Macbook confusion

I'm going to be entering college in August & I'm currently a Windows (XP) user. I tried out my cousins Macbook Pro (not the latest one) & I love the OS. I want to get the black Macbook. Now, I'm aware that the new OS is coming out in October (prob end Oct?) but I don't know if I have the patience to wait for it & whether it is honestly worth (needy?) the wait. Might be worth mentioning that I will only be able to start using this Macbook by August 23rd-when I arrive in Canada, currently I'm in Sri Lanka (can't buy it here, prices are ridiculous) but dad is working in US. I mean I would be able to buy the OS with student discount for just $70. Also I guess we could say new Macbooks would be coming sometime between October & end January, right? I plan to install Windows on it just incase of no-choice use or if my university (McGill University, Montreal, Canada) requires me to use some Windows-only softwares for my degree (Business). I've got a valid XP Home/Pro license.
Would I be kicking myself in the ass if I got the Macboook now & saw the upgrades the Macbook got in Oct-Jan or will they honestly be more or less insignificant? I download & watch quite a bit of HD videos, listen to music, surf the web, IM (I'm aware Windows Live Messenger sucks on OSX), email, just the general basics, no gaming!
Kinda off-topic..If my dad bought the Macbook in the US (it's almost $200 cheaper w/o tax) & shipped it to me in Canada (shipping is about $40 - $60), let's say he includes a b'day card & says he sent it for my b'day , would I end up paying import duty?
I would get a free ipod nano if I bought it now (before Leopard) which I would sell on ebay.
If I upgrade to Leopard in the future, will I lose all my files, software etc.?
Also, if I decide to sell the Macbook in the near future, maybe next May, what do you reckon it's resale value would be? Assuming it is used very well, and suffers from barely noticeable cosmetic defects, minor scratches maybe.

 

hmm resale value will be pretty bad for a macbook, im anticipating a sr macbook around leopard release, and by next may, peryn will have been released, making ur macbook 2 generations old in terms of chipsets.

 

I don't know, honestly, the MacBooks already come with very good CPU's (I mean, 2.0 and 2.16GHz C2D CPU's.......... it's not like they ship with really slow 1.5GHz CPU's or something). The only other big benefit I'd see in a Santa Rosa MacBook would be GMAX3100 graphics instead of GMA950, but at least for most stuff, that isn't going to make much of a difference...... gaming in Windows would give you better performance, but if that's a concern, the MacBook probably isn't the right machine anyway.

Personally if I was looking at a MacBook, I'd go ahead and get one. I just don't think there's that much in store that will be radically different that would make it worth it to wait for some future update.

Based on what you said you'll use it for, the current MacBook is going to be fine.

Upgrading from Tiger to Leopard should be relatively painless; no, you won't lose your files, software, etc. (although as always, it's a good idea to have a backup).

From what I've seen, resale value of MacBooks seem to have held up fairly well. You'll certainly take a hit, but I've seen people selling used Core Duo and C2D MB's for close to 70-75% of their retail value, so I think a machine bought now in May should still be able to get you a fairly decent amount, if you decide to sell it.

-Zadillo

 

I was in the same predicament 2 weeks ago, going back to college in August and wanted a Macbook. Honestly, just get one. I had used a windows comp and in the end, I am more than pleased with the MB. I also don't think anything else revolutionary will come out with the Leopard release.. At the most, Santa Rosa and honestly you probably wouldn't be able to tell a huge difference in performance if you are going to be using it for normal college tasks. And if you are concerned about the graphics, just grab a xbox 360 or ps3..

Bottom line. get the macbook now if you have the money. Also, I would suggest going with the white 2gig version unless you are completely in love with the black. Also, don't forget about the free nano or 50$ 30gb iPod with the 200$ mail in rebate..

 

I think there's no doubt that by January there will have been some sort of update for the MacBook, but I don't know if its significant enough for you to seriously regret it. If you really are looking for the latest technology you'll either be switching notebooks every few months or you won't get the notebook at all, because you're waiting for that processor update in a few months. Sure, an update is always good but I don't think you should be that worried over it.

It really depends. If you can start school and last until January without a notebook, and you can resist the temptation , then its fine to wait. Its almost guaranteed that the MacBook will be updated somehow by then. But if you would rather have a notebook at the start of school, get a MacBook now, get used to the way your MacBook works and how Mac OS X works so you're all set when school starts.

From my observations Macs in general resale very well, obviously better condition gets a higher price. Getting AppleCare for your MacBook is a good idea; no only for your own benefit but when you go to sell your MacBook the customer will have more confidence in your sale; if any internal parts go wrong they know Apple will fix it. Yes, the AppleCare warranty goes with the Mac, so you can transfer the warranty to the next owner.

 

Yeah I think I'm going to get the white Macbook with 2.16GHz processor/1GB RAM/120GB hard drive/Dvd-writer. With student discount it costs $1199 + a free ipod nano. So if I can sell the ipod nano as it is for about $120 - $150 it would be good. Then in dec/jan when the new Macbooks are released, if the upgrades on the Macbook are decent then within a week or two of the new Macbooks being released I'll sell this Macbook hopefully getting $800 - $1000 for it. I'd nearly break even so I guess shouldn't be too bad. Think I'm being a lil too optimistic or is this all quite possible in reality?

 

That all sounds perfectly realistic.

 

As I said before, I don't think its necessary for you to upgrade everytime there's an update. Technology moves rapidly; by the time the MacBook is updated in January new technology is going to be announced, and then you wait a few more months for that. In the end you keep waiting and waiting because they just updated the MacBooks but there's new processors out in a few months.

 

The current processor speeds are fine with me, upgrading the RAM to 2/3GB would be fine as well. But, the graphics card is absolutely horrendous. SR would give better battery life which obviously won't hurt, am I not right? LED screen would be much nicer too. My current plan is what I listed above, who knows maybe after getting the notebook I might fall in love with it & not want to get rid of it at all (with this scenario after about a year I'd pass it onto my mum & buy a new one )
Oh and btw, I'll be purchasing the notebook in the US cause it's cheaper (don't worry my bro will use his student ID & get me the student discount) but I'll be living in Canada so I wanted to know, if I had any problems with the notebook, could it be replaced/repaired in Canada or would I have to bring it back to the US?

 

Well, X3100 is a better graphics card and Santa Rosa will have better battery life. So you're right, it won't hurt, but I don't think its significant enough for anyone to regret it.

Yes, your Mac can be repaired or replaced anywhere Apple services.

 

There will be 12" MacBook (probably when leopard arrives). So I would suggest waiting, cause I think around that time might be few suprises...

 

Actually, I'm not too sure on that. If there is an ultraportable it will most likely be a 12-inch MacBook Pro, not a MacBook. The previous PowerBook series is an indication of that. Also, the consumer is served by the 13-inch MacBook already, and introducing a 12-inch MacBook also aimed towards the same consumer won't be helping either's sales. A 12-inch notebook would most likely be a MacBook Pro to serve the mobile professional.

 

I'm kinda convincing myself to make this purchase last me a couple of years so I might end up going with the black Macbook cause I think that looks a lot nicer/better. Still contemplating, I have time to figure it out anyway.
Sam I noticed you've got the lower-end Macbook, if you don't mind could you tell me how good/bad your experience has been? I tend to leave multiple applications running; Safari/Firefox, IM (MSN/Adium, iChat, Skype), iTunes, Limewire, Azureus & could possibly watch a DVD or some HD videos with all that running in the background. Would 1GB RAM be sufficient?

 

Oh and anything below 13" is too small for me. Ideally I'd want a 14" with dedicated graphics, since it's not an option & because the Macbook Pro is way out of my budget, I have no choice. Appreciate the suggestion though.

 

My experience has been great on my white MacBook. Hmmm, with all those applications running I'd say get 2 GB of RAM. 1 GB will probably be able to handle it, but it will be sluggish.

 

Okies will look into it. Read somewhere else that I better keep the stock RAM cause Apple doesn't service the notebook with 3rd party RAM, true? Also, I've been accepted into Michigan State University, I have paid the deposit to secure my seat in the university-it's my backup in case something goes wrong with McGill. Since I'm not in the US I can't purchase the notebook myself from the store. If I sent my dad all the acceptance letters etc. would he be able to take the letters into the store, show it to them & tell them it's for his son & purchase the notebook at student prices? Anyone bought with student discount before? What exactly is the procedure? How do they verify it if it is bought online?

 

To be fair, at the time, Apple already has a 12" iBook as well (in some ways the 12" PowerBook G4 was more like a fancy version of the 12" iBook).

I agree with you otherwise, a 12" ultraportable is probably going to be part of the MBP line, given the likely cost.

-Zadillo

 

I'm not sure about that. As it is, Apple knows that users will replace RAM (the MacBook was designed to make it dead simple), and I haven't heard of them refusing to service a machine just because a user upgraded the RAM in it. The one thing they might not do for you though would be fix a problem with the upgraded RAM.

So yeah, it probably isn't a bad idea to keep the stock RAM around (just in case there is a RAM failure, etc.). Frankly, it's not worth all that much on the open market anyway, so it doesn't hurt to hold on to it.

-Zadillo

 

I've got a question about the graphics processor. I'm planning on getting a 23"/26" HD LCD TV for my Xbox 360 which should/would support 720p/1080i *not* 1080p. I plan to use this TV as an external monitor for the Macbook, would the GMA 950 be able to output at 720p/1080i on the TV? Assuming the Macbook is upgraded to the X3100, would that gpu be able to output at 720p/1080i?

 

The current MacBook already supports up to 1920x1200 on an external display. So it can even display 1080p.

 

I'm currently in the same situation as you right now. If the rumors are true about the ultraportable Macbook, I want to hold off on purchasing one but I dont have the patience. I'm trying to convince myself into just buying the current Macbook right now because the Macbook went through three revisions and its finally problem free. I'd like to wait for the new ultraportable Macbook but I'm afraid if I did I'm going to end up with a lemon.

 

Interesting predicament, Cloud_9 . But I wouldn't worry about an ultraportable just yet.

There's been no recent rumours about one, no indication from the production factories that anything is coming up, and Apple has a lot of update on their hands and releasing yet another product, in my opinion, is not the next step. Apple likes to have a gap between announcements to let every product have all the press coverage and hype, and Apple still has the iMacs, iPods, possible iPhone Nanos and iPhone 2.0s to do.

I'd say an ultraportable MacBook/MacBook Pro won't be seen until after Macworld 2008. It might be announced at WWDC 2008 as the ultraportable MacBook Pro.

 

Hmm good thinking... I forgot about all the hype thats been going around about the new iMacs & iPod Nanos. Thanks Sam, you just convinced me into getting the Macbook.

 

I have been using MacBook (Black) for past 4 months with 2 gig of RAM.

Everything works perfectly fine, but I am not a huge fan of the screen and the graphics. Watching movies is not a great experience. Even the high quality DVDs get some distortion.

Since you say that you watch a lot of movies. I would suggest you to wait for an update to SR. It supports better graphics and they might upgrade the screen to LED banklit (as in new MBPs).

 

That's good to hear, Cloud_9 . I'm glad I was helpful to you .