Ive done quite a few of these waiting to buy threads and i promise this will be the last on. Being a design student with the current CS4, my current mbp is starting to show its age and im looking to get into mobile gaming more as i do my design work. Ive decided to stay with apple and get a macbook. My question is, Is the 2.4Ghz model of the unibody macbook worth the extra $250 for me? or is the 2.0Ghz model sufficient for CS4 and take the extra money and up the ram? My main intention for this machine is to take the load of my 1st gen mbp with CS4 work and to make it my entertainment machine on the side. Only games i would play on it are WoW, CS:S, L4D, and possibly SC2 when it comes out. Like i said before, this is strictly for mobile gaming/entertainment and a extra computer for CS4. Thanks in advance guys!
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2.4 macbook worth the extra $250?
- Thread starter vaderhater245
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the 15" screen seems a bit big for what i want it for. All i need is a extra laptop to help with the work load in CS4 for another 2 years tops. I plan on graduating in a year and a half and upgrading my pro to a 17"model. I have a dedicated gaming pc (sig) but are looking for a more mobile solution than my mbp. Im already putting this on my credit card a bit and was justifying if the extra $250 was worth it for me. Or if i should take that money to save for a SSD and more ram?
i keep seeing posts on the max ram being updated now? to 6GB if you have the money. Is this true for the macbook?
Well on the new unibody MacBooks, you could always put 6GB in there. Apple won't put it on for you, or support the RAM in case of damage, but it is possible to fully utilize 6GB of RAM in a MacBook. Just use one 4GB and one 2GB sticks and you're good to go.
2x1GB. I went for the 2.4 and I don't regret doing it. Get the backlit keyboard , bigger hd, and the faster processor.
From what you've said so far I'd get the whitebook if I was you and max it out with the money saved , and take a friend out for a meal with the extra money saved by not buying the unibody except one is made of alu an the other polycarb ...not much diff really .....unless bragging rights but tbh I'd rather have the faster machine and a meal out with a friend
If you actually go online and check the Apple store online, it says that it comes with 2 x 1 GB sticks of RAM. 
Personally, I rarely, if ever, recommend the higher-end MacBook to those people where money is an issue. There's just not enough benefit for the price you pay, as the speed benefit is small. The $250 may be worth it to those people who definitely have the money for either system, but still want to be smart with their money. You get around 10% real-world gain in speed, and a backlit keyboard. In that case, I guess either choice is OK.
I'd rather buy the 500 GB 7200 rpm Seagate harddisk. The harddisk is usually the slowest component of your entire laptop. Harddrives in general are a massive bottleneck, so buying the fastest one available may speed things up more than the processor.
Personally, I rarely, if ever, recommend the higher-end MacBook to those people where money is an issue. There's just not enough benefit for the price you pay, as the speed benefit is small. The $250 may be worth it to those people who definitely have the money for either system, but still want to be smart with their money. You get around 10% real-world gain in speed, and a backlit keyboard. In that case, I guess either choice is OK.
I'd rather buy the 500 GB 7200 rpm Seagate harddisk. The harddisk is usually the slowest component of your entire laptop. Harddrives in general are a massive bottleneck, so buying the fastest one available may speed things up more than the processor.
memory and hdd are an obvious upgrade for me down the road. I do heavy Illustrator work along with Photoshop and Flash work when needed on my current laptop in sig. Would the .4Ghz make any difference in those programs. Like i said, this computer just needs to help out for another 2 years tops with the pro i have now. Im also concerned when SL comes and my laptop wont take full advantage of it at all.
I use cs4 on my mb 2.4 I prefer it to my MBP, as I travel a lot and am currently out in kenya, I was glad for the smaller footprint. I plug into a bigger screen when I need to. I still have never used the 9600 on my mbp. I upped the ram to 4gb and have a 500gb internal HDD. No regrets a sweet machine, with backlit keyboard which was deal clincher for me.
Thats honestly what this machine is for these days. my current mbp is a pain in the ass as a portable now since i must have a cooler under it at all times when im working in CS4. While i am leaning towards the base model more atm. I was looking on newegg and came across this hdd. It should work with the new macbooks right?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148336
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148336
Why wouldn't it?
I can't tell which MBP you own right now. It could be a rev A. 15" MBP Core Duo (not Core 2 Duo) 2 GHz with 2 GB of RAM, which doesn't allow more than 2 GB. If so, the difference between a current MB and your MBP would be staggering. In fact, a current 2.0 GHz MB (unibody) would be around 30% (ballpark) faster than a 2.0 GHz C2D MacBook from two years ago. That should be fast enough for what you do. I'm not sure about the quality of screen you need, but hook it up to a decent external LCD if you need colour accuracy.
Why wouldn't it?
I can't tell which MBP you own right now. It could be a rev A. 15" MBP Core Duo (not Core 2 Duo) 2 GHz with 2 GB of RAM, which doesn't allow more than 2 GB. If so, the difference between a current MB and your MBP would be staggering. In fact, a current 2.0 GHz MB (unibody) would be around 30% (ballpark) faster than a 2.0 GHz C2D MacBook from two years ago. That should be fast enough for what you do. I'm not sure about the quality of screen you need, but hook it up to a decent external LCD if you need colour accuracy.
i definitely remember, got a revA. with the 2Ghz and 100GB 7200 hd being a option. While I'd love a new pro, i want a little more portability until i graduate( hopefully) and get a 17". I just hope this macbook can keep up until then.