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$1,099 vs. $1,299

T

thajay2012

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 3, 2008
9
0
I am mainly going to use my MacBook for surfing the web, Photoshop, video editing, and a little gaming on the side.

Gaming I know does not rely on the processing power at least not a .3 GHz difference, so for the sake of argument gaming will not be included in this discussion.

Now, seeing as how I am only 14 and it does not look like many people around here are willing to hire a 14-year-old, every dollar counts in this case. When I get my MacBook I intend on making an upgrade to 4 gb of RAM regardless of what base I choose. So the bump to 2 gigs of RAM is not crucial in this argument. Onto the SuperDrive, I don't plan on burning many DVDs, though this is a nice feature. I am currently running on a max of 120 gb on this computer with about 50 gbs free space and this is including the clutter that has accumulated over my 4 years of owning this PC, yet again a 40 gb upgrade is not really necessary.

There is one thing that concerns me though and that his how big of a difference will .3 GHz make on the performance of the computer whilst I am using Photoshop (CS3 if you are wondering) or using iMovie? Is it worth the $200 upgrade?
 
Neither is going to WOW you when it comes to iMovie or Photoshop. That being said you won't see much difference. If you are pushing pennies get the base line macbook and up the ram and hard drive if you want.
 
In all honesty i don't feel that the processor speed will dramatically effect Photoshop.

More importantly is the superdrive as you mentioned. I got my MacBook two years ago and whilst it still runs perfectly i really regret not getting the superdrive. Admitted i do video stuff and i have a pc to do all the burning, it would have been far better to have had the option to burn higher capacity discs. It's the only thing thats stopped me getting rid of my pc.

Maybe try looking at refurbished models on the Apple site (bottom right corner). Save money and get what you want.
 
mixmacface said:
seriously, if you're pinching pennies, try and get a refurbished one. that way you save money, but get more. albeit, may not be new, but it's still a mac.
Click to expand...

+1
Go the refurb route if money is in a pinch. The $1299 model would then be $1099 same as the new low-end model. So now you can get the better spec'd machine for the price you were willing to pay for the low-end. I'd get the 2.4 GHz refurbed or not mainly for superdrive since that's not upgradeable.
 
I'd say get the base model, but of course getting a refurbished mid range would be best.
 
The only real difference between the 2 is the Superdrive. You can always buy an external DVD burner if need be. They are very inexpensive and are quite a bit better than the superdrive burner. If you go to CD freaks they recommend many drives in the 60-80 dollar range that are top quality. So if you ever really need one, this is a good option. The combo drive will play CD/DVD's but only burn CD's.

The same for your Harddrive. If you need more space you can always add an external, or pop in a larger drive at any time.
 
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