apple.com for the latest info on both the new Macbook Pro’s and Final Cut Studio 2. I do tons of editing staring at the screen for hours in all kinds of lighting environments so yes you better believe I chose the MATTE screen instead of the glossy. Glossy is nice for home use, but try using it outside or the places I use mine with set lights, etc.. you learn to hate glossy screens after a while.. hahaha.. but to each his own. You want to know.. how does it compare to the old Macbook Pro ? well here is a shot… You will notice that the new Macbook Pro on the right has a brighter screen. Look at the white and black levels. This is just a normal snapshot, but in real life the screen is brighter and a tad sharper. Both above were set to maximum brightness and allowed a few minutes to warm up (the older macbook pro) to ensure it was at it’s brightest. But how does it compare to the Sony SZ Premium LED backlit screen ? Well.. here is a shot… Here is the new Macbook Pro up against the Sony SZ “Premium” edition with the razor thin LED backlit screen. I’ve been using this one since last December and the screen looks AWESOME. So I was very impressed when Apple finally got LED backlighting in their macbook pro line. I wrote a piece on the Sony LED screen back in december as well, seach this site for Sony SZ to read about it. Basically I love the LED screens… you can look at them for hours and it’s like looking at paper, the screen is more evenly lit and very BRIGHT, yet not glaring… similar to something like HID headlights on cars. I’ve made it a point to only buy laptops with LED screens after I got my Sony SZ half a year ago, but I recently also purchased the HP 17″ santa rosa laptop because it was cheap.. haha. LED offers all kinds of benefits, lighter, brighter, uses less battery, instant on (no warm up time), and more durable. the glass elements of the older Fl-tube based backlighting were prone to crack if dropped or bent. The downsides of LED are it costs more… thats about it… otherwise whats not to love ? http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/