Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

2009 rev B "Macbook White"

E

Edensuko

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 20, 2009
31
0
So, for starters. I used the search button and didn´t find a thread with my specific question so, here it goes.

I have a santa rosa mbp, and im in need of more horsepower now, but i still want a laptop.

What im planning to do is Sell this baby and buy a whitebook, then ill build a hackintosh and be happy forever and ever.

I do have some doubts with the White macbook, some have been discussed, some i havent found where so ill just put them on the table.

-How is the LCD performance (Read, quality) ?
Ive seen so many alu macbook/pro threads but none referencing the screen on the whitebook, and the one that does has a conversation going about selling screen replacement for alu macbooks so not helpful at all.

-How warm does it get?
Again, plenty of alu macbook/pro temps but the whitebook has been long forgotten. My mbp gets quite hot lately, dont know why is that.

-Battery life
Some say 2 , some say 5 and i found one post saying 7 hours :S. any insight on it?

-Overall performance
I have a 2.2 proc , 2 gigs of 667 ram and the 8600 with 128mb. Processors are not that different but having better memory but lesser gpu may make a big difference. overall im looking for performance on par. Im planning on putting 4 gigs of ram and maybe a 320hdd at 7200 rpm.

So in a nutshell. I want a smaller, more portable laptop because it will be my secondary computer now. I just want to know if it will be able to do the things i currently do with my mbp the most demanding being playing team fortress 2 in bootcamp, since 3d modeling and rendering will now be handled in my desktop.

thanks in advance.
 
M

morrisman1

macrumors 6502
Apr 6, 2008
272
0
Bottom end of the bottom half - Invercargill New Z
Using your headings:

I have a santa rosa mbp, and im in need of more horsepower now, but i still want a laptop.

The new whitebook wont offer a substantial increase in power, the gpu will be slightly slower and the processor slightly faster, the ram slightly faster but overall it wont be a big upgrade.

What im planning to do is Sell this baby and buy a whitebook, then ill build a hackintosh and be happy forever and ever.
I have a hackintosh, it will only keep you happy for ever and ever if you love tinkering with drivers and kexts, in the 4 or so weeks ive been running it, its required more maintenance than what my macbooks have needed over the last 2 years. If you want a trouble free computer dont get a hackintosh, get a real mac.

-How is the LCD performance (Read, quality) ?
LCD = fine but not as good as the new MBP 13" monitor
backlight = fairly poor, hard to see when the sun is on the screen. LED backlight is multiple times better than the backlight in the whitebook

-How warm does it get?
my old 2.2 whitebook didnt get hot unless you really stressed it for extended periods of time. The new ones have 25w TDP chips (as opposed to 35w) and they run cooler and use less power, id imagine that the latest whitebook runs very cool.

-Battery life
Once again, the newer cpu uses less power, it essentially has the same components as my uMB and i get 4+ hours. The whitebook has a big battery, expect 5 hours from a charge doing normal stuff with brightness on half.

-Overall performance
Already covered, wont be a massive upgrade, graphics = downgrade, cpu = upgrade, ram = no real change

I think you should either get the 13" MBP or wait a while, your santa rosa macbook pro is still a good machine. You may be able to sell it for enough to buy a 13" MBP. I personally wouldnt go from your current machine to a current model whitebook
 
E

Edensuko

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 20, 2009
31
0
Thanks Morrisman

Yeah im not looking for an upgrade, basically i just need a more portable machine that can handle some mid range stuff.

As for the hackintosh, im aware it is not the easiest or leaner thing out there but my budget just cant go all the way up to the mac pro, and for me the imac is just not worth it, not in the sense of the actual machine but the focus apple chose to give to it. The g3 and the g4 imacs were desktop computers, this is a huge laptop and it shows a lot in the price tag, im not complaining , it is just not what im looking for.

So now.if Im getting a relatively equal machine thats more portable and has better battery life then im on it.

As for getting a MBP, i want to save as much as possible for my hackintosh, if i sell this and go buy a mbp ill have to wait even more to start building my computer.

Thanks again.

Any more opinions?
 
M

morrisman1

macrumors 6502
Apr 6, 2008
272
0
Bottom end of the bottom half - Invercargill New Z
your decision but i would get the MBP purely for the trackpad.

The MBP has a better battery than the whitebook and is a lot more resilient to wear and tear, it will age a lot better than what the whitebook will

The MBP is more upgradable, you can put 8gb of ram in it down the track if you wish which could be a nice benefit with the future being 64 bit applications.

The wifi is better in the whitebook, my mate can get what we call neighbor-fi all around the house with his whitebook but i can only get it in sections with my aluminium macbook. Its only an issue with very weak signals though and the plastic on the whitebook just gives it that extra bit of range.

Backlit keyboard? if you to keep that then you would need the MBP.
 
clyde2801

clyde2801

macrumors 601
Mar 6, 2008
4,365
54
In the land of no hills and red dirt.
Have you tried 4 gigs in your mbp? That will make a difference if you're taxing it, and ddr2 is dirt cheap now.

Have you tried putting in a larger 7200 hd in it? If it's still under applecare, see if a local 3rd party will install it for you so as not to invalidate the warranty. If not, take an hour or so and do it yourself.

I did the same to my 2.33 mbp (which couldn't even use all 4 gigs) and the difference was night and day.

At the very worst, they're cheap upgrades, and will either allow you to increase the asking price for your mbp or make it easier to sell.
 
E

Edensuko

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 20, 2009
31
0
Im trying to make a bit of money, no point if i just upgrade this. 100 to 200 bucks plus a whitebook is enough, it means i can at least start buying parts.

thanks
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom