Buying Powerbook, need advice.

[iAtom]

I am planning to buy a new 15" Powerbook. I have some questions about what options I should choose:

1) How much difference in speed will I notice if I upgrade to 1 gig of RAM instead of 512 MB? I don't plan on getting the extra RAM from Apple, but I need to decide if I should pay the extra money to get 1 SO-DIMM of 512 instead of 2 SO-DIMMs of 256.

2) How much difference in speed will I notice between a 4200 RPM hard drive and a 5400?

3) Is AppleCare worth it? What are the chances that it will break and if it does how much will it cost to repair? Also, I will be ordering through the education store and I've heard that you get free extended AppleCare. Anyone know about this?

4) Will they do BTO options such as a different optical drive or extra Video RAM at an Apple retail store or do I have to order online for that?

 

[RBMaraman]

1. You will notice a big difference between 512 mb RAM ang 1 gig RAM.

2. The 5400 RPM drive will be much better in terms of speed, and I've heard it's better for battery life as well.

3. AppleCare is definitely worth it! I didn't buy it for my iBook, and my ethernet port recently started acting up. If I had AppleCare, it would be repaired for free. But, since I don't, if I want to get it fixed, it's going to cost me $700. I'm not spending $700 on an almost three year old laptop! It's not even worth $700! You can still buy AppleCare anytime in the first year you own the computer. Buy the PowerBook now, and wait until Apple contacts you to buy AppleCare. You have a 1 year warranty that'll protect you. Apple will contact you about a month before your 1 year warranty expires, and they'll ask you if you want to buy AppleCare to extend the warranty for 2 more years.

4. You must order online to get a BTO.