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White book or Alum Macbook?

Q

qdietz

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 5, 2009
5
0
Well I am looking at the two different macbooks. And I see a couple differences,
the ram on the alum macbook is DDR3 while on the white macbook its DDR2, the processor of the whitebook is slightly faster than the basic alum macbook.
the whitebook has firewire
alum macbook is lighter and has mutitouch.

Now I looked up the difference between DDR2 and DDR3 ram, and well I saw that for now DDR3 is only a tad better than DDR2, but is much more expensive.

Now I have no use for multitouch, well it doesn't interest me that much, and I love firewire and I like the white macbook's shell, although the aluminium one is better looking, I don't justify that for 300$ extra.

Now I was thinking on upgrading the hard drive, and getting 4 gigs of ram on the white macbook.
Will I see a notable speed difference if I use an alum macbook with 4 gigs of ram?? The processor is slower (2.0 vs 2.13) but the ram seems faster.

This would be in regards to editing big photos (have a 100mb psd that I was working on yesterday, on my 2 year old macbook, it works but is really laggy (only 1 gig of ram too)).
Also last question, I would love to fit in a 7200 rpm hard drive in the white macbook, as I think it would really speed it up, mostly when coming to edit big files (I also enjoy editing movies, and final cut on my current macbook is close to hell). Will these macbooks support 7200 rpm drives? And does it make a real difference? Thank you for the replies!
 
Benchmarks actually show that despite DDR2 vs DDR3, the 2.13 WhiteBook is more powerful than the base GlassBook. And it has firewire.
 
the ram price isnt too bad for DDR3 i got 4GB for <$60

both will support 7200RPM 2.5" drives

i like the colors on the LED backlit display of the glassbook (even though i needed to calibrate it)

I like the new trackpad... a lot
 
Yes, it supports 7200rpm hard drives.

And since the whitebook now supports 800Mhz, which decreases the difference between DDR2 and DDR3 ram even further. The difference really is minimal, so I'd recommend just getting the Whitebook my friend :)

Good luck on your purchase.
 
I got a whitebook simply because of the reason it was cheaper and was my first mac so my parents wanted the cheaper option.It so happened at the time of the purchase i got a faster processor than the uMB. I actually liked the look of the white macbook better. but im a bit worried about all these cracking issues i have seen posts about also discolouration etc. But i love this machine.

There both beautiful machines but im sure you will make a decision. There is loads of topics already about this so google around or mroogle.
 
Geoff. said:
I got a whitebook simply because of the reason it was cheaper and was my first mac so my parents wanted the cheaper option.It so happened at the time of the purchase i got a faster processor than the uMB. I actually liked the look of the white macbook better. but im a bit worried about all these cracking issues i have seen posts about also discolouration etc. But i love this machine.
Click to expand...

i wouldnt worry about the cracking, it is a minor inconvenience but i have had no issues with apple fixing the issue on both of my old whitebooks.
 
the lighted keyboard, and new trackpad heavily favors the Uni...

but the polycarbonate shell and firewire favors the white MB...

I would still go with the Uni because of the two new features that the white MB still does not - The trackpad and lighted keyboard have become such clutch features for me, but if they had a polycarbonate that came with those two things...I might just change my mind :p ...especially if it was black!

CrackBookPro:cool:
 
Reason I went with the 2.4 unibody was easy - superior chasis. The build quality is meant to last. I have an airman whose white macbook started cracking down the palm rest and replaced it with a different laptop. Plus over time the white macbook turns into a disgusting white if you travel alot with it.

The multi touch is such an indespensable addition I can't imagine a laptop without one now. It is a much beloved feature that is worth the price for a unibody alone.

The screen is much better as well.

The white MacBook marginally perform better than the 2ghz but not in gaming and the actual differences in computing would barely be noticed. I side with superior build quality and multi touch.
 
Geoff. said:
I got a whitebook simply because of the reason it was cheaper and was my first mac so my parents wanted the cheaper option.It so happened at the time of the purchase i got a faster processor than the uMB. I actually liked the look of the white macbook better. but im a bit worried about all these cracking issues i have seen posts about also discolouration etc. But i love this machine.

There both beautiful machines but im sure you will make a decision. There is loads of topics already about this so google around or mroogle.
Click to expand...

don't worry that much about the cracks, but you might be concerned about the discolouration of the keys after some good usage...it only takes a couple of months :eek:

SM:cool:
 
but i have had no issues with apple fixing the issue on both of my old whitebooks
Click to expand...

Well with no apple store in ireland and the nearest warranty repairer around 3 hours away i would like to prevent them altogether at least for around 2 years then i wouldnt mind if i had to get it replaced.
 
Geoff. said:
Well with no apple store in ireland and the nearest warranty repairer around 3 hours away i would like to prevent them altogether at least for around 2 years then i wouldnt mind if i had to get it replaced.
Click to expand...

that's a gamechanger the cracks were a frequent problem when i got mine. i have no idea if the issue has been resolved. neither of my replacements have cracked.
 
I heard it was because of the magnet being to strong and it sometimes slams causing cracks. I very very gently close the top leave my finger in a a abit until it gently closes. Doubt il be doing it after like a week though ( its only 2 days old )
 
crackbookpro said:
don't worry that much about the cracks, but you might be concerned about the discolouration of the keys after some good usage...it only takes a couple of months :eek:

SM:cool:
Click to expand...

Mines over a year old & has no discolouration or cracks.
 
Geoff. said:
I heard it was because of the magnet being to strong and it sometimes slams causing cracks. I very very gently close the top leave my finger in a a abit until it gently closes. Doubt il be doing it after like a week though ( its only 2 days old )
Click to expand...

I bought the White 2009 MB with a $200 rebate when they first came out and I kept the foam sheet and still gently close mine every time.

Cheers,
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that the base Aluminum MacBook does not come with a backlit keyboard. YOu have to buy the 2.4Ghz version for that.

At least thats what the Apple site says.

I decided to go with the White MacBook mostly because of the price and also because I owned a white G4 iBook for 6 years and never had any problems with cracks.

I had some discoloration but it was mostly my own fault. I have a much better idea how to better care for my new whitey.

I use my computer for basic home movies and writing papers for school so the white was all I need. I didn't realize that the uni's don't come with firewire until after bought my whitey. Now I'm even happier with the choice that I made.


crackbookpro said:
the lighted keyboard, and new trackpad heavily favors the Uni...

but the polycarbonate shell and firewire favors the white MB...

I would still go with the Uni because of the two new features that the white MB still does not - The trackpad and lighted keyboard have become such clutch features for me, but if they had a polycarbonate that came with those two things...I might just change my mind :p ...especially if it was black!

CrackBookPro:cool:
Click to expand...
 
Sounds like you have more reasons to go with the white.

The cracking is a real problem, but if you have an Apple Store near you, you can always get it replaced. I wish they still built them like the white iBooks, with the metal topcase that didn't crack and was more dirt resistant.
 
Thanks for the replies!
I think I might go with the whitebook, and then upgrade to a 7200 rpm hard drive.
Another thing I noticed was that the graphics card was slightly worst (DDR2vsDDR3), Thank you very much for the replies!
Also for the cracking, I own an old whitebook (used for 2 years, about 5 hours a day (I use it for all my school classes)), and well it did crack, but I have an abundance of apple stores near me (woohoo San Francisco), and they switched out the whole keyboard and the keys are brand spanking new :D.
 
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