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I'm a Soon-to-be Convert w/ a few Questions

P

phlabse

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 1, 2007
16
0
My dell recently died after vista had its way with it (surprise surprise)...so I've turned my faith towards Macs. I've waited a while for leopard and the new update to be published to make a move for a Mac. Please excuse my extreme ignorance of Macs as I was a PC user for my entire life.

Let me first start by saying that I'm a college student who will use his Mac for word processing/internet/photos/videos, that's it. Any help about hardware and other configurations would be very much appreciated!

I'm thinking about buying one of the lower end Macbooks. It is my understanding that I could upgrade RAM and such from third party dealers such as Newegg and Crucial(is that was it is called?).

So I guess I should start asking my questions if you don't mind going through them (which most of you probably have done for other people too, sorry!)

Will there be a noticeable difference between 2 GHz and 2.2 GHz for what i will use my computer for?

If so, is it worth the investment of the extra money? ( I wish there were a way to be able to get the faster processor without having to commit more money to the superdrive and 120 GB hardrive)

Should I order my computer with only 1 GB and upgrade up to 2,3, or 4 from third party vendors?

If so, where should I buy it from? What's a reasonable price?

Those are my main concerns, any other advice as far as software and accessories would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance guys,

A future yet soon-to-be Mac'er
 

Will there be a noticeable difference between 2 GHz and 2.2 GHz for what i will use my computer for?

No, you wont feel any major speed change for your use.


Should I order my computer with only 1 GB and upgrade up to 2,3, or 4 from third party vendors?
1 GB might work fine for you. Don't upgrade if you don't feel like you need it after using it for a while.



Do note that the cheapest MacBook does not come with a Double-layer SuperDrive DVD burner
 
" I wish there were a way to be able to get the faster processor without having to commit more money to the superdrive and 120 GB hardrive"

I'll bet 90 days later, you'll appreciate the HD and drive, yet hardly notice the minor processor bump.
 
You most likely would never notice the speed difference. RAM, go 3rd party. I like OWC, ( www.macsales.com is their site) their prices and support. Newegg and Crucial are also good. Can't really go wrong with those 3. But I always urge people to consider a Superdrive machine. You may not think you want it. But you can use iMovie/iDVD to make DVD photo slideshows, with or w/o music and/or narration, as well as even if you don't have a camcorder, if you ever shoot little movies on a digital camera, you can dump those into iMovie and make movies. And yes for the most part you can put those online and email condensed versions, you'll be amazed at how much better they look on a tv than the computer screen once you burn them to dvd. (computer really has more resolution). You may also want to use dvds as data storage since 4.7GB > 700MB on a cd. All things to consider.

Enjoy your Mac.
 
2GHz is good, I do more than you do and I have a 2Ghz/2GB RAM Macbook.

I know when I bought my Macbook (earlier this year), the price of 2GB from a 3rd party site was nearly identical to the price Apple was offering, so I just went with Apple's memory. It's easier if something happens down the road, because if you have 3rd party memory you'll have to take it out when you send your computer to Applecare.

Remember as a college student you get a discount on Apple products through the Education store!
 
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