Getting my Macbook soon

Hello all!,

In just three months time, I will be graduating from High School and my parents have promised me a laptop for graduation. I have decided on getting a Macbook, since I enjoy the operating system, and I like the simplicity of its use.

I have a question, should I go for the newer updated Macbook with Penryn, or snatch a deal on the older Blackbook? Since the older Blackbook is now around $1299, and the old base Macbook is only $899. But the new updated Macbook is 2.1 Ghz, but is it worth it?

Thanks in advanced.

 

how much is you budget?

 

My budget is $1300.

 

Get the newer high-end whitebook. The new blackbook blows your budget and the older blackbook is slower than the new high-end whitebook.

You get:
2.4 Ghz, 2 gig RAM, superdrive, 160 gig HDD on the new whitebook.

If memory serves me correctly, this is more stuff than you used to get on the old blackbook. If you don't need to burn dvd's, even the low-end whitebook is a good deal at $1100 and you have $200 left over for "expenses" . It offers a combo drive and 120 gig HDD but you still get 2 gig of RAM. I think the CPU speed is slower on the low-end whitebook, but it still might be equal to or faster than the old blackbook. The big win with the newer Macbook line is they run cooler because the new Penryn CPU needs less juice to go faster. The only down side is less L2 cache, but the CPU speed more than makes up for it.

 

I agree with r0k but there's one nagging thing that keeps me from giving a 100% go for the newer models. The performance gain between the two isn't much, but on the other hand heat does drop quite a bit. If you don't mind the somewhat higher heat, then I recommend getting the older generation. You could use the saved cash to upgrade the memory to 4GB AND get a much much bigger and faster hard-drive for it (on the order of 200 GB spinning at 7200 RPM). You'd most likely still come out ahead price-wise too going that route.

But, if you are running intense applications such as movie editing and photo editing, then the newer generation makes a bit more sense. It all comes down to what you intend to do with it.

 

collect a little more and buy refurbished macbook pro from outlet!

 

Well, I like the MBP's, but I know the older models run at high heat, and I use my laptop in my lap a lot (go figure ), so I think the Macbook will be better. The Macbook Pro is also a bit larger for me, I don't mind the 15", but the 13.3 seems to be a perfect fit for me, and I don't ever game, so the card would be an unnecesarry expense.

 

get the higher level white one and spend the extra cash left over on accessories

 

I agree. If you're on a tight budget, you may want to consider a refurbished MBP. They come with standard warranty etc. The only diff AFAIK is that the absence of nifty packaging which, when you think of it, is worth nothing. You may notice that a refurbished product is a little used (from what I've read) but all my friends who have bought refurbished products have their machines looking like they are brand new.

 

Personally if I were you I'd skip the Macbook Pro and go with the newer MB processor. Their's no downside to it and unless you want to game on a notebook or do high end video editting the MBP isn't worth it.

 

A color isn't worth more money, but features are. =) Penyrn will run cooler and longer in your lap.

 

I would go for the new macbook if I were you. Here in Vancouver, you can get the last gen 2.2blackbook for about 1299.99 and the new gen for 1450, its not much of a difference anyways. Oh I am assuming you have education discount. If you don't, just take a friend whos a student to go with you.

 

Yes, I will have the $100 student discount as well .

I think I will go with the middle model. Is the OS good for a student?

 

Just to answer my co-worker also does part time university and he just does programming courses and says the macbook works perfect for it. He initially had Vista but said it slowed his progress down.