So I'm buying a macbook tomoro, my first mac. I have a few questions...

[pedroistheman]

So I'm on the apple website looking through the options before I go to the apple store tomorrow to make my purchase...please go easy, this will be my first mac.

I know I want a Macbook, but should I upgrade the RAM? Is 2.0 ghz w/ 160 GB HD enough or should I splurge and buy a 2.4 ghz w/ a 250 GB HD? (any other choices I will have to make tomorrow?)

I have a lot of music, but I won't be using the computer for any heavy-duty work. Do I need to purchase any additional software?

Also, do both models come with the backlight on the keyboard?

Any help would be greatly apppreciated, I am just trying to get a better sense of what I need before I show up at the apple store.
Thanks!

 

[dinaluvsApple]

So I'm on the apple website looking through the options before I go to the apple store tomorrow to make my purchase...please go easy, this will be my first mac.

I know I want a Macbook, but should I upgrade the RAM? Is 2.0 ghz w/ 160 GB HD enough or should I splurge and buy a 2.4 ghz w/ a 250 GB HD? (any other choices I will have to make tomorrow?)

I have a lot of music, but I won't be using the computer for any heavy-duty work. Do I need to purchase any additional software?

Also, do both models come with the backlight on the keyboard?

Any help would be greatly apppreciated, I am just trying to get a better sense of what I need before I show up at the apple store.
Thanks!

seriously, dont doubt what you want.
get the machine you want now and save urself the hassle.

 

[Petoz]

So I'm on the apple website looking through the options before I go to the apple store tomorrow to make my purchase...please go easy, this will be my first mac.

I know I want a Macbook, but should I upgrade the RAM? Is 2.0 ghz w/ 160 GB HD enough or should I splurge and buy a 2.4 ghz w/ a 250 GB HD? (any other choices I will have to make tomorrow?)

I have a lot of music, but I won't be using the computer for any heavy-duty work. Do I need to purchase any additional software?

Also, do both models come with the backlight on the keyboard?

Any help would be greatly apppreciated, I am just trying to get a better sense of what I need before I show up at the apple store.
Thanks!

Enough for what? will the music take up most of the space you will use. If so, and if you have less than 160GB of music, the entry model may well be enough. If more space is required, go for the 2.4GHz. As for backlit keyboard. I believe only the 2.4GHz has a backlit keyboard. Now for RAM. Buying RAM is usually cheaper from somewhere other than Apple. So if you are comfortable installing it yourself, that may be a better idea.

 

[ChrisA]

So I'm on the apple website looking through the options before I go to the apple store tomorrow to make my purchase...please go easy, this will be my first mac.

I know I want a Macbook, but should I upgrade the RAM? Is 2.0 ghz w/ 160 GB HD enough or should I splurge and buy a 2.4 ghz w/ a 250 GB HD? (any other choices I will have to make tomorrow?)

I have a lot of music, but I won't be using the computer for any heavy-duty work. Do I need to purchase any additional software?

Memory from third parties is always much cheaper. But you have to order it, wait for it to ship then put it in. Do you want to save money or time? "OWC" has memory with lifetime warranty at 2/3 Apple's price. Apple only has 1 year warranty unless you pay for Apple care then you get three years. 2MB is enough for most uses but RAM is so cheap you should max out the RAM. Put in all that will fit.

Don't buy any software until you have a well defined need for it. For example you might want a spread sheet. But you have at least four options for that two are free

One thing you absolutely will need is a way to back up your data. You will need at least one external disk drive for that. Really you need at least two external drives so you can work them in rotation.

 

[AJ Muni]

I dont care much for a backlit keyboard, and I don't do much encoding so processing power (the extra 400mhz) isn't a big deal for me. I bought a 500gb drive i'm going to put in, and 4gb of ram from crucial (total for both came out to $290, same price as the 2.4 model, but with double the ram and double the hard drive. =)