New White Book vs Base 2.0 Alu Mac Book

[gixxerredliner]

Ok so i have decided to get a macbook but for a person that doesnt play video games or does no video editing or photo editing. Just the occasional paper typed trying to figure out what is the advantage of the Alu over the white?

Things ive heard:

-Alu is more stable

-White book has trouble distributing heat within the unit

-Alu is better for gaming which i dont intend to do

 

[Intel Inside]

Use the search function please, your not going to get any answers.
this question has been asked 100000000000 times!!

 

[gixxerredliner]

hey

Use the search function please, your not going to get any answers.
this question has been asked 100000000000 times!!

ok thanks have a wonderful day mam

 

[VPrime]

Aluminum has better ram, and a slightly better screen than the old white ones ,more hard drive too I think..

Also, you may not take advantage of the better video now... but more and more applications are becoming graphic intensive. Even the next release of OS X is supposed to take advantage of the new graphic abilities of the macbooks.


edit: oops, i forogot that the white ones have been updated witht he new 9400m as well.. so gaming the 2.0aluminium vs white, there wont be much difference at all.

 

[Patriks7]

Use the search function please, your not going to get any answers.
this question has been asked 100000000000 times!!

What that guy said.

But since I'm in a good mood, I'll help you out a bit.
The WhiteBook and alu MacBook have the same graphics card, just that the alu one has DDR3 and the white one DDR2, so the difference in performance will be a bit different. Even if you don't play games, a good graphics card will make your overall experience much better. The build of the alu one is 1000 times better. I have had the casing on my WhiteBook replaced once (I have it for a bit over a year) and i already have 4 cracks on the inside, and I baby this thing like nothing else. Also, like you said the alu ones have better heating.
I think the price difference is way more than worth it for the alu one.

 

[Intel Inside]

ok thanks have a wonderful day mam

Be thankful that Patriks7 is in a good mood

 

[gixxerredliner]

oh

Be thankful that Patriks7 is in a good mood

Patriks7 is so awesome by far one of the best members in the forum

 

[andrewag]

Having just purchased a al MacBook a several days ago to replace my rev a black macbook the new one feels much nicer. It's more solid, the few millimetres they cut off and the couple hundred grams they shaved out makes it just feel better imho.

Plus with the al you won't get the white discolouration.


But is the additional costs worth it for _you_. Not sure.

 

[gixxerredliner]

hmmm

Having just purchased a al MacBook a several days ago to replace my rev a black macbook the new one feels much nicer. It's more solid, the few millimetres they cut off and the couple hundred grams they shaved out makes it just feel better imho.

Plus with the al you won't get the white discolouration.


But is the additional costs worth it for _you_. Not sure.

Hows the track pad working out for you? any issues?

 

[Ploki]

oh one more difference, ALU doesnt have FIREWIRE

about the trackpad:
i have the MBP Unibody and trackpad is awsome comparing to old ones.
i feel cramped when i use the old ones

 

[andrewag]

The trackpad is pretty neat and here's my experience with it:

* Hard to click compared to old one (most probably it's due to not being used quite enough yet, but of all the MacBook's i've deployed at work they have been easier to "click")

* When using the two finger scroll I find the cursor sometimes moves which is annoying especially when it moves out of the window.

* I keep making the text size in safari smaller by accidently "pinching". (I usually rest my thumb on the "button" on older style trackpads).

* Love being able to put every finger on the trackpad and activate expose etc.

It's just a matter of time before I'll ever wonder why I had these "problems" when I first used the new trackpad.

 

[gixxerredliner]

hmm

The trackpad is pretty neat and here's my experience with it:

* Hard to click compared to old one (most probably it's due to not being used quite enough yet, but of all the MacBook's i've deployed at work they have been easier to "click")

* When using the two finger scroll I find the cursor sometimes moves which is annoying especially when it moves out of the window.

* I keep making the text size in safari smaller by accidently "pinching". (I usually rest my thumb on the "button" on older style trackpads).

* Love being able to put every finger on the trackpad and activate expose etc.

It's just a matter of time before I'll ever wonder why I had these "problems" when I first used the new trackpad.

I heard apple released an update that fixes all track pad issues with them not registering after 50 clicks or so, did you expierence this issue?

 

[Aumz]

Just putting in my two cents worth here. I bought a alu macbook the basic model for £928, but returned it after I discovered it does not have firewire.

I will instead be buying a white macbook for £619 after student discount, increasing the ram to 4gb for £40 from crucial. All my data is already on external drives and I always like to keep it that way so drive space never an issue for me.

I just do basic photo and video editing, the only game I will play is football manager.

I think the savings far outweigh the extra that an alu will give me.

I have money left over to buy a better present for my son, digi camera for the wife and a lens for me.

 

[Patriks7]

oh one more difference, ALU doesnt have FIREWIRE

Oh yes, I forgot about firewire. If you need it then no point in even looking at the Alu MacBook. But on my current white MacBook, I used the firewire once and that was when I backed up through TimeMachine for the first time. Since then, I have it on my USB hub and it's fast enough to update the couple files.

 

[andrewag]

I heard apple released an update that fixes all track pad issues with them not registering after 50 clicks or so, did you expierence this issue?

There were no trackpad updates when I ran software update. Maybe 10.5.6 resolved it?

If you use FireWire then you have no choice. I thought I would hate not having it, but USB disks for Time Machine works fine for me and booting from a USB drive is no problems either.

 

[gixxerredliner]

Hmmm

Oh yes, I forgot about firewire. If you need it then no point in even looking at the Alu MacBook. But on my current white MacBook, I used the firewire once and that was when I backed up through TimeMachine for the first time. Since then, I have it on my USB hub and it's fast enough to update the couple files.

I've read on the net and in this forum that some ppl were having issues with the white macbook frame cracking. Have either of you expierenced that with your White Macbooks? thanks once again

 

[Patriks7]

I've read on the net and in this forum that some ppl were having issues with the white macbook frame cracking. Have either of you expierenced that with your White Macbooks? thanks once again

Yes. I had the inside replaced once already, after having two cracks, and now I'm on 4. So definitely the build quality isn't the best. If you want I can post pictures tomorrow, I just have no idea where my camera is right now But hopefully I will be able to get it replaced soon, because it's getting on my nerves. Since my city doesn't have any major Apple retailers, I have to wait for them to order it and blah blah And last time i was there, they told me that two of the cracks are my fault, even though I take as much care of this as possible. IMO, that is the main reason to avoid the plastic ones

Edit -
BTW, if you can wait, I should be getting my unibody MacBook within 2 or 3 weeks, so I can do a comparison with my current MacBook (only difference from the new white one is the worse graphics)

 

[gixxerredliner]

Hmmm

Yes. I had the inside replaced once already, after having two cracks, and now I'm on 4. So definitely the build quality isn't the best. If you want I can post pictures tomorrow, I just have no idea where my camera is right now But hopefully I will be able to get it replaced soon, because it's getting on my nerves. Since my city doesn't have any major Apple retailers, I have to wait for them to order it and blah blah And last time i was there, they told me that two of the cracks are my fault, even though I take as much care of this as possible. IMO, that is the main reason to avoid the plastic ones

Edit -
BTW, if you can wait, I should be getting my unibody MacBook within 2 or 3 weeks, so I can do a comparison with my current MacBook (only difference from the new white one is the worse graphics)

Interesting, which unibody did you decide to go with? I also dont have a major apple store in my area. I live in anchorage, alaska I look forward for tomorrow to see those pics if you can find that camera and also for the comparisons thanks.

 

[Patriks7]

Interesting, which unibody did you decide to go with? I also dont have a major apple store in my area. I live in anchorage, alaska I look forward for tomorrow to see those pics if you can find that camera and also for the comparisons thanks.

I'm probably going to go with the 2.4 because the stock HDD is bigger, as I'm currently waiting for the prices to drop a bit on SSDs and I don't really want to get an HDD and then an SSD. Also, because a backlit keyboard is valuable to me in dark classrooms (yeah, I can touch type, but sometimes when I need a symbol or something its pretty useful). And main reason is that I just like to get the high end stuff, makes me at least not regret it later

 

[gixxerredliner]

You know...

I'm probably going to go with the 2.4 because the stock HDD is bigger, as I'm currently waiting for the prices to drop a bit on SSDs and I don't really want to get an HDD and then an SSD. Also, because a backlit keyboard is valuable to me in dark classrooms (yeah, I can touch type, but sometimes when I need a symbol or something its pretty useful). And main reason is that I just like to get the high end stuff, makes me at least not regret it later

I was thinking the same thing in terms of getting the 2.4 model, only thing that worried me was the fact I know im going to get a skin and i another gentleman told me on the forum that the light wont shine through. Also I was thinking if i got the 2.0 i can get that protective skin and not have to worry much about it shining throug for that added protection. Hey have you heard anything about the Alun macs not being able to pick up the wireless signal or hold the signal due to the design?

 

[Eric S.]

I think it comes down to only two considerations: Firewire and price. If you need Firewire, get the white one. If you don't, and you can handle the additional $300, get the aluminum model.

I got the aluminum 2.4GHz, mainly because the backlit keyboard was important to me.

 

[11800506]

The cracking issue on the White Macbook is definitely a significant issue. Even with normal use (and sometimes even with light use) the case cracks. My sister's Macbook has cracked and some of my other friends who have Macbooks have had their cases crack, so it definitely is a prominent issue. I have the Unibody Macbook Pro and the build quality is amazing compared to the white Macbook, and it just feels more expensive. Also, the trackpad really is quite good and you get used to the clicking feeling very quickly. Only you can decide if these reasons are enough to get the Alu Macbook, but in your case I would go with that option.

 

[andrewag]

I manage a heap of MacBook's and three have had "splintering" along the palmrest front edge. I have not seen other types of cracking occur yet.

 

[11800506]

I personally don't find the need for a keyboard protector, but then again that is personal preference. As for Wifi, I haven't been able to do any comparisons but I haven't found distance to be a significant issue. I think it has been improved over the previous MBP because the portion where the Airport antenna is is made of plastic.

 

[gixxerredliner]

Interesting

I personally don't find the need for a keyboard protector, but then again that is personal preference. As for Wifi, I haven't been able to do any comparisons but I haven't found distance to be a significant issue. I think it has been improved over the previous MBP because the portion where the Airport antenna is is made of plastic.

Ok so I can get a brand new mac book pro for 1836 because i work for the government. I wanted to know, if im not a movie, music or video producer would that be over kill for me? I will either get the base 2.0 Alu or the base mac book pro now because i dont want to deal with case cracking issues. How does the internal hardware difference the macs? meaning i know whats in them but visually and speed wise how will i notice them?