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General discussion

Which Macbook version?

Jan 8, 2007 12:17PM PST

Hi,

I have recently been persuaded that Apple is the way to go for me. I have been looking to get a laptop for myself for a little while now, and have settled on a Macbook.

I am basically doing normal, everyday tasks such as email, word processing, watching movies, burn cd's etc. I will not be gaming. My question is which version is right for me - the 1.8ghz or 2ghz?

I would at least want to upgrade the RAM to 1gb in the 1.8 and to 2gb a bit later if I need to. I could easily do the same in the 2ghz version. Having a dvd burner and larger hard drive would be nice but they are not essential for me. Is the performance difference that great and is the 2gz a much better value?

Also - how worth it are laptop warranties? I have never owned a laptop so I don't really know. I know that VISA doubles any warranty on a product so that could be enough but I don't know for sure.

I am spinning in circles with all the options and would appreciate any guidance.

thx.

Discussion is locked

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welll its kind of easy...
Jan 8, 2007 5:27PM PST

I suppose you are not going to do any video editing. So do you need the DVD burner? Well ask your self this question. Are you or are you not going to burn DVDs. You could burn DVDs for extra storage or for movies etc.

If you are going to do only the things that you mentioned then you would be better off going for the 1.83 Ghz model as the increase to 2 Ghz is not really noticeable. It is almost impossible to notice the difference with the work that you are going to do. The only way to notice the difference is to do some CPU intensive work like video editing. When you do that, you might notice that your work is done a few mins earlier.

About the hard drive, well again it depends upon you. Are you going to store any multimedia like movies on your laptop? Do you need the extra storage? For the work you specified, I really dont think you will need it.

With the extra cash that you save, you can buy more RAM which comes in quite handy and the difference is quite noticeable most of the time. Better still, you can buy AppleCare for your laptop. It is like car insurance, you dont use it frequently but it might come in handy. If some internal defect comes up then it might cost a lot of money to get repaired but the AppleCare it is free. The main reason why many people buy it is because it helps a lot when you want to sell your laptop after a few years. The reason being that people will know that this product is protected by Apple and any defects will be repaired by Apple.

Now lets look at the differences. If you upgrade your RAM and hard drive to equal the 2 Ghz model, then the difference in money is only $ 75. With that $ 75 you get a DL SuperDrive and a slightly faster processor. The only attractive thing is the superdrive.

Another little problem you face is RAM. As far as I know, the Macbook has only 2 RAM slots. No matter how much RAM you buy, the RAM will always take up both the slots. If you want to upgrade on your own then you will have to take away one RAM stick and maybe sell it to free up one slot. So you would think right now that it is better to just go for the 2 GB right away. But remember the Apple RAM is more expensive than what you can get from other manufacturers.

When you click on the Learn More button on Apple online store, it tells you that 512 MB is good enough for tasks like word processing, emailing etc. REad more of it and you can choose what is appropriate for you.

If I were in your position, then I would just buy the 1.83 Ghz model (unless I wanted to burn DVDs) and buy the AppleCare and maybe upgrade to 1 GB RAM. Simply out, do you want to burn DVDs? If yes, go for the 2 GHz model, if no, go for the 1.83 ghz model.

Good Bye

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Leopard
Jan 8, 2007 5:33PM PST

Oh yeah and maybe you should wait for Leopard. I don't want a debate started here but its a strong suggestion.
Now that we are in 2007, iLife 07 should be very close to release. and if you can hold on to buying a laptop, then you should wait for Leopard the new Mac OS to release. It will have many cool new features like automatic backup, multiple desktops etc to name a few. It is also rumoured tham the Graphical User Interface will change from Aqua(current on Tiger) to Illuminous which will have black and dark colours.
It is also said that the new OS normally works faster than the previous OS on the same hardware. I dont know about this but I have heard people saying this.

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I agree, if you can, wait 'till leopard.
Jan 10, 2007 4:05AM PST

I have the 2ghz macbook with 158mb of ram ( still havent gotten around to updating it Silly) and I think its a great computer..but since we're soo close to leopard being released maybe you should wait and see. Things like "Time Travel" similar to the feature on windows computers is something really nice to have. If you need a laptop for work now though, then dont hesitate, upgrade to leopard later.

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thx
Jan 17, 2007 2:16AM PST

Just wanted to say thanks guys!

Waiting till Leopard is out seems to be the smart thing to do.

Appreciate it!

Happy

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(NT) None for me, lol.
Jan 17, 2007 1:01AM PST
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just one more question related
Feb 3, 2007 8:29PM PST

Hi,
i am in the same spot as the original thread starter.
Presently i am a student so have access to web and use a lot of comp related to internet usage.
But my work is on merchant ships, where i am away from net.
So succinctly i use the laptop for normal word processing etc,
PLUS basic (Read basic) EDITING of pictures using picasa or may be
photoshop ( btw does mac have any software like photoshop ?) in distant future.
My question is: Should i be so much worried regarding the non use of
ATI graphics card in macbook with core 2duo.
and
can i just use openoffice and avoid buying ms office for mac since i can convert openoffice files into MS files just for printing purposes.


thks in advance for ur help

brgds
krish

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Save some headaches. Try NEO OFFICE instead.
Feb 3, 2007 10:05PM PST
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Basic editing of photo's
Feb 4, 2007 12:18AM PST

can be done in iPhoto, free with every new Mac. You could also use Photoshop Elements for Mac if you want to do a little more with editing.
As to your question about photoshop. Yes there is a piece of software that is remarkably similar to Photoshop. It's called Photoshop. Happy That product is produced for both platforms.

You should not concern yourself with the non use of ATI graphics cards. The card that is installed in the MacBook is perfectly capable of doing what you want it to do.

P

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xp buried in recovery cds.
Feb 8, 2007 11:46PM PST

thks P

One more question, presently have an ACER laptop which came with XP home installed.The xp home is buried somewhere in one of the 3 "Reecovery" cds for the laptop


Can i install xp home in macbook by using these cds?
rgds
krish

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No, that would fall
Feb 9, 2007 3:12AM PST

outside the terms of use of the EULA that you agreed to when you purchased the Acer.

You would also probably find that the restore disks have some form of checking on them to ensure that your are installing it on an Acer machine. HP & Compaq used that technique.

P