Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

advice about making the switch

by petunia815 Mar 11, 2008 4:13PM PDT

I am a long-time Windows user who is now finally coming to her senses and wants to buy a Mac. I'm a grad student, I don't play computer games, but I need a fairly light notebook that will last me at least two years without feeling obsolete (like my current Dell).

Right now I'm looking at the 2.4 ghz, 160 gig HD Macbook. Now that the MB's Intel chips are in their 4th generation, is it safe to say that something superior to the Core Duo Santa Rosa will be coming out soon? Of course I realize that as soon as you buy new technology, it will be out of date, but I'm curious if the Santa Rosa is the end of the line, so to speak, for the Core Duo, or not.

Any other recommendations about making the switch from Windows to Leopard, as well as buying tips, would be much appreciated. Also, I've heard conflicting reports of Office 2008 for the Mac. Are people mostly happy with it?

Thanks in advance!

Discussion is locked

17 Posts
- Collapse + Expand Details
- Collapse -
Intel Processors
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Mar 11, 2008 11:50PM PDT

It is always safe to assume that there will be something new available shortly. It's really a matter of what you consider to be shortly.

Even if you buy that MacBook right now, it will still be good in 2 years. Heck, it will still be good for much longer than that.

I can't answer the Santa Rosa question but I do know that there is a rumor that Apple will refresh the Macbook line with the new Intel Penryn processor (45 nanometer chip), some time in the future.

I have heard, from a number of people, that Office 2008 for Mac is not as good as the 2004 version but there are alternatives to the MS Office suite. OpenOffice or NeoOffice spring to mind.
There is also the Apple iWorks suite, Pages, Numbers & Keynote, (Word, Excel & PowerPoint) that are well worth the look. They all open & save in their MS equivalents and are well worth a look.

good luck

P

- Collapse -
I believe that those new 2.1 and 2.4Ghz chips are Penryn
by tleMega Mar 13, 2008 9:38AM PDT

Those are the 45nm chips. They have the 3MB cache to show for it, compared to the previous 4MB in some of the Santa Rosa, Merom, CPUs. The iMacs and Minis have yet to be updated with them. I think it's a safe bet that we can expect updates to arrive before the WWDC, but anything could happen.

-BMF

- Collapse -
(NT) OK,
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Mar 13, 2008 12:50PM PDT
- Collapse -
duh
by petunia815 Mar 13, 2008 2:58PM PDT

Yes, duh, I meant to type Penryn. I don't know how I got Santa Rosa stuck in my head. Happy

- Collapse -
switching from PC to Mac
by sfyalek Mar 12, 2008 3:51AM PDT

Agree with MrMacfixit. You should always presume new products coming out every year. If you do not use it for gaming or movie editing but for general documenations and browsing internet, the Macbook can give you a good run for several years.
If you are new Mac User, I recommend you to sign up Mac OneonOne or ProCare to get as many trainings from Apple store. It is very useful and the people in Apple store, they really know how to utilize apple products.

- Collapse -
Personally, I'd get the bottom end Macbook.
by Me, Myself and You Mar 13, 2008 5:38PM PDT

And buy more RAM and/or a faster/bigger hard drive and upgrade yourself or have someone do it for you.

I bought a Mac Mini a few weeks ago, and I'm so glad I got the lower configuration with only 1GB. I will be able to double that RAM and put in a better hard drive if I want to, for about the same price as Apple would charge for more RAM alone.

My general rule with Apple is buy a low end machine, and pimp it out with third party parts. Epic win.

- Collapse -
bottom end macbook?
by farfel Mar 14, 2008 7:40AM PDT

I, too, am about to switch from a Windows program on a laptop, but keep my desktop using XP. Dell is no longer as dependable and I have heard bad things about Vista.
I don't do games, but work on digital pictures and use ITunes. I have always heard that you should buy laptops with what you want on them since they are not easy to expand in the future.

I haven't used Mac since my first Mac SE. It is still operational, but no lone uses it.

- Collapse -
Laptop
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Mar 14, 2008 8:05AM PDT

In your case I would look at least at one that came with a SuperDrive so you would have the ability to burn both CD's and DVD's.

After market memory is cheaper, as is a hard drive but you would probably void your warranty if you replaced the original drive. Don't take that as gospel though.

Apart from those two items, there is basically nothing else you can change on a laptop.

It already has Firewire, Wireless, Bluetooth and camera.

P

- Collapse -
Fully agree, Me, Myself and You
by Larry Launstein Jr Mar 14, 2008 11:58PM PDT

I have a Mac Mini I purchased a couple of years ago, the higher end powered one at the time (I understand they now have one that is even more powerful), and I love it!

Don't be afraid to add Windows to your machine, so you can run both Mac and Windows programs, to help you make your transition easier. And, remember that you are getting a leg up on your competition jobwise, because you'll know how to run both Mac and Windows programs.

- Collapse -
Yup
by Me, Myself and You Mar 15, 2008 2:34PM PDT

I already run Windows, on the bootcamp side for games, and in vmware for programs i still use. Office 97 is great. No problem with Windows at all, don' like those fanboys either, shoo Sad

- Collapse -
Education Store
by onemoremile Mar 15, 2008 2:54AM PDT

Petunia815:

All of the advice given above is very good. Adding or swapping memory will be very easy on your Macbook, so I would recommend adding aftermarket RAM if you want more memory. Be sure to get the educational discount when you buy your Mac. You can click on the Education Store from the Apple Store web site, identify yourself as a student at the Apple Store or buy the Mac at your on-campus store, if your university has one.

I would also recommend the AppleCare three-year warranty and support option. AppleCare bought me a new hard drive when mine failed. You can get an education discount on AppleCare, too. Happy computing!

- Collapse -
2006 MacBook with 1.83 GHz Core Duo is fast enough
by cgmusselman Mar 15, 2008 9:28AM PDT

I do web programming. When I use a slow computer for testing, I'm impatient. Dotty, my MacBook, was the low end 19 months ago. Loading NeoOffice takes many seconds. But in operation, I am almost never waiting on the computer. I tried adding a SODIMM for 1 GB + 256 MB. (I know matched memory is recommended, but am cheap.) This improved performance slightly with many open applications, but lowered the battery life. Perhaps the power management was confused by odd configuration; it would report 60 minutes of battery remaining just before shutdown. I returned to the default 2 x 256 MB.

I plan on using Dotty for many years. Your MacBook will last.

I recommend against upgrading the hard drive until 80% full.

- Collapse -
thank you everyone!
by petunia815 Mar 15, 2008 11:18AM PDT

I just wanted to thank everyone that has replied - I really appreciate the time and thought that you put into your answers. After doing more research on the Penryn and the upcoming Montevina chipsets, I don't think I will wait for another update. I've have the money in May, so I think that's when I will buy.

Something I forgot to ask about running Windows on a Mac: can I use the Windows discs that came with my Dell, or do I have to buy a fresh version of XP? I've read different answers to this question, so I'm curious what all of you think.

Thank you again!

- Collapse -
wait a sec...
by petunia815 Mar 15, 2008 11:34AM PDT

Hang on a second, I think I just found the answer to my own question. Tell me if this is right: I can't use the discs that came with my Dell and I have to buy a new version. OEM looks like it's the cheapest.

To be honest, the only reason that I would want to run Windows on a new Mac is to be able to use the version of Office I have, rather than buy a new program or use a freebie like OpenOffice. But, if I have to buy a new version of Windows, I might as well spend the money on Office for Mac and not bother with Windows at all. Hmmm.

Please speak up if my reasoning if faulty. Thanks for letting me think out loud. Happy

- Collapse -
You're on the money
by electronista Mar 15, 2008 12:02PM PDT

If it comes bundled with a big-name PC, it's actually tied to that model - you can't just bring it to another system.

You might as well get Office 2008 for Mac anyways. It's Office - you'll use it often, so why boot into Windows every time you want to write a report or a spreadsheet? The latest Mac version will handle what you need, and you probably don't need anything more than the low-cost version.

- Collapse -
You know Open Office, but look at Neo Office too.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Mar 15, 2008 12:07PM PDT
- Collapse -
You know Open Office, but look at Neo Office too
by dbennett48 Mar 15, 2008 12:58PM PDT

I have Butler Office Pro X. It can be used as MS Office. That is it will save and read the same formats as MS Office.

Back to Mac Hardware forum

CNET Forums

Operating Systems
Software
Electronics & Gadgets
Hardware
Tablets & Mobile Devices
General Help
Brand Forums
Roadshow Autos
Off Topic

Other Forums

Forum Info