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What to do with $1400?

JohnnyQuest

JohnnyQuest

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 25, 2006
1,534
410
Well I'm finally buying my new white Macbook this week after almost a year of waiting. I'm going to Tampa, my nearest Apple Store, and buying the 1.83/512mb model. Im also getting Microsoft office, because I'm a highschool student. However, I'm debating between getting a Incase Neoprene Sleeve or a Wireless keyboard. I will be returning to Tampa in about a month so whichever one i get first, I'll get the other in a month. Which one will i need more?
 
The sleeve. White MacBooks scratch *so* easily and get so marred/dirty. The wireless keyboard you'd only use if you really need a 10-key, have enormous fingers (or hate the MacBook keyboard like I do--in which case why not save for a MBP?), or if you use one of those laptop iCurve stands.
 
Congrats, I would think that a pristine new white MB would need a case more than a keyboard, especially if you are taking it to school and it will be bouncing around in a bag.
 
RAM, RAM, and RAM.

I'm sure you've seen people post this in the past, and it looks like you're ignoring them. If you have the money to get more RAM, do it NOW. Atleast a gig, please. I have just 1.25GB of RAM, and when I upgraded, it was a HUGE performance increase. I'd love to get a gig stick to replace the 256MB stick. However, with another Mac purchase possibly in my future, I'd rather save the $$$ and max it out.

Either way, though, 512MB is the bare minimum to run Tiger. I promise you, a RAM upgrade is the best purchase you can make.
 
First of all- thank you all for the help. I've come to realize that RAM is the most important necessity. Is it worth the extra $200 for the 2.0ghz/1g model?
 
Get the case and some extra RAM. Also unless you would be using some older versions of office at school you can download Neo Office. It's free and almost 100% compatible with office. I have never had a problem with it. You have to love open source. That will save you some money and you can get some more extras. I'd say a mouse might be nice to get. For your MacBook and if you still need Office, remember to get your Student discount. You will need to have a school ID, but that will save you some cash.
 
synth3tik said:
Get the case and some extra RAM. Also unless you would be using some older versions of office at school you can download Neo Office. It's free and almost 100% compatible with office. I have never had a problem with it. You have to love open source. That will save you some money and you can get some more extras. I'd say a mouse might be nice to get. For your MacBook and if you still need Office, remember to get your Student discount. You will need to have a school ID, but that will save you some cash.
Click to expand...

I don't think high school students can get a discount unless they have been accepted into a college. Thats the way I have thought it was.

Get RAM at least 1GB. I had 512 for a while and thought it was alright but when I upgraded to 1 GB I couldnt believe the difference.
 
I wouldn't buy RAM then install it. My only other option is to get the 2.0Ghz model with 1 gig of RAM. Should I buy that rather than the 1.83Ghz/512mb model?
 
RAM is really easy to install so you should consider installing it yourself. The 2.0 GHz has a superdrive if you want to burn DVD's and a larger L2 cache. If those things are worth it too you then the 2.0 GHz is a good choice.
 
synth3tik said:
Get the case and some extra RAM. Also unless you would be using some older versions of office at school you can download Neo Office. It's free and almost 100% compatible with office. I have never had a problem with it. You have to love open source. That will save you some money and you can get some more extras.
Click to expand...


I have to agree, Neo Office is amazing, well worth the £0 :rolleyes:
I think a new version is coming out soon as well, hopefully letting it catch up a little bit with OpenOffice.

Case and RAM are musts IMO.
 
JohnnyQuest said:
First of all- thank you all for the help. I've come to realize that RAM is the most important necessity. Is it worth the extra $200 for the 2.0ghz/1g model?
Click to expand...

NO, NO, and NO.
I'd reccomend getting the 2GHz refurb macbook pro. 15 inch screen, 512 mb RAM with a single sodimm for easy upgrading. 128 mb video RAM 4 life
 
JohnnyQuest said:
I wouldn't buy RAM then install it. My only other option is to get the 2.0Ghz model with 1 gig of RAM. Should I buy that rather than the 1.83Ghz/512mb model?
Click to expand...

Why not look at the refurbished Macbook models? You could get:
Refurbished MacBook 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - White
13.3-inch glossy widescreen display
1280 x 800 resolution
1GB memory (2x512MB SODIMMs)
80GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive
SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Built-in iSight camera

For $1,099, the same price as the original one you thought about getting.
If refurbished isn't your thing, I would have to say kick in the extra to get more RAM, I was just performing a light test on my iMac, and I had 15 apps open, and 18 widgets with a noticeable lag, but it wasn't very substantial. I would assume you wouldn't need to run 15 applications at once (neither do I for that matter), but it is always good to have more RAM for the future. Also, If you are thinking about upgrading to leopard (as am I) it would be beneficial. Whatever your choice, enjoy your macbook. :)
 
I agree with the others. RAM is the way to go. You want to get at least 1gb.

If you need extra cash for the ram consider dropping MS Office and using a free alternative like NeoOffice.

Between the sleeve and a wireless keyboard go with the sleeve. If your in high school you'll likely be taking your MacBook with you to various places. A Sleeve will come in handy and reduce any damage to your nice new MacBook.

I highly recommend the Marware Sportfolio neoprene sleeve.
 
polevault139 said:
I don't think high school students can get a discount unless they have been accepted into a college. Thats the way I have thought it was.
Click to expand...

I've been shopping around on Apple.com for a couple weeks now, and I can get an education discount even though I'm still in High School.

But, then again, I haven't actually ordered one. All I've done is enter my zip code, have it pull up my school, and then show me updated prices. I haven't actually ordered/created a proposal, so I'm not entirely sure if that'll change anything.
 
If it was between the two things you mentioned get the case, I love mine. Also I've a wireless mighty mouse and love it. A gig of RAM is enough for me, as I am also in high school
 
Go for the 2.0 ghz model with the larger hd, ram and superdrive. It's really nice to be able to make movies or back up music with the dvd burner. Get the refurbished one if you need to get office, and the case. Its worth the $200. And you also mentioned about waiting to get office or the case for the following month. Well, try out neooffice for a while and see if you like it and if not get ms office.
 
JohnnyQuest said:
First of all- thank you all for the help. I've come to realize that RAM is the most important necessity. Is it worth the extra $200 for the 2.0ghz/1g model?
Click to expand...

I would say get that ram up to at least 1GB. I use a new Core 2 Duo Thinkpad X60 running XP and I even put an additional 1GB chip in the computer (and XP uses less ram than OSX... can't say the same about Vista though haha).

It may also be worth the money to go up to the 2.0GHz model. With the 2.0 Core 2 Duo you get the 4MB L2 Cache on the processor vs the 2MB on the 1.86 model. You could also look at refurbs but I'm really into buying new... but that is just me :)

Finally, you will love your Core 2 Duo MacBook! I had one for a few months and loved it... just moved to the Thinkpad because I use windows 90% of the time for work and wanted the smaller size of the X60 due to all the traveling I do.
 
Don't splurge on Mac Office 2004. Its about to be put out of its misery by Office 2008 in just a few months.

Grab a used copy of Appleworks 6 or Mac Office v.X, and wait it out until they release the Universal Binary Mac Office 2008.

Like everyone is saying, get RAM, since not everything is UB yet.
 
Don't buy ram from apple

Installing ram is very easy and you can get much better deals at newegg.com.

For 90-110 dollars, you can get a high quality 1gb ram for apple notebooks.
Apple charges a ridiculous amount for upgrades.


You'll save money.
adn buy cases from eBay -they are cheaper than online stores.
 
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