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Battle of the White Plastic Macbooks

T

tournée d'adieu

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 18, 2008
8
0
So, I waited all summer to see what the updates would be for the new Macbooks, and since I'm really not impressed enough by the updates to shell out that much money for either model, and because I'm still determined to switch to :apple:, I've decided to resort to my original inclination, which was to buy a mid-range white notebook.

Of course, the new $999 option threw me into a situation where I'm dealing with approximately the same specs for approximately the same price. So I need help in determining what model to buy. Keep in mind everything I'm looking at is refurb or at an educational discount.

Here are the options I'm considering:

Baseline Model - New: $949
2.1GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
1GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x512MB
120GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

Baseline +1GB Memory - New: $1,024
2.1GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
120GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

Refurbished MacBook: $1,049
2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB memory
160GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

What do you guys think? Is the .3Ghz, 1GB memory add, and larger hard drive, really worth it? I'll be using the computer mainly as most students do- internet, word processing, and fiddling with home movies/pictures. Do those elements make that much of a difference, or should I save $100?

Thanks to anyone who bothered to read this and lend me their opinion (you don't have to be an expert!) :)
 
Get the 2.4 Ghz refurb. Hands down if it was me buying it. BTW, it comes with a 250gb hd, not a 160.
 
Look at "Clearance Notebooks"

The new white notebook does have a price reduction... but so does the 2008 Blackbook if you look under "Clearance" instead of "Refurbished". That way you can get a larger hard drive and faster processor. I don't know about you, but my music takes up a lot of my Gigs, so I would vote for a larger hard drive. I've been using the BlackBook for 4 months and I love it.
 
This is why it is silly to wait, you went all summer only to be let down.
Now if you bought your macbook at the beginning of summer and today's update was something you liked you could have sold and gotten the new one.

But, here and now I would agree on the refurb. Also to note is that the low end macbook is still the same they did not update that one.
 
synth3tik said:
This is why it is silly to wait, you went all summer only to be let down.
Now if you bought your macbook at the beginning of summer and today's update was something you liked you could have sold and gotten the new one.

But, here and now I would agree on the refurb. Also to note is that the low end macbook is still the same they did not update that one.
Click to expand...

I didn't mind waiting because I wasn't in urgent need of a new notebook *using my Mom's toshiba laptop in the meantime :eek:*

Yeah, I only meant new in terms of the price drop/to differentiate it from the refurbs in the list. To the posters who suggest blackbooks, I see your point, but for some reason I'm fixated on the white. It's ridiculous, I know, but I don't need a large HD because of my external, so it's really a battle of GHz and memory. Is the .3 upgrade in GHz and the 1GB increase in memory worth the $100, is the ultimate question.

Thanks to all who have responded so far. It's nice to have some guidance. :)
 
Actually, I was thinking on it a little more, and isn't it true that the 2.1Ghz macbook WAS updated? Now it has the SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW). Before, only the 2.4Ghz models had that, correct?
 
Oh, and one last thing - should I be concerned that the refurb is more likely to crack? I know these plastic macbooks have issues with that, particularly older ones...
 
From my experience with iPods and what I've heard about Macs, you shouldn't be worried about the quality of refurbs. The only difference is the packaging. Go for it and get AppleCare on ebay.
 
If the refurbished unit does happen to crack (although it is no more likely to do so than a new unit), you'd be covered by the same 1-year warranty as if you bought the macbook brand new. If you want additional protection, you can also buy the applecare extended warranty on refurbs as well
 
go with the refurb. 100 bucks is a good deal for extra hard drive, the fastest intel c2ds and ram. that actually adds up to more or less 100. and the cpu isn't user-replaceable, in any form/fashion although the HDD and ram are.
 
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