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redking31591

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 10, 2008
393
62
my aunt is about to buy me a computer this week. Should I ask her for the 2.4 ghz blackbook brand new for about 1200 or the new unibody macbook with 2.0 ghz for 1300. price does not really matter.
 
i'd get a blackbook...more power and cheaper
doesn't have the new screens or trackpad but you have to figure out if those are important to you or not
 
will the old intel intergrated graphics be of any use with Snow Leopard's open cL
 
i'd get a blackbook...more power and cheaper
doesn't have the new screens or trackpad but you have to figure out if those are important to you or not

Agree. Black MB offers excellent value. Additionally, it's a tested and tried machine, whereas glitches might yet appear in the new MB which would need to be addressed.

Cheers
 
will i notice the diffences in the front side bus and the memory speed between the old and new macbooks?
 
Honestly I'm not sure why everyone is suggesting the black macbook over the new one. Sure it's a bit cheaper and 2.4ghz instead of 2.0ghz, but the other improvements in the new macbook far outweigh those things. Especially since the OP isn't buying it himself and price doesn't matter so much, I don't see why you wouldn't get the new one.

In a year's time the blackbook will feel old.

The new 2.0 AL macbook you get a much sturdier and nicer looking body, LED screen, faster memory speed, faster FSB, multitouch glass trackpad, ambient light detector and most importantly a much better graphics card. AND a design that will be current for the next few years. Also the new MB will be much better for Snow Leopard.

Just get the new macbook and be happy.
 
Honestly I'm not sure why everyone is suggesting the black macbook over the new one. Sure it's a bit cheaper and 2.4ghz instead of 2.0ghz, but the other improvements in the new macbook far outweigh those things. Especially since the OP isn't buying it himself and price doesn't matter so much, I don't see why you wouldn't get the new one.

In a year's time the blackbook will feel old.

The new 2.0 AL macbook you get a much sturdier and nicer looking body, LED screen, faster memory speed, faster FSB, multitouch glass trackpad, ambient light detector and most importantly a much better graphics card. AND a design that will be current for the next few years. Also the new MB will be much better for Snow Leopard.

Just get the new macbook and be happy.
And weighs 1/2 lb lighter. Not to be discounted when you are traveling with you MB. :)
 
Aluminum case is great for blocking Wi-Fi...

The Wi-Fi reception on the BlackBook will be far superior to the new MacBook.
 
The Wi-Fi reception on the BlackBook will be far superior to the new MacBook.

It is. I read articles on it and whenever my friend (he has the new alu Macbook) and I are at the cafe or at the University, my Blackbook gets a lot better reception. That is to be expected though.

On the screen issue the new alu and the previous gen have the same quality or should I say the same low quality screens. Both are horrible for the price we pay.

Nicer looking: Depends who you ask--Personally I don't care for the 2-tone alu Macbooks--looks very HP to me--that isn't a knock on it, but my personal opinion. Then again I don't buy a computer because it looks good. I know many of the kiddies do, but I look at what is best for me performance wise and what I feel comfortable using.

Weight: 1/2 pound is really nothing if you have any strength at all. I carry over 20 pounds a day to school. 1/2 pound is nothing. You can decide if that HUGE :) 1/2 pound is a big deal or not.

OP buy what you want. This site is great, but remember everyone has their biases (myself included) and will argue their choice is the best. Always verify any info you get from here. Look at your needs and look over independent reviews on it along with the specs. Then make the best decision for you.

I think both Macbooks are awesome. You can't lose.
 
eh... less power


Wrong. The 2.4 Blackbook has more power than the new 2.0 alu Macbook. Here ya go:

http://www.primatelabs.ca/blog/2008/10/macbook-and-macbook-pro-performance-october-2008/

About 15% more power overall. If the OP adds 4GB of RAM in the Blackbook for $25 from Fry's it isn't close. To upgrade the new 2.0 alu Macbook to 4GB's then it will set him back $150.00 and it still will be 15% less powerful than the Blackbook.

We can argue about Snow Leopard (which is 6-12 months away) and how that will effect performance, but I doubt it will make up 15% difference.

In real life comparison, my friend who has the new alu 2.0 and I tested different apps against each others laptops and mine was faster. He also upgraded to 4GB's. I like his new Macbook, but it is a fact it is slower right now.
 
If you aren't going to be playing any games, the blackbook would be a better choice.

If you are going to do light gaming or maybe some high end games with the graphics set to low, get the UniBook.

The 2.4 version of the UniBook, IMO, is not a good value, because just for a little more you can get a MacBook Pro and for a little less you can save your money and get practically the same laptop without the backlit keyboard and a little slower processor. I have a MacBook Pro and even in pitch black lighting, I tend to never look at the keyboard so the backlighting does nothing for me.
 
If you aren't going to be playing any games, the blackbook would be a better choice.

If you are going to do light gaming or maybe some high end games with the graphics set to low, get the UniBook.

The 2.4 version of the UniBook, IMO, is not a good value, because just for a little more you can get a MacBook Pro and for a little less you can save your money and get practically the same laptop without the backlit keyboard and a little slower processor. I have a MacBook Pro and even in pitch black lighting, I tend to never look at the keyboard so the backlighting does nothing for me.

Even light gaming is fine on the previous gen.. I agree if a person wants to do some medium to heavy gaming then buy the alu Macbook. However if they really do a lot of gaming then the Macbook Pro is the way to go.
 
Will spore run on the black book and will age of empires 3 run under bootcampp

I play Spore on my Blackbook in both OS X and Vista (using Bootcamp) and it runs fine on low setting. Age of Empires 3 will also run fine on it. Both will run better on the new one though. I just didn't buy a Macbook to play games a lot (no one should buy any Macbook primarily for games--not built for that). I use my gaming system and desktop for that.
 
Get the Aluminum

I can't belive people are still recommending the plastic macbook over the new one :confused:

pros, Courtesy of AppleInsider:

Dramatically improved build quality
Major upgrade to video performance
Noticeably better LCD
multi-touch trackpad
Good battery life
Runs cooler

Regarding the video, Courtesy of AppleInsider

On the earlier MacBook, gaming for all but 2D or particularly old titles is virtually impossible. In Quake 4, frame rates are so low as to be extremely choppy at 1024x768. An older-still game like Unreal Tournament 2004 does play within a few frames per second of a TV-like 30 frames per second at the same resolution, but it also has much less detail. And some games are entirely beyond the GMA X3100's scope; we wouldn't want to play truly modern games like Call of Duty 4 on Intel's stock hardware at all.

By contrast, the GeForce 9400M is an out-and-out powerhouse. Quake 4 does stutter at points -- particularly those with several characters onscreen in complex indoor environments -- but holds much closer and sometimes surpasses the 30 frames per second mark with medium-level detail that would crush the Intel video. Unreal Tournament 2004 also runs much more quickly; we never once saw the frame rate dip below 30 frames per second even at the 13" screen's maximum 1280x800, and in-play speed was often significantly higher.

Excluding gameplay, the video speed is also noticeably improved just in general tasks. The previous-generation MacBook would frequently drop a few frames during Dashboard or Expose transitions, especially in heavy use. On the aluminum system's 9400M, those drops never occur. We can also vouch for reduced CPU usage during QuickTime movies thanks to the 9400M's hardware acceleration. When playing a 1080p trailer from Apple's website, processor usage never climbed above 28.6 percent in Activity Monitor where it would at times climb much higher on the earlier MacBook, often hovering between 70 and 90 percent.
 
I can't belive people are still recommending the plastic macbook over the new one :confused:

pros, Courtesy of AppleInsider:

Dramatically improved build quality
Major upgrade to video performance
Noticeably better LCD
multi-touch trackpad
Good battery life
Runs cooler

Regarding the video, Courtesy of AppleInsider

Please tell me you were smarter than buying a Macbook for gaming(numerous posts by you refer to gaming--that is why I ask). That wouldn't be smart. It wasn't BUILT for that. While the current Macbook has better graphics it is still a far cry from anything close to great graphics needed for gaming. Yes it is better than the previous one, but it is still integrated at the end of the day. Once new high end games come out in 1 year or more, it won't be able to handle them.
 
Even light gaming is fine on the previous gen.. I agree if a person wants to do some medium to heavy gaming then buy the alu Macbook. However if they really do a lot of gaming then the Macbook Pro is the way to go.

There is no way in hell the aluminum macbooks can handle heavy computer gaming. Number 1) Laptops aren't made for heavy gaming. Number 2) The MacBook is a midrange laptop with an average laptop card. Number 3) Let's see the Aluminum macbook play games like Crysis, CoD, etc. with high settings running at atleast 1920x1200.
 
There is no way in hell the aluminum macbooks can handle heavy computer gaming. Number 1) Laptops aren't made for heavy gaming. Number 2) The MacBook is a midrange laptop with an average laptop card. Number 3) Let's see the Aluminum macbook play games like Crysis, CoD, etc. with high settings running at atleast 1920x1200.


You are right. I should of used a better word to describe it. As I said in my above posts, it is stupid to buy ANY regular Macbook for real gaming. It wasn't made for it. Old games and some current games are OK, but not great. My friend has a new one and it runs some alright, but not nearly great. Buy a gaming machine, maybe a Macbook Pro( way, way, better than the integrated graphics of the Macbook with a good screen) or desktop for real gaming.
 
If it is for your aunt, she will notice the 1/2 lb difference. I had a black macbook up until I got the new brick macbook.

As a woman, I carry around a lot of stuff already, so size and weight matter.

Plus, again as a woman, the black was always just too black for me. I had to try and jazz it up with some color.

Function wise, I havent noticed much of a difference in speed or wifi. The new macbook just feels so much more sturdy (again, i wont have to worry about the cracking anymore). I can pick it up by one corner and it wont creek, it just feels solid. The black also will wear on the finish leaving areas of shinny black. It makes it look worn and old.
 
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