Buying a MacBook for college; Some Advice would be great!

[rhagen]

I done a lot of research and narrowed my choices as much as possible.
I will be attending San Diego State University this coming quarter and would love to take a new mac up there with me.

I will just be doing the common stuff that a lot of people do: Safari, iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, Word Documents, ext. Along those lines.

Thus I have chose the MacBook for my future Laptop. Now I picked out the White: 2.16GHZ machine. I am wondering how many ram slots does this have have. I am wanting to have 2 gig ram in there for sure. What is the best possible route to achieve this.

.Mac - This looks very interesting to me, how much is it per month to have the service. It looks like a great way to post pictures, blog, ext, on the internet.

Pretty much all I have to ask so far, I will keep thinking though. Will be purchasing the MacBook within 2 weeks.

Thanks,
Ricky

[jorasho]

The 2.16 GHz machines has two RAM slots. Getting 2 GB, you can choose two routes, custom ordering it at Apple (expensive) or building it in yourself.

.mac costs $99 per year, I believe it's $69 if you order a Mac. It is great but in my opinion way too expensive, only if you cannot live without it.

[rhagen]

How much money will I actually save if I don't go through apple to upgrade my ram.

One more thing, this machine will run Leopard pretty much flawlessly when it does come out correct?

[showtime]

The macbook has 2 open ram slots but maxes out at 3GBs. I'm not sure how much apple charges for 2GBs of ram but I'd assume that it's significantly more than it should be.

I upgraded my macbook to 2GB for just $70. It's really easy and is just a matter of unscrewing 3 screws and flipping a lever.

Leopard should also run perfectly fine on the macbook when it comes out.

Just another tip, if you're around your university, you should definately check out the computer store on campus before you buy from the apple store. Some campus computer stores actually have better student discounts off the macbooks and macbook pros than the regular student discount. (Mine had $100 off regular academic price)

[rhagen]

The macbook has 2 open ram slots but maxes out at 3GBs. I'm not sure how much apple charges for 2GBs of ram but I'd assume that it's significantly more than it should be.

I upgraded my macbook to 2GB for just $70. It's really easy and is just a matter of unscrewing 3 screws and flipping a lever.

Leopard should also run perfectly fine on the macbook when it comes out.

Just another tip, if you're around your university, you should definately check out the computer store on campus before you buy from the apple store. Some campus computer stores actually have better student discounts off the macbooks and macbook pros than the regular student discount. (Mine had $100 off regular academic price)

I have to check that out for sure. I had a chance to go to SDSU book store. Walking into it seemed like I was in an Apple Store. Apple stuff everywhere. Thanks for the heads up.

[Sopranino]

.Mac is a bit pricey for what you get at this time, however I do like the Sync features and the fact that I get just about zero in the way of junk email. (Those two items alone are worth paying for, 99 dollars may still be a bit much though)

However, Steve Jobs mentioned a couple of items during his WWDC keynote that will definitely make .Mac worth the price. The biggest one was the 'Back to Mac' feature that allows you to remotely access your computer from anywhere in the world if you are connected to the net.

Sopranino

[MacDonaldsd]

.mac is nice its just extremely over priced. Its usefully when you have multiple macs but if you just have a MacBook I question if its worth the price tag.

[Trizzle74]

newegg is where I'm getting my ram. 83 dollars shipped!

[iW00t]

.Mac is a bit pricey for what you get at this time, however I do like the Sync features and the fact that I get just about zero in the way of junk email. (Those two items alone are worth paying for, 99 dollars may still be a bit much though)

However, Steve Jobs mentioned a couple of items during his WWDC keynote that will definitely make .Mac worth the price. The biggest one was the 'Back to Mac' feature that allows you to remotely access your computer from anywhere in the world if you are connected to the net.

Sopranino

1. Chronosync
2. .Mac has spam filtering? I did not know that...

[Igantius]

However, Steve Jobs mentioned a couple of items during his WWDC keynote that will definitely make .Mac worth the price...
Excellent point. Also during that recent 'An evening with Bill and Steve' event, Jobs freely admitted that .Mac hadn't been overly impressive, but this would change in the future - hopefully, there will be a little more coming....

[rhagen]

Thanks guys for the information about .Mac.

I would like someone to give me a link for the best 2 or 3 gig ram package for my new MacBook. I am getting the 2.16 model if it matters.

[Roguepirate]

If you decide to make your buy, i highly suggest going to your campus bookstore and see if they have any macs in stock. I go to cal poly pomona, and the instore macbook & mbp's are discounted an additional $100 off the education price. Only drawback is that you must live with the standard configurations.

[Airforce]

Thanks guys for the information about .Mac.

I would like someone to give me a link for the best 2 or 3 gig ram package for my new MacBook. I am getting the 2.16 model if it matters.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231104

Just got two and they work great. Easy install.

[rhagen]

If you decide to make your buy, i highly suggest going to your campus bookstore and see if they have any macs in stock. I go to cal poly pomona, and the instore macbook & mbp's are discounted an additional $100 off the education price. Only drawback is that you must live with the standard configurations.

Hey, does the school have the iPod and Printer rebates also?

[iMacBook]

The macbook has 2 open ram slots but maxes out at 3GBs. I'm not sure how much apple charges for 2GBs of ram but I'd assume that it's significantly more than it should be.

I upgraded my macbook to 2GB for just $70. It's really easy and is just a matter of unscrewing 3 screws and flipping a lever.

Leopard should also run perfectly fine on the macbook when it comes out.

Just another tip, if you're around your university, you should definately check out the computer store on campus before you buy from the apple store. Some campus computer stores actually have better student discounts off the macbooks and macbook pros than the regular student discount. (Mine had $100 off regular academic price)

I thought the most RAM you could have was only 2GB?

[rhagen]

I thought the most RAM you could have was only 2GB?

No, the MacBook can hold up to what is said to be 3.3 gigs of ram.

[Igantius]

I thought the most RAM you could have was only 2GB?
You're half-right, the C2D MBs can access up to 3.3GB Ram (that's with 2x2GB sticks), but the orginal CD MBs can only take up 2GB. There's a few threads about this.

[zioxide]

Mac - This looks very interesting to me, how much is it per month to have the service. It looks like a great way to post pictures, blog, ext, on the internet.

Waste of money. All your pictures will be going on facebook. That's just how college works :)

[rhagen]

Waste of money. All your pictures will be going on facebook. That's just how college works :)

Soooo true bro, soooo true.