Help with choosing a macbook

[OmiKnight52]

Hey guys I have a little Dilemma choosing from two Macbook options. It'll be my first macbook and its for basic work and learniing Mac os X. The First option is $75 cheaper and has intel gma 950 64mb of intergrated ram. The second has Intel x3100 144mb of integrated so both x3100 and 950 are not dedicated so probaly wont make any diffrence, plus option 1 has superdrive

Option 1: APPLE MACBOOK 13" C2D 2.16 GHZ 1GB/120GB/SUPERDRIVE!! intel gma 950 64mb A t7400 2007 model

Option 2: APPLE MACBOOK 13" C2D 2.1GHZ 2GB/120GB/X.5 Intel GMA X3100
A faster t8100 C2D 2008 Model

 

[GfulDedFan]

Option 2 - Pros: Newer and faster for not too much more money. Parts are younger and theoretically less worn. Cons: No SuperDrive if you need one.

Option 3 - Wait for the Tablet with more prayer

-GDF

 

[andalusia]

Hey guys I have a little Dilemma choosing from two Macbook options. It'll be my first macbook and its for basic work and learniing Mac os X. The First option is $75 cheaper and has intel gma 950 64mb of intergrated ram. The second has Intel x3100 144mb of integrated so both x3100 and 950 are not dedicated so probaly wont make any diffrence, plus option 1 has superdrive

Option 1: APPLE MACBOOK 13" C2D 2.16 GHZ 1GB/120GB/SUPERDRIVE!! intel gma 950 64mb A t7400 2007 model

Option 2: APPLE MACBOOK 13" C2D 2.1GHZ 2GB/120GB/X.5 Intel GMA X3100
A faster t8100 C2D 2008 Model

I would go for the 2nd option. A, it has a better graphics card (much better than the crappy old GMA950), B, it has an extra GB of RAM, C, it is a newer model so no doubt has a higher resale value.

However if you need the Superdrive then you may as well go for that.

But I'd pick the Intel X1300 over the GMA950 anyday.

 

[NewMacbookPlz]

I'd wait and find one that really suits your needs instead of compromising.

Not having a DVD-capable SuperDrive is absolutely unacceptable in my opinion, but then again, so are GMA 950 based graphics.

 

[eXan]

GMA950 is not much worse than X3100. I have 950 and its enough to play GTA San Andreas, COD2 multiplayer and CSS smoothly. When not gaming I see no difference between my GMA950 and Radeon 2400 XT (in the iMac) in general system performance.

 

[NewMacbookPlz]

One other thing to consider, I think somebody on here was saying the most recent build of Snow Leopard included some form of Open CL support for the x3100...

 

[OmiKnight52]

Maybe, but I checked apple's Snow Leopard page and it only shows amd and nvidia support.

 

[Kyeris]

Maybe, but I checked apple's Snow Leopard page and it only shows amd and nvidia support.

Only for OpenCL that I'm aware of. Only true requirement is an intel processor.

 

[NewMacbookPlz]

Only for OpenCL that I'm aware of. Only true requirement is an intel processor.

He was talking about my previous post I think. I remember somebody on here mentioned a bit about x3100 support in the newest SL build, but I don't remember if it was related to openCL or just improved drivers.

 

[Kyeris]

He was talking about my previous post I think. I remember somebody on here mentioned a bit about x3100 support in the newest SL build, but I don't remember if it was related to openCL or just improved drivers.

Ahh. Yeah, I've seen a few things regarding the X3100 and improved performance but nothing opencl related.

 

[OmiKnight52]

Ill buy the T8100 2.1ghz Macbook since I don't burn dvds and I have a pc for gaming and upgrade it to 4gb ram and snow leopard.

update: Seems Ill have to get option 1 as 2 is all out.

 

[andalusia]

Ill buy the T8100 2.1ghz Macbook since I don't burn dvds and I have a pc for gaming and upgrade it to 4gb ram and snow leopard.

Good choice, I hoped we were of help to point you in the right direction

 

[NewMacbookPlz]

With those as my only choices that's what I would have choose as well. In the future if you need the DVD capacity, you can always buy a used SuperDrive online and install it in the place of the ComboDrive.

 

[andalusia]

In the future if you need the DVD capacity, you can always buy a used SuperDrive online and install it in the place of the ComboDrive.

Or buy an external DVD writer?

 

[NewMacbookPlz]

That would work too I guess, but I usually use my MB on the couch or a table so having external drives hooked up can be a PITA

 

[andalusia]

That would work too I guess, but I usually use my MB on the couch or a table so having external drives hooked up can be a PITA

Only as much as an external hard drive with which you want to do hourly backups, or a printer, etc etc. It would be fine if you only use it occasionally

 

[OmiKnight52]

GMA950 is not much worse than X3100. I have 950 and its enough to play GTA San Andreas, COD2 multiplayer and CSS smoothly. When not gaming I see no difference between my GMA950 and Radeon 2400 XT (in the iMac) in general system performance.

How good at basic editing like video conversion and music on ur White macbook and is it max 2gb or 4gb? because wiki has it at 4gb while other sites show 2gb

 

[eXan]

How good at basic editing like video conversion and music on ur White macbook and is it max 2gb or 4gb? because wiki has it at 4gb while other sites show 2gb

These tasks are entirely CPU-dependant, so they run just the same if you have Radeon 4870 or no graphics card at all. And Core 2 Duo in my MB does that just fine

Max RAM in my MB is 3.3 GB, only starting with SantaRosa Max has been upped to 4 GB.

 

[OmiKnight52]

Hey do u run bootcamp, and if so how much space would be good for windows?

 

[NewMacbookPlz]

Hey do u run bootcamp, and if so how much space would be good for windows?

IMO, no less than 20-30GB. Depends really on what you'll need to do in the Windows environment.

 

[OmiKnight52]

Its just for A game I play called guildewars-2gb-and basically for windows only stuff so maybe 15gb for partion. seems Ill be getting option 1 monday since 2 is out but Itll have 3gb instead of 1 and later on a 320gb 7200rpm

 

[NewMacbookPlz]

Its just for A game I play called guildewars-2gb-and basically for windows only stuff so maybe 15gb for partion. seems Ill be getting option 1 monday since 2 is out but Itll have 3gb instead of 1 and later on a 320gb 7200rpm

Will that game run well on a GMA 950 graphics chipset?

 

[OmiKnight52]

Yeah I checked intels website and its listed as one of the games. So I bought
option 1 with 3gb, I should get by friday.