A couple questions from a PC user about the new macbook...

[YngwieMalmsteen]

I can't find the specs for the lcd panel. Does mac publish the contrast ratio, response time, bit depth, etc.?

Is the video card replaceable?

How hard is it to replace the hard drive?

If I order 1 gig of ram, will all the ram slots be full so that I would have to buy all new ram if I want to upgrade to 2?

Thanks.

 

[Thanatoast]

Don't know about the screen.

The Macbook (not Pro) has integrated graphics and cannot be upgraded.

The HDD can be switched out and easily replaced - it's the same compartment as the ram and ridiculously easy. There's a video you can probably google.

The ram comes in two sticks, always.

 

[Makosuke]

I can't find the specs for the lcd panel. Does mac publish the contrast ratio, response time, bit depth, etc.?

Nope. They're probably comperable to other laptops with a similar sized screen, but other than that it's almost certainly an 8-bit-per-channel display, no luck. (If you're curious, though, Apple usually uses name brand parts, so you can probably guestimate who manufactures it, and look at the specs of another computer that uses that panel.)

The rest of your questions were already covered. If you want 1GB of RAM, it's probably cheaper to just get it custom-configured even though Apple overcharges somewhat, to save yourself the hassle of having to sell the two 256MB chips the stock model comes with. If you want to go to 2GB, though, it's much cheaper to buy stock and upgrade yourself.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Hint: If you go to the Apple Store and choose a product, it tells you how the RAM is configured and what options there are.

Order it with 512, and put in third party RAM. Don't bother selling the 256's - you are better off holding onto them in case you have to send the machine in for warranty repair.

Oh, and YM -- slow it down a bit there, brother, you pays just too damn fast.

 

[Josias]

I can't find the specs for the lcd panel. Does mac publish the contrast ratio, response time, bit depth, etc.?

Is the video card replaceable?

How hard is it to replace the hard drive?

If I order 1 gig of ram, will all the ram slots be full so that I would have to buy all new ram if I want to upgrade to 2?

Thanks.

1: The specs on the iMac's screen and ACD's are visible in specs pages, but not for MB/MBP screens.

2: No.

3: Easy. There are many instruction videos on how to do this.

4: As CanadaRAM said, buy it with the 2x256 (keep 'em), and get a 1 GB stick from Crucial or something like that.

 

[YngwieMalmsteen]

Thanks for the info, guys.

I still wanna check one out in person but right now I'm thinking that the glossy screen and extra $$$ for the black model are too big of downsides.

Oh, and CanadaRAM, the scary part is, I have been slowing it down. If I were to play at full speed mortals like you would become frightened, confused, and probably die.

 

[Mernak]

this comes from system profiler

Color LCD:
Display Type: LCD
Resolution: 1280 x 800
Depth: 32-bit Color
Built-In: Yes
Core Image: Supported
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported

thats all I can be sure of.

 

[aceboat310]

I'm new here on these forums and didn't want to bother people buy starting a whole thread about this. Does anyone know what the dimensions of the BOX the macbook comes in and also the weight of it with the macbook inside? Thanks a lot!

 

[Makosuke]

this comes from system profiler

...

Those stats are for the output from the graphics chip, not the LCD itself, so they're not really relevant (well, except for the resolution, but that's readily available) to what's being asked. I'm relatively certain there's no way in software to determine what the specs of the display, since they're all physical properties. Best you could hope for is something that determines the brand/model number (and even that's unlikely), which you could use to look up the specs online.