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Completely clueless- PLEASE HELP me choose MacBook model

U

UVAkimberly

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 6, 2007
2
0
i've just been surprised with the opportunity to get a macbook, but problem is i have NO idea what to buy/if now is a good time to buy it. I'm a student (economics/psyc double major) so i dont need my computer for anything except taking notes & pretty much word. Oh, and uploading my pictures from my digital camera would be great too. Should I just buy the 1.83GHz macbook or go for the 2.0? How much of a difference does it really make?

Please help me, I'm looking to purchase it before the end of the day! (Provided now is a good time to buy...)
 
UVAkimberly said:
i've just been surprised with the opportunity to get a macbook, but problem is i have NO idea what to buy/if now is a good time to buy it. I'm a student (economics/psyc double major) so i dont need my computer for anything except taking notes & pretty much word. Oh, and uploading my pictures from my digital camera would be great too. Should I just buy the 1.83GHz macbook or go for the 2.0? How much of a difference does it really make?

Please help me, I'm looking to purchase it before the end of the day! (Provided now is a good time to buy...)
Click to expand...
My personal recommendation is to get the middle-of-the-road 2.0 GHz one.

Why? Better hard drive, more RAM, DVD burner. If you're going to build-to-order, you don't need all of that, but, if you're buying in the store, I'd get the better of the white versions.

The processor speed isn't of much use to you, probably, but the other options are well worth it, I think. Being able to burn DVDs for backups - especially of your pictures you mentioned - is a good feature.
 
I have the bottom of the line Macbook. I use it daily for basic computing tasks, word processing, email, internet, iTunes. I don't find myself wishing that I had gone for a higher model. The bottom of the line Macbook does a fine job of handling basic computing tasks. Save yourself some money, go for the cheaper model.
 
if i was buying again .. White 2.0Ghz best of the bunch , even better if you find one on the refurb store then you will save loads :cool:
 
wow! thanks so much for the quick replies!! any and all advice is soo helpful! :)
 
Igf monryey is an issue, get the cheapest you can find - you won;t really feel the difference based on your described use. If money is not the issue - get the most expensive... why not have it all. I sometimes find going down the middle leaves one wondering if they could have gotten something better, or something cheaper...
 
CEAbiscuit said:
Igf monryey is an issue, get the cheapest you can find - you won;t really feel the difference based on your described use. If money is not the issue - get the most expensive... why not have it all. I sometimes find going down the middle leaves one wondering if they could have gotten something better, or something cheaper...
Click to expand...
but the difference between 2.0Ghz White and 2.0Ghz Black is $200 or £121 if in UK for 40 GB and a different paint job
 
I would say it depends on how comfortable you are on upgrading it yourself, since the ram and hard drive are user upgradable. If you are, get the entry level model and spend the extra money on upgrading the ram and hard drive yourself. With what you've said your going to use it for, you won't see much of a bump with the processor jump. If you don't feel comfortable opening it up, get the mid-range model. Also think ablout the mid-range model if you want a DVD burner built in. The entry level model doesn't have one.

I personally got the basic model and upgraded the ram myself. I may upgrade the hard drive down the road if I start to run low on space. It all depends on your own comfort level.
 
liketom said:
but the difference between 2.0Ghz White and 2.0Ghz Black is $200 or £121 if in UK for 40 GB and a different paint job
Click to expand...

There are very few "black and white" issues in this world.;) so this one is easy to address.

If money does not matter, get the one you prefer. My wife kicks herself for not getting black.. at the time she thought "why spend the extra dough???" Many may disagree, but part of buying a mac is how cool they look.
 
CEAbiscuit said:
There are very few "black and white" issues in this world.;) so this one is easy to address.

If money does not matter, get the one you prefer. My wife kicks herself for not getting black.. at the time she thought "why spend the extra dough???" Many may disagree, but part of buying a mac is how cool they look.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I don't find myself wishing that I had gotten a higher model because of the "guts". I do, however, sometimes wish that I had popped for the blackbook.
 
UVAkimberly said:
i've just been surprised with the opportunity to get a macbook, but problem is i have NO idea what to buy/if now is a good time to buy it. I'm a student (economics/psyc double major) so i dont need my computer for anything except taking notes & pretty much word. Oh, and uploading my pictures from my digital camera would be great too. Should I just buy the 1.83GHz macbook or go for the 2.0? How much of a difference does it really make?
Click to expand...

What you must have are: 1. DVD writer. 2. One GB of RAM. Everything else is optional.

The RAM is important because if you don't have enough, it can make your Mac really slow. The nine percent difference between 1.83GHz and 2.00GHz can make it at most nine percent slower, and most things are so quick that you won't notice anyway.

The DVD writer is important if you want to make backups. And believe me, you want to make backups! You buy a pack of 25 DVDs, and once a week you put an empty DVD into the MacBook and drag your home directory on the disk icon - that will safe you lots of tears if anything ever goes wrong.

A bigger harddisk would be necessary if you have an enormous music collection (say a few hundred CDs), or you want your DVDs on your computer, or you want to keep thousands and thousands of photos.
 
I'm in the same boat as the OP.

From my perspective though, i will probably go with the lowest end one and upgrade the RAM myself for $100 AUD and sell off the 2x 256 or keep them as spares.

The difference between the low and mid range one is $315 AUD after educational discounts on both and i don't particularly need the processing power, HDD or burner because i will only be using the laptop for web browsing at uni.
 
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