MB466 vs MB467 vs MC240 which one to buy?

[StuInTokyo]

Greetings from Japan.

We bought a MacMini in January of this year, our first small steps away from Windoze, now we are looking to buy a MacBook for our daughter, as she will be going to school in Canada next year. We are buying this now, so she can get some time on the computer with me around to help her (my parents don't do much with computers, and our daughter will be staying with them), and I'm also looking to spread some of the costs of this school thing over a longer time period.

Right now, here in Japan, I have my choice of three MacBooks;

MB466
2.0 Ghz
2 Gb RAM
160 Gb HDD
108,000 yen

MB467
2.4 Ghz
2 Gb RAM
250 Gb HDD
129,800 yen

MC240
2.13 Ghz
2 Gb RAM
160 Gb HDD
108,000 yen

The first two are obviously old stock, they are for sale by a reseller, NOT Apple Japan, I can add the Apple care and even up the RAM, which will cost me the same on any of the machines, so that is no difference.

What are the pros/cons of the MB466/467 vs the MC240?

Am I correct in thinking that the MB vs the MC is the aluminum uni-body, compared to the Polycarbonate body?

All advice welcome, except telling me to buy another Windoze product!

Thanks in advance for your help!

Stu in Tokyo

 

[Hellhammer]

I would get 2.0GHz MacBook. It has 130MHz slower CPU than white one but it's unnoticeable plus it has DDR3. If she likes the white one more, then get it. There are no differences in performance.

 

[StuInTokyo]

I would get 2.0GHz MacBook. It has 130MHz slower CPU than white one but it's unnoticeable plus it has DDR3. If she likes the white one more, then get it. There are no differences in performance.

Hellhammer, thanks for the info.

The 2.0Ghz MacBook, is that still one of the aluminum unibody units?

I'm thinking they would be rather durable as my daughter is 15

 

[Hellhammer]

Hellhammer, thanks for the info.

The 2.0Ghz MacBook, is that still one of the aluminum unibody units?

I'm thinking they would be rather durable as my daughter is 15

Yup, it's the aluminum one. I like the aluminum too, white MB's case breaks quite easily and it feels "cheap".

 

[hellfire88]

For the same price, I'd get the MB466 over the white MC240 hands-down. The MB466 is the silver unibody one with many improvements which outweigh the fact that the CPU is 0.13GHz slower, like: nice unibody construction, 0.5lbs lighter (4.5LBs versus 5.0LBs on the white one), DDR3 RAM, bigger buttonless trackpad (IMHO I like it better than the older white trackpad with the button but this is subjective), and best of all, it has a nicer LED-backlit screen, especially if you get one of the ones that were "silently-upgraded" (made in early 2009) with the better "Macbook Pro" quality screens (9CA5, 9CA6, etc.). Good luck with your selection.

 

[StuInTokyo]

I went down into Shinjuku today, and looked around, none of the large electronics stores had any stock left, most said they had sold out of the MB466 last week, or the week before

In taking to one of the sales guys, he was also saying that the new MacBook Pro 13" is basically a slightly updated MacBook 13".

I played around with the New MacBook 13" MC240 the white plastic one, and I have to agree with hellfire88 that the smaller touchpad with the button is not as easy to use as the larger touchpad without the button.

We started to look online for a MB466 and everywhere we looked it was sold out

But we finally did find one place that says they have some stock left, so we took the plunge and bought the computer, and the best thing is the price was even cheaper than the deal I saw that started this whole show, that price was 108,800 yen, we got it online with free shipping for 95,800 yen

Thanks for the information in helping my family make this purchase.

Now I just have to buy the extended Mac Care coverage.

Cheers!

 

[hellfire88]

Nice price and congrats on your purchase!