Pimp Your MacBook

Apple's new MacBook is easily the best laptop for the money currently being sold. It packs in spectacular power and some of the most advanced features available. That said, there's always room to accessorize. Being longtime Mac users and new MacBook owners, we've rounded up our top 10 products to help you pimp your MacBook. [See the top 10]

Incase Nylon Sleeve

The Incase Nylon Sleeve ($50) is perfect for when you need to carry more than just the MacBook but don't want to lug around a full-size bag. Loaded with signature Incase styling, the sleeve features a fur-lined interior, detachable shoulder strap and tuck-away handles, and a utility pocket for cards, pens and other small items. We're digging the burnt orange, but the sleeve also comes in black and a really cool platinum gray.

OWC 2GB RAM Upgrade

Adding RAM to your MacBook isn't the sexiest upgrade you can perform, but it will do more for your system than anything else on this list. Not only will Mac OS X just generally run faster overall, but you'll also be able run more applications at once and just do things way quicker than you could ever do with Apple's stock 512MB configuration. The best deal we found (from a reliable store) for RAM was from Other World Computing — we picked up the maximum 2GB RAM upgrade ($55) to truly pimp our MacBook. We've never gotten a bad stick from OWC and highly recommend their service.

STM Small Alley Bag

STM has produced some of our all-time favorite gear. When we went looking for a bag to fit the MacBook, we looked to STM first. Their Small Alley Bag ($40) fits the MacBook perfectly, offering great protection without bulk. Available in olive or carbon rip-stop polyester, the bag is vertically oriented so it looks more like a hip messenger bag than a stiff IBM-certified technician's bag. It's got pockets and sections for a pile of documents, magazines, cables and gadgets. We just received the Alley at Uncrate HQ over the weekend, and already it has become our first choice when jetting out the door — whether the MacBook is in tow or not.

Colorware Custom Painting Service

If Apple's black and white designs are a little too bland for you, consider letting the paint pros at Colorware spray your new MacBook in a nice shade of red, purple, green or pretty much any other color you can imagine. After recently seeing their work in person, there's simply no other company we'd ever recommend to do something like this. With Colorware's MacBook custom paint service ($450) you can pick between 28 standard colors — or you can pay $100 more to have them mix you a custom color. You can even send in an Apple Mighty Mouse or an extra battery ($20 each) to have painted to match your fresh new MacBook.

Parallels Desktop

Yes, Mac OS X is twice the operating system Windows will ever be. But if you're a recent Switcher or biz type of guy, there'll still be times when you'll need to run a Windows app. Apple's Boot Camp (free) works well, but it requires you to basically shut down your Mac side and restart in Windows — a pain if you need to switch back and forth quickly. Parallels Desktop ($80), on the other hand, lets you run Windows (or Linux) in its own isolated window alongside Mac OS X. And don't think of this software as just another Virtual PC-type program — Parallels is fast. You can do pretty much anything on Windows running in Parallels (except hardcore gaming) without noticing any lag (especially after a healthy RAM upgrade). Parallels is absolutely fantastic for those of us who need to jump into XP every once in a while to do something, but don't want
to leave our candy coated Mac world.

Microsoft Windows XP Professional With SP2 (OEM)

Since you'll (hopefully) be spending most of your day running OS X, there's no need to drop 300 big ones on Windows XP. The best deal we found was this OEM version of Microsoft Windows XP Professional With SP2 ($138) from NewEgg. It's the same exact software, only without the big box.

Incase Neoprene Sleeve

Uncrate hearts Incase. They've never let us down on anything we've seen come out of their studio, and they're the only company to have two MacBook products on this list. The new Incase Neoprene Sleeve ($30) is a stylish minimal alternative to a bulky bag. It features a soft neoprene exterior, plush interior and perforated trim. And if light blue isn't your thing, the sleeve also comes in standard black.

Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP 24-inch Widescreen LCD

Every true Life Hacker will tell you that the quickest way to increase productivity is to add a second computer monitor. As hard as it is for us Apple fanboys to recommend it, the Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP 24-inch LCD ($700) is the top choice available for the MacBook's WUXGA resolution (1920x1200). Not only is the 2407WFP cheaper than the 23-inch Apple Cinema Display, it also outperforms it in almost every way. The 2407WFP has great color and contrast, an integrated 9-in-2 media card reader, and a plethora of video connections that even allow for picture-in-picture TV watching right beside your spreadsheets. As a bonus, its black exterior matches the black MacBook quite nicely. And don't forget the Mini-DVI to DVI adapter ($19).

InvisibleShield

If you want to go that extra step in protecting your MacBook, check out the InvisibleShield ($55). The scratch-resistant clear film protects the top, bottom, touchpad, and wrist rests of your MacBook. The InvisibleShield material is super tough (note the picture of the futile attempt at puncturing with a pen). It was originally created by the U.S. military to protect the edges of helicopter blades. The InvisibleShield comes with a lifetime warranty, so if your MacBook ever does get scratched, the company says they'll replace it for free.

Logitech Cordless Desktop S530

If you plan to use an external display or just hate using the MacBook's built-in trackpad or keyboard, you'll be needing a full-size keyboard and mouse combo. We've been in love with our Logitech Cordless Desktop S530 ($75) for a couple months now. The keyboard has an ultra-flat design and handy one-touch controls for iTunes and iPhoto, as well as dedicated keys to launch Safari, Mail, Spotlight or any other app. The S530's laser mouse has a smooth tilt/scroll wheel, left and right click and five re-programmable buttons. Hot. If you go with the keyboard/mouse thing, be sure to pick up a Griffin Technology iCurve ($40). We've been using one for years. It's by far our favorite laptop stand.