Considering first MacBook - Aluminum, White or non-Mac?

[harmonica01]

Why push the alu so much? it will serve the OP no purpose other than to have him/her waste money,.....unless they are driven by aesthetics.

The whitebook is updated with the same NVidia graphics the alu macbook has the only difference(body aside) is the RAM being DDR3 in the alu and DDR2 in the whitebook....the OP will notice no difference with the tasks mentioned...all these peeps who go after form over function

DDR3 fsb all of it worth it. And yes you will notice a difference from the whitebook. My fiance has my 2.4 white book given with the x3100 card but still a huge leap into the aluminum

to the OP: in addition the screens on the new aluminum macbook are a huge leap forward for apple's introductory laptop line; they are amazing. The way the aluminum felt weight wise and in my hand sold it for me, and then I started them up side by side and compared the screens and hands down to the aluminums. 1249 student discount core price vs 949 whitebook core price for me... definitely worth the 300 for me and it sounds like we use same applications. Have your local applestore make an idvd project through an imovie export ~6minutes and you'll see the difference even with the new 9400m card in the old whitebook. (Yes same harddrive speeds too)

 

[mr.steevo]

Well...reasons I want a MacBook:

1. I'm in the web/tech industry and they're pretty ubiquitous, want to learn OSX
2. "Cool" factor + reputation for quality
3. I can afford to pay for the Mac name

Hi,

I think the white macbook is enough computer for what is described. If you need FireWire then the White is the only Macbook choice for under $2000. for my needs I would chose the white because I need the firewire for recording.

What stood out for me is that the poster listed "Cool" factor as a priority, and in the case of the white macbook I think you'll be disappointed. The white macbooks have a tendency to crack at the palm rests and around the screen bezel, and it looks terrible. My sister has had hers fixed, but it only happened again and it is now out of warranty. The Aluminum Macbook probably won't have this type of issue.

So, for computing "power" either will do, but for looks and "cool" you would be better off with the Aluminum.

Having said that, a new Aluminum Macbook is probably on its way in under 60 days, and may be worth the wait (though I doubt there will be much of a change with them). Keep in mind that the Aluminum Macbooks that are currently out are a first generation with all the bugs that come along with them. Best practice is to skip the first generation of anything and get the second or third.

s.

 

[marbles]

DDR3 fsb all of it worth it. And yes you will notice a difference from the whitebook. My fiance has my 2.4 white book given with the x3100 card but still a huge leap into the aluminum

Wasn't on about the whitebook with X3100 I was talking about the new whitebook with the NVidia graphics.

Very little real world difference between the current white macbook2.0Ghz and alu macbook2.02Ghz . .....oh except price .

 

[spin84]

Thanks for the help!

Ordered the Refurb Aluminum MB 2.0 today...can't wait for it to get here!

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

Wasn't on about the whitebook with X3100 I was talking about the new whitebook with the NVidia graphics.

Very little real world difference between the current white macbook2.0Ghz and alu macbook2.02Ghz . .....oh except price .

Please show where you got your facts from. DDR2 and DDR3 memory is very different. DDR3 is newer and much faster than DDR2. If you work with audio, video, photoshop, etc you will notice the difference. I assume you are an below/average user in order to justify your statements. The aluminum MB has an LED backlit screen, and a much better LCD panel than the polycarbonate MB. Multi touch (glass) trackpad, unibody frame and faster RAM memory.

 

[CarlisleUnited]

i thought the memory latency was quote a lot slower for DDR3 though? Not sure if that a limitation from the standaard or just the current hardware. Anyway i was tempted by a white MacBook but I'm very happy with the aluminium one, cos't slightly more but worth it just for the multitouch trackpad. My flatmates often ask me to help with their PC's and I cursse every time i have to use a standard tranckpad.