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New White Book vs Base 2.0 Alu Mac Book

jamse said:
how is it better if the performance is same, when at the same power draw... its newer, but newer does not necessarily mean better. granted that is what is intended, the newer thing should be better, but some times it just is not the case.

for example windows vista is NEWER, but it does not perform BETTER than windows XP.

the opposite can be said about osx 10.5 is NEWER and it is BETTER than osx 10.4.
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Wasn't DDR better than DDR2 at release (of DDR2)? Technology takes time, and buying DDR3 for such a "cheap" price in a laptop (in comparison of other features) is a great way to future proof it, to an extent that laptops can. DDR3 shouldn't be the deal breaker, by any means. Honestly, paying $300 for multi-touch and aluminum would be worth it to me.
 
pellets007 said:
Wasn't DDR better than DDR2 at release? Technology takes time.
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true, but its been close to two years since ddr3 has been released. the premium to be able to use ddr3 on a macbook is 300 dollars vs the whitebook, the ram itself costs close to 3x (2.7x comparing the cheapest crucial memory off newegg.com) as much as ddr2, and when the newer improved models of ddr3 ram come out, it will be more expensive than current ddr3, on top of that you will have to pay that 300 dollar premium, and the latter of the statement is all on the basis of that the remedy is in the ddr3 chips/dimms itself, and not in the mainboard. if that is the case then you will be paying for a whole new computer to benefit from ddr3. I mean there could be a simple firmware update, to increase performance, but it is more likely to be a architecture or latency issue with the ram itself.

its simple cost-benefit analysis.
 
Hmmm

Eric S. said:
13" Macbook 2.4GHz. I've had it for a little over 2 months, and no case problems. No real problems of any kind under OS X. I also dual-boot XP, and there the trackpad operation is poor and I've had some unexplained BSoD crashes recently (which I never used to see with my Blackbook).
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interesting, may i ask you a question? If the macbook you purchased cost $1599 and the macbook pro is $1999 a $400 dollar difference what made you select the 2.4 Alu macbook?
 
i am actually buying a white macbook mid next week when my uni bookstore gets them in.

hurrah!
 
gixxerredliner said:
interesting, may i ask you a question? If the macbook you purchased cost $1599 and the macbook pro is $1999 a $400 dollar difference what made you select the 2.4 Alu macbook?
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If Apple made a 13" MBP I would have bought it, but I don't want to carry around anything larger than 13" (even though I regret losing Firewire). I got the 2.4GHz model mainly because I really wanted the backlit keyboard, also because going from a 2.4GHz Blackbook to a 2.0GHz aluminum would seem like a step down (probably I wouldn't be able to tell the difference, but it's more of a psychological thing).

I bought the MB on the Black Friday sale date so I got the 7% or so discount Apple was offering, plus a similar corporate discount because I'm an employee of a certain (unnamed) technology company. But then I opted for the 4GB RAM, so altogether the price came to $1549 before tax.
 
gixxerredliner said:
May i also ask you sir why are you buying the white macbook instead of the base alu?
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I look at it from a cost perspective.

polycarb macbook @ $999usd
unibody macbook @ $1299usd

I know performance will be the same, or if there is any deviation it is sooooooo minute that it does not even matter.

So everything they have in common is 2ghz c2d 1066fsb, 2gb memory, nvidia chipset, nvidia gpu

What the polycarb does not have is DDR3 support, 40gb less HDD space, LED backlit LCD, multi touchpad, fancy unibody construction.

I know right now that DDR3 has no benefit to system performance vs DDR2, I stated this in previous post in this thread. In benchmarks with the previous model of polycarb macbook (2.1ghz w/ intel chipset) only really differ in graphics performance. Which should mean with the newer nvidia chipset w/ gpu closes that gap, making the two units perform exactly the same.

With the money I save from not buying the aluminum I will be buying a 320gb or 500gb HDD, to replace the 120gb one that comes with the macbook, and upgrade to 4gb of total memory for roughly for roughly $150 or less if you chose the 320gb hdd. if you wanted to upgarde the unibody macbook, upgrading memory alone to 4gb it will cost $74 + cost of HDD.

The last three on the list to me are luxury components, by this I mean they are things I would like to REALLY REALLY have, but not necessary for improved performance. so in my mind I arbitrary set the $300usd extra to these three items, and to me it is not worth it for that premium.

Granted I give up these three features I REALLY REALLY want, and also that 30mins of battery life, but if it means I can buy and upgrade my polycarb macbook for a total of ~$1150usd vs paying $1300+$74+$100=$1474usd for the unibody macbook (might as well buy the 15in mbp). I am getting a far better computer for less than the cost of just paying for the unibody macbook alone.

It will last just as long as the unibody macbook (in this case hopefully 2-3 years like my current thinkpad x60s), I can upgrade to snow leopard, and finally I get to get a white macbook, which is what is symbolic to me of what a macbook is, you know, being white and plastic. haha

I hope my explanation was detailed enough.

*note all prices came from newegg.com
 
Excellent!!!!

jamse said:
I look at it from a cost perspective.

polycarb macbook @ $999usd
unibody macbook @ $1299usd

I know performance will be the same, or if there is any deviation it is sooooooo minute that it does not even matter.

So everything they have in common is 2ghz c2d 1066fsb, 2gb memory, nvidia chipset, nvidia gpu

What the polycarb does not have is an DDR3 support, 40gb less HDD space, LED backlit LCD, multi touchpad, fancy unibody construction.

I know right now that DDR3 has no benefit to system performance vs DDR2. as i stated in previous post in this thread, and in benchmarks with the previous model of polycarb macbook (2.1ghz w/ intel chipset) only really differ in Graphics performance. Which should mean with the newer nvidia chipset w/ gpu closes that gap, making them two units that perform exactly the same.

With the money i save from not buying the aluminum i will be buying a 320gb or 500gb HDD, to replace the 120gb one that comes with the macbook, and upgrade to 4gb of total memory for roughly for roughly $150 or less if you chose the 320gb hdd. if you wanted to upgarde the unibody macbook, upgrading memory alone to 4gb it will cost $74 + cost of HDD.

The last three on the list to me are luxury components, by this I mean they are things I would like to REALLY REALLY have, but not necessary for improved performance. so in my mind I arbitrary set the $300usd extra to these three items, and to me it is not worth it for that premium.

Granted I give up these three features I REALLY REALLY want, and also that 30mins of battery life, but if it means I can buy and upgrade my polycarb macbook for a total of ~$1150usd vs paying $1300+$74+$100=$1474usd for the unibody macbook (might as well buy the 15in mbp). I am getting a far better computer for less than the cost of just paying for the unibody macbook alone.

It will last just as long as the unibody macbook (in this case hopefully 2-3 years like my current thinkpad x60s), I can upgrade to snow leopard, and finally I get to get a white macbook, which in my mind is what is symbolic of a macbook. being white and plastic. haha

I hope my explanation was detailed enough.

*note all prices came from newegg.com
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Great post, you thought similiar to how i felt regarding buying the $1599 alu mac book. I said to myself "if im going to spend $1599 on a alu mac book whats another $400 bucks and i could get a MBP 15 inch" I than decided to go with the base alu but than im like if i just get the White MB for $999 i could use that $300 on new furniture for my apartment. Once again great post, i still havnt decided which mac ill get. I dont like the fact that the white macbook is crackable and the alu models to me make me just want to get a MBP but like some have told me for what i intend to use it for would be over kill because im just a web surfer, youtube watching, occasional college paper typing kinda guy lol.

note*
I actually owned a HP dv6000 which had about the same stats as the new white macbook and cost more and that computer worked out perfect for me before i sold it. It only had a 80gb hard drive and i wasnt close to having that thing tapped out so i think the white model would be fine, just im worried about the nasty gray and it cracking.
 
Hey if you are worried about palm wrest getting dirty go to bestskinsever.com, they have skins for macbooks, other apple products, and all types of small gadgets. Then again I see my girlfriends macbook, and the palm rest / keyboard look exactly the same as when she bought it a year and a half ago, granted hers is covered with stickers and looks beat up cause she abuses it like a step child. I will prolly buy the full body and palm skin from thebestskinsever.com, because I am anal about keeping things pristine clean and nice/new looking. You can see this, by how I got skins for my 1st and 2nd gen ipod touch 32gb, my blackberry, and my DS Lite. lol

*note I only recommend bestskinsever.com because its a thin skin, and it is WAY cheaper than what you can buy in a retail store, but gives your devices this added feeling of resilience. I do not know if you know what I mean at all. heh
 
I would prefer aluminum.. The reason is basically because of the way smoother shell it contains. My science labs at my university just bought the new White MacBooks (9 to be exact) and they are almost the same as the previous generationS of MacBook.

The only reason I would recommend getting the new White MacBook is because the trackpad, in my opinion, on the MacBook Aluminums (and this goes for MB's and MBP's) are so unbearable. I hate the new trackpads, and the right-click function on them..

It's really a matter of the feel of computers you enjoy.
 
I thinks its relative to the user like you said

RRutter said:
I would prefer aluminum.. The reason is basically because of the way smoother shell it contains. My science labs at my university just bought the new White MacBooks (9 to be exact) and they are almost the same as the previous generationS of MacBook.

The only reason I would recommend getting the new White MacBook is because the trackpad, in my opinion, on the MacBook Aluminums (and this goes for MB's and MBP's) are so unbearable. I hate the new trackpads, and the right-click function on them..

It's really a matter of the feel of computers you enjoy.
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I agree the new track pad has a bit of a learning curve but its the sexiest pad ive ever seen. The white mac book really stands out, im sure even more so than the aluminum one because unless you are really into Macs or computers most ppl think its just silver plastic. The white books are probaly the exact same design just better brains.
 
gixxerredliner said:
I agree the new track pad has a bit of a learning curve but its the sexiest pad ive ever seen. The white mac book really stands out, im sure even more so than the aluminum one because unless you are really into Macs or computers most ppl think its just silver plastic. The white books are probaly the exact same design just better brains.
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Haha yeah it is a nice little aluminum pad, and also, if you BREATHE on the White MacBook it gets marked..

LOL!
 
i really like the multi touchpad, the friction resistance is perfect. i just can not justify paying 300 extra for that and led lcd :(
 
lol

jamse said:
i really like the multi touchpad, the friction resistance is perfect. i just can not justify paying 300 extra for that and led lcd :(
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I hear you, I have used a white mac book for a week so i know first hand how those feel and operate. I only played with a Alu MBP and base Alu MB at best buy and i can say the entire feel of the MBP feel more expensive than the Base Alu MB. They may sound weird but it does the pro seems for some reason like they put more into it.
 
Wait...

jamse said:
i really like the multi touchpad, the friction resistance is perfect. i just can not justify paying 300 extra for that and led lcd :(
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So if the Alu is LCD back lit, what is the white book using? lol
 
In my opinion, the multi touch functions with the new aluminum macbook trackpad is reason enough to upgrade. It takes a solid week to get used to, but I am in love with it now. When ever I have to use a standard trackpad with a button, it feels awkward, and clunky.

User's of the new trackpad should also try enabling "One finger tap to click". I prefer this action to the physical button...It almost makes you feel like you are using an iPhone.
 
Crown said:
In my opinion, the multi touch functions with the new aluminum macbook trackpad is reason enough to upgrade. It takes a solid week to get used to, but I am in love with it now. When ever I have to use a standard trackpad with a button, it feels awkward, and clunky.

User's of the new trackpad should also try enabling "One finger tap to click". I prefer this action to the physical button...It almost makes you feel like you are using an iPhone.
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I've never quite been able to bring myself to do that because of the awful Windows laptops having it enabled and picking up every thing accidentally. Horrible horrible experience!!!

I'm starting to get used to keeping my thumb off the "button" as I'm used to on other notebooks and the trackpad is working a lot better.
 
well the specs. on the two are virtually the same now so it really depends which design you like more and yes it is true that the alu. macbook stays cooler than the whitebook:apple:
 
andrewag said:
I've never quite been able to bring myself to do that because of the awful Windows laptops having it enabled and picking up every thing accidentally. Horrible horrible experience!!!
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Have you ever used it on a Mac then? I use it on my MacBook (both for left and right click) and it works waaaaay better than a button. A Windows PC trackpad is not even comparable to a MacBooks.
 
re: MacBook cracking

Patriks7 said:
OK so I have the pictures.
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Forgive me for making assumptions but from the damage shown it looks like it may have been caused by grabbing/lifting the MacBook by one corner. Too much pressure on a five pound object causes the plastic to crack?

I've had my current MacBook for two years and another one before that for one year. There have been no cracks. When I pick it up, I do so by holding both sides or front and back, not just a corner.

Again, I could be wrong but that's what it looks like to me.
 
jamse said:
these benchmarks:
http://www.macworld.com/article/136214/2008/10/macbookbenchmarks.html

show that the only performance advantage of the unibody (2ghz w/ nvidia chipset) compared to the previous model of the white macbook (2.1ghz w/ intel chipset), is in graphic/video intense process. However, the white macbook does a better job at than the unibody macbook in rendering, mp3 encoding, mpeg encoding, and zip archiving. The unibody did load cs3 quicker.
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I'm talking pure memory benchmarks though. The question was between the new whitebook and the alu macbook. The white book is no longer on the more efficient Intel chipset... so that will change the benchmark... which I'm curious to see.
 
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