Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Difference between 1.83 and 2.0 ghz MB

Agurri

Agurri

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 8, 2005
289
0
Québec, Canada
Hello,

Yep, it's back for school for me too. I'm going in Electrical Ing. and I need a laptop. The problem is , I could get a fairly cheap laptop PC and all problems would be solved (since most programs runs on Windows), but I've been dreaming for a mac for the past 5 years (yeah, I know it's long). Currently, the computer I'm using the most is a Athlon 950 mhz, with 896 mb RAM and an ATI Radeon 7200 64 mbs.

But, the point here is to compare both entry level macbooks. I'll bring another PC at my app with a DVD burner, so, beside the the Superdrive, the only difference is the speed. Is the difference between the 1.83 and the 2.0 is very big ?. Let's compared them witht the stock 512 mb of ram, because I wouldn't upgrade that until ... maybe xmas .

So, what do you guys think ?

PS. My last Mac was the 1st PowerPC introduced ... the 6600/60 ... humf :)
 
I think performance-wise, they will be very close. I would go with the 1.83, and am probably going to do just that once I sell my PowerBook G4.
 
Agurri said:
So, what do you guys think ?
Click to expand...

You get best value for money by buying the slower processor and adding RAM. The processor makes 10 percent difference in speed. Not having enough RAM can make much more difference.
 
I ordered my 1.83 today because the 2.0 wasn't much of a speed increase (I don't think you'll notice it with everyday use), and the DVD burner has a poor speed. Also I've heard of problems with the Superdrive models in that they're very sensitive to scratched CDs.

So I'm happy with my purchase. :) I'd go for the 1.83.
 
i like everyone else believe the sweet spot in the MB range is the 1.83. my reason was based on the fact that the 2.0 was 300$ more for 10% speed increase and a slow dvd burner. you could pick up a external dvd burner which will be faster for about 100$, add more ram for 200$ would give you 2gb so you end up with a fast future proof laptop for the same price as the 2.0. :cool:

p.s. i am in Australia
 
As stated, the 1.83 will work great for your Electrical Ingineering (;)) classes. Just add at least a 1GB ram chip and off you go.
 
Thanks all. But I would like to know how does the MB 1.83 perform with the stock 512 mb of ram. As stated above, I won't upgrade with another gb of ram before xmas so, for one semester, I would be running with 512. So, how does it do ?( ... would like to have some real-exp feedback, if any.)
 
What people are getting at here is this:

512 isn't enough. It's been said over and over in these forums. If you're using anything under rosetta (word?) then 512 just isn't enough - and even if you're not OS X is a hungry monster for ram.

Save the extra money you would spend going from 1.8 to 2GHz and get another stick of ram now. If not, and you're set on not upgrading the ram until xmas then get the 1.8Ghz and still put the money aside for ram. You're gonna need it!
 
Agurri said:
Thanks all. But I would like to know how does the MB 1.83 perform with the stock 512 mb of ram.
Click to expand...

For the one semester involved, you will survive but patience should certainly be one of your strong suits. You will encounter sluggishness and will need to sharply limit what apps are opened at the same time. As another poster just mentioned about Rosetta, you can pretty much forego that route until your memory is properly ramped up.
 
Go with 1.83. You can buy a MacBook Pro from an authorized Mac reseller for $1550, before tax and after $150 mail in rebate. That is what I did. Just search all the resellers listed on the Apple website. Then order ram from a third party vendor. I am going to go with Omni Optiva Ram. They boast a CAS latency of 3. Their price is now $78 a gig stick.
 
Agurri said:
Thanks all. But I would like to know how does the MB 1.83 perform with the stock 512 mb of ram. As stated above, I won't upgrade with another gb of ram before xmas so, for one semester, I would be running with 512. So, how does it do ?( ... would like to have some real-exp feedback, if any.)
Click to expand...

Well, you definately notice lag when browsing multiple Safari pages or tabs, while running other programs like Photoshop. And, multi-tasking has a little drag in it. The system is completely usable with 512. It still smokes a PC in multi-tasking by far. Definately upgrade the ram sometime down the road.
Photoshop takes a long time to load anyway because it is a Power PC program versus being a Universal program. Power PC music programs seem to be the slowest on Intel Macs.
 
acutally .... I was talking to my dad and ... we kinda bought the 2.0 ghz model.... i'll stay with the stock memory for now, but he looked over owc to buy memory. i mean wow .... i justed ordered the mac I wanted ... i'm still shocked...after so many years of dreaming ... i will get a mac, for real. supposed to be shipped by tuesday ... damn, that wait it going to be a pain.
 
acutally, when my dad and I were talking ... we agreed to buy 1 stick of ram of 1gb for the macbook, which would get the laptop to 1,25gb. So, while he was ordering the ram, I went to bed. When I looked up the mails this morning, he kinda bought 2 gb of ram ... i mean ... that's cool , very cool. At the best, I tought I would get the 1.83 with 1.25 gb of ram.... but no, i'm gettin the 2.0 mb with 2gb of ram ... geez, isnt that cool....
 
Especially given the shared VRAM, I would get over this idea about not upgrading the RAM until Christmas. Just don't get the RAM from Apple.

Get at least one 1GB RAM stick now, and be prepared to get another later.

A MacBook with 512MB of RAM is an unusable dog.
 
Agurri said:
acutally, when my dad and I were talking ... we agreed to buy 1 stick of ram of 1gb for the macbook, which would get the laptop to 1,25gb. So, while he was ordering the ram, I went to bed. When I looked up the mails this morning, he kinda bought 2 gb of ram ... i mean ... that's cool , very cool. At the best, I tought I would get the 1.83 with 1.25 gb of ram.... but no, i'm gettin the 2.0 mb with 2gb of ram ... geez, isnt that cool....
Click to expand...

Now that is a dog of a different color.

A 2.0 2GB MacBook is a thing of joy.
 
yeah, I have to agree it's really cool ... I can't wait to have the box in my hand. And guess what is the 1st thing i'm going to do ! .... install windows ... lol. Yeah, I want to make a winows insall as stable as possiblw since i'm gonna use it onl fo a fewprogram for school, such as mathlab 7.1 :). Man, the feeling I had when I received m 1st iPod was something,but rceiving my laptop ..... is like gettingan Pod x 1000
 
This is a personal preference: if I were you, the first thing I would do, before installing windows, is reinstall OSX. I have not yet come across a mac on OSX on which the factory install was somehow, strangely, imperfect...
I'm agonizing over the MB as you were - black, white? combo or super? - this thread was short but useful.
 
Yeah mate get a ram upgrade, if you were thinking about getting the 2ghz model I'm sure you could fork at a bit more for the 1gb of ram option. I have a iBook with 768mb of ram and it starts to get sluggish on occasions :)
 
I always believed that when it came to machines with a 0.2ghz difference between them, the only reason you'd pay more is due to because of the VRAM, Hard Drive and the like since the difference is negligible (I've used a 1Ghz iBook and a 1.2Ghz Powerbook before).

Maxing out the RAM, as everyone suggested is the way to go.
 
yojitani said:
This is a personal preference: if I were you, the first thing I would do, before installing windows, is reinstall OSX. I have not yet come across a mac on OSX on which the factory install was somehow, strangely, imperfect...
I'm agonizing over the MB as you were - black, white? combo or super? - this thread was short but useful.
Click to expand...

I took the second model, white with superdrive and 2 gb of ram ordered from OWC. But, for the idea of re-installing the OS when the laptop arrives, I don't see why the OS installed on the machine would not be good ... explain youself so we can all understand
 
Agurri said:
I took the second model, white with superdrive and 2 gb of ram ordered from OWC. But, for the idea of re-installing the OS when the laptop arrives, I don't see why the OS installed on the machine would not be good ... explain youself so we can all understand
Click to expand...

I've heard all kinds of theories about why the factory install isn't so good. The most common is something to do with the shaking etc. the machine goes through in transit. The mac techs at my former company told me that you should never use the factory install. They felt that most, not all, installs were bad, but I honestly can't remember their reasons. I didn't listen to them when I got my first mac (the one in my sig!), which I realized, after the problems, was a mistake.

I've just encountered a lot of strange behavior with various programs and functions after about 6 - 8 weeks of use. It's possible to blame the user, but in all cases after I reinstalled I've never had the problem again. For example, with this machine, as I remember, the resolution would randomly change, usually after a hd sleep or something like that. I haven't done a clean install on this machine since Sept. 2004 - so it's hard to remember all that happened. I just remember a number of issues aside from the res. being a pain. Earlier this year a dept. 15' PB, after about 8 weeks kept having all kinds of problems with the keychain (like it would forget passwords numerous times, even after checking the keychain access.app!) and wouldn't install any 3rd party software on the first effort (had to remount, try again and worked).

People often bring me their messed up computers to fix and that kind of weird behavior seems to be a trend. The problems usually aren't sever, they are just a pain in the backside (like having to reenter your password all the time). In fact, usually they are so small that users assume the problems are just glitches.

Anyway, I'm not the only person on MR who does this. Can someone else add to what I've said?

Cool computer! I will probably get the low-end MB since it won't be my main working machine. I'm not so happy about the combo drive, but I can use the burner I have at home for any backup etc... And I will probably upgrade to a 160GB HD in the new year! Also, I know you've ordered yours but datamem is also good place for RAM. I think they are a shy bit cheaper than OWC.
 
Agurri said:
Thanks all. But I would like to know how does the MB 1.83 perform with the stock 512 mb of ram. As stated above, I won't upgrade with another gb of ram before xmas so, for one semester, I would be running with 512. So, how does it do ?( ... would like to have some real-exp feedback, if any.)
Click to expand...

I would upgrade the ram sooner than Christmas if you can. You will probably find yourself frustrated with slowdowns if you don't... regardless of processor speed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back