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been around this block a few times

but only today registered.... I need basic help, I've tried to wade through these 100 plus pages but!
Here it is, I have an old icebook, G3, 256, and 10 gigs.... I'm going to be buying a new MacBook however, all this tech talk goes way over my head, here's what I will be using it for, internet a lot! Photoshop Elements a bit (i'm a bit of a purist, Leicas and F3's, slides and B&W) i also have a P&S digital. I won't be using Photoshop all that much and not for massive image alteration. I'll be downloading some tunes but not a lot and no films. I don't think i'll need more than 60 gigs? I can always get an outboard (Evinrude?)I also write quite a bit. I'm thinking a RAM doubling would be a good idea but I have no idea about processor speeds, would spending $200. Canadian for a 'faster' pro. and Superdrive be advisable in my world? I kinda doubt i'll need to transfer all that much text or photo's, do I really need DVD burning capability? You can email me or just post here and THANK YOU for bearing with me!
 
Hard Drive Upgrade for Macbook

Folks,

I am going crosseyed trying to find a post regards to purchasing an aftermarket 100+GB hard drive for my shiny new macbook. Thanks in advance for those who can point me in the right direction.
 
vsack said:
I am going crosseyed trying to find a post regards to purchasing an aftermarket 100+GB hard drive for my shiny new macbook. Thanks in advance for those who can point me in the right direction.
What's to find out? All you need is a 2.5" SATA drive. Take your pick of 5200rpm or 7200rpm. Jason Snell from MacWorld put together this video to show the process. Also, you can find Apple's DIY Guide (PDF) at their site.
 
weldon said:
What's to find out? All you need is a 2.5" SATA drive. Take your pick of 5200rpm or 7200rpm. Jason Snell from MacWorld put together this video to show the process. Also, you can find Apple's DIY Guide (PDF) at their site.

thanks. I have the the video bookmarked, just need to know where to purchase & who has the best $$$.
 
andrewface said:
and as for moo? i think people are looking for things to get mad at with that one...i dont hear anything

Lucky you! I can now speak from experience when I say that the moo is real and it honestly did sound like a cow in my machine! I could hear it even when my partner was watching an anime pretty loud in the next room. Happened after I'd been using it on my lap for about 30mins and was getting pretty darn warm. The heat made a big red mark on my left leg too, even through heavy jeans! Am now waiting for MB #2...not because of the moo mind you, the screen frame was coming apart near the iSight, :eek: so back it went!

*SIGH*
 
mitsukai said:
Lucky you! I can now speak from experience when I say that the moo is real and it honestly did sound like a cow in my machine! I could hear it even when my partner was watching an anime pretty loud in the next room. Happened after I'd been using it on my lap for about 30mins and was getting pretty darn warm. The heat made a big red mark on my left leg too, even through heavy jeans! Am now waiting for MB #2...not because of the moo mind you, the screen frame was coming apart near the iSight, :eek: so back it went!

*SIGH*

Mine is perfect no issues, and was shipped on the first plane from china.... I had a moo when I downloaded a mac update, so reformatted and did not upload that again.
 
i must say im in love with my macbook...best consumer laptop ever!
definetly a safe buy
ps:im not a gamer...not on a mac anyway
 
fenderbender9 said:
but only today registered.... I need basic help,... would spending $200. Canadian for a 'faster' pro. and Superdrive be advisable in my world? I kinda doubt i'll need to transfer all that much text or photo's, do I really need DVD burning capability? You can email me or just post here and THANK YOU for bearing with me!

You don't need to buy a MacBook Pro, but definitely get the MacBook 2 GHz. Also 2 gigs ram and definitely with the SuperDrive DVD burner.
Music and photos fill up a drive quickly and you'll want to be able to save and back up to as few discs as possible.
Besides that, experiment a bit-try putting some pictures to music-even if just to see how it works and cut a DVD. Stick in your player-even if it's not an academy award winer the satisaction of doing it will lead you right back to doing more.
 
Is 2GHz really speediery?

jagolden said:
You don't need to buy a MacBook Pro, but definitely get the MacBook 2 GHz.
Didn't someone determine that the speed advantage was marginal? Or were you referring to another advantage, like the DVD burner?
 
i'll clarify, I was talking about processor speed, not the MacBookPro.... what advantages do processor speeds offer my circumstances, this is going to be a cost driven purchase... with my needs or lack of them do I need the fastest processor, 2 gigs of RAM or will 1 be fine, my burning of CD's and photos won't be a lot and I can't see a need for more than 60 gig hard drive to carry around, wouldn't an off board HD be better use of scarce funds if even needed.. Thanks again
 
Which Macbook is easy... but you might have a bigger problem!

fenderbender9 said:
but only today registered.... I need basic help, I've tried to wade through these 100 plus pages but!
Here it is, I have an old icebook, G3, 256, and 10 gigs.... I'm going to be buying a new MacBook however, ....

I bought the base model and have been really impressed with everything from build quality to speed of use. So if I were you, I'd buy the base model, upgrade the ram by at least 1gb to 1.25 and leave it at that for now- it will be everything you need. In a year or so if you want a little bit more performance buy a faster HD and some more RAM.

As for the lack of DVD burner I never use mine in my imac preferring to use portable HD's - but if you start getting addicted to making home movies you can always get an external burner which will be dual layer (the macbook's isn't).

As far as the processor is concerned the difference is negligible and no doubt unnoticeable in normal use. The biggest performance upgrade would be a fast HD.

Your bigggest problem I think you'll find is upgrading everything to OSX 10.4. All of a sudden all your scanners etc will have no drivers and with the intel processors, you wont be able to boot into Classic to ease the pain... I'd definitely go through and work out what wont work on the new machine so that you don't have any big surprises.
 
I've got 10.3.9 installed and everything but a few truetype fonts working... does dual layer mean more storage space on the disc? (told you I was a bit over my head) ... I won't be making movies so that problem seems solved... does the speed of the processor (from G3 to Intel) mean substantially more RAM is needed? i've seen elsewhere people dissing the machine for it's measly RAM so I guessed more RAM to 1Gig but it seems people here think 1.5 is the lowest and 2 ideal... comments
 
fenderbender9 said:
I've got 10.3.9 installed and everything but a few truetype fonts working... does dual layer mean more storage space on the disc? (told you I was a bit over my head) ... I won't be making movies so that problem seems solved... does the speed of the processor (from G3 to Intel) mean substantially more RAM is needed? i've seen elsewhere people dissing the machine for it's measly RAM so I guessed more RAM to 1Gig but it seems people here think 1.5 is the lowest and 2 ideal... comments
My apologies about assuming you were on os9 - if you are running osx on your Icebook then the Macbook is going to blow you away!

RE: RAM
It's not the processors as much as the software, if you use a program that is not native to intel Macs ie. photoshop, the computer will suddenly start to use a lot of RAM because it is doing a lot of work behind the scenes to make the old programs work. I had 512mb of RAM and when using photoshop my macbook was almost unusable. I stuck a 1gb stick in and suddenly it was quite responsive. If you can afford it, get 2gb, if you can't, get a stock Macbook and buy a 1gb stick separately - this will get you to my recommended minimum of 1.25GB of RAM.

Dual Layer means twice the capacity - but they are slow to burn and I'd really recommend using external HD's to enjoy computers in 2006.
 
now i'm wondering if they will bump the processor speed after the first production run like the Pro's? Thank you, i've now got a much better understanding of my needs!
 
fenderbender9 said:
now i'm wondering if they will bump the processor speed after the first production run like the Pro's? Thank you, i've now got a much better understanding of my needs!


no, ther is really now were to bumb them to, unless MBP get bumb, which seem unlikely
 
PaulinMaryland said:
Didn't someone determine that the speed advantage was marginal? Or were you referring to another advantage, like the DVD burner?

Paul,

I'm meant so you would have the DVD burner.

If you use the computer daily, you will quickly outgrow keping everything on the HD.
Aside from the need to back up for safety. HD are great - but trust me- and I think others wil back me up here (no pun intended), they fail. Period. When you least expect it.

So, if you have more info than will fit on your internal HD, and are using a supplementry external. You will need ANOTHER drive big enought to back up both the internal and the spplementary. This is not a big deal if you're willing to do this. I do it this way.
But for all-in-one portability - and I thought that's the main point of a laptop - get one that has the DVD burner built in.

A side point on the DVD reader-this has nothing to do with the above. Ran decided to condition the batteryi nthe MacBook the other night. Watched 5 straight hours of DVD with the Book unplugged before it told me the battery was running down. Not bad I think.
 
in light of the advice given, i'm wondering what RAM I should buy after market, Manufacturers name etc. seems money will be tight until September, I gather this can void the warranty?

also, what about putting my documents and manuscripts on CD or DVD, isn't that a good backup? I have many CD's with stuff I have no need to access quickly
 
no.

why cant people just read the damn warranty conditions, you only void the warranty when you break something and even then it's only on that part.
 
Pardon Hector!

if I read all the warrantee thinys i've got around I wouldn't have time for sex, It does look like i'll be in the same boat as you Hec, same Mac and broke to boot!

PS: and I don't get why the black one is $200. more Canadian with only 20 more gigs hard drive, am I missing something? or is black the new black?:D
 
No Speed Bump For MacBook In Fall But They Probably Will Go Merom. MBP Will Go 2.33

fenderbender9 said:
now i'm wondering if they will bump the processor speed after the first production run like the Pro's? Thank you, i've now got a much better understanding of my needs!
zap2 said:
no, ther is really now were to bumb them to, unless MBP get bumb, which seem unlikely
Well yes there will be. But not in the MacBook. MacBook Pros will bump to the top 2.33GHz as soon as they go Merom in September. There is a large price jump from 2GHz to 2.16 and 2.33 GHz in the price of Meroms. So no, MacBook will not be bumped past 2GHz at all. But they may get Meroms by November at the latest 'cause 2GHz Meroms won't cost Apple more than 2GHz Yonahs. :)
 
Got my black MacBook, its great, yada, yada, yada. I just wish Apple would of released it in a black anodized aluminum.
 
fenderbender9 said:
if I read all the warrantee thinys i've got around I wouldn't have time for sex, ...D

What I do, is read the manuals while I'm having sex. Saves a lot of time! My girlfriend doesn't mind. As long as I don't wake her up. ;)
 
JackSYi said:
Got my black MacBook, its great, yada, yada, yada. I just wish Apple would of released it in a black anodized aluminum.

You probably also want a better graphics solution too?

I think it's sort of funny when read about people who buy the bottom of the computer line and then want more for what they paid for. Classical example was a post on another thread where this guy was hoping he could put a Woodcrest in his mini. Or the numerous posts where people are wanting to put Conroe in the iMac. These same people probably only use their computers for mySpace accounts, email and solitaire. :rolleyes:
 
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