Pick which one! Please!

I'm terrible at making decisions so just tell me what to do.

Do I want a black 2.16Ghz macbook (refurbished) for $999 or the mid-level white macbook for 1199 (I am a student so get $100 off the full priced things).

It will be used for word processing and internet and occassionally some stuff on the PC side (like statistical software).

Thank you!!

 

I would go for the black refurbished one, definitely!

 

I dont trust refurbs. If the white Macbook is brand new and you can swing it, go for it

 

really? even though there is less ram and the processor is smaller?

thank you thank you for responding so quickly!

(this is in response to Sam).

 

Well, diggy, Apple refurbs have been known to be great, so I wouldn't worry about that.

As for you, maeveli, the slower processor to me is not a big deal, the processors nowadays are way more powerful than most tasks we do right now anyway, it won't be that significant. As for RAM, its very cheap now, you can get 2 GB of RAM for about $50 so why not just install 2 GB of RAM yourself?

 

black refurb is good enough for ur need.

 

black one...for me it is better...

 

if you dont need it for much, spend as little as possible.

this case, the black.

 

I picked up a whitebook+ for $1299 and the new one came out a week later with more HDD, more RAM and a faster CPU. For me, it was a no brainer to pay restocking to get that much more stuff. For me the refurb versus new decision would be affected by whether Applecare covers refurbs for 3 full years. I plan to get Applecare before my year is up. To me it's insurance that is well worth it for a notebook. So if Applecare is available for a full 3 years on the refurb blackbook, I would put the money you saved toward the Applecare. If it isn't available for a refurb, I would get the whitebook+ and pick up the Applecare a year from now (don't forget).

I had Dell Completecare on my older notebook. I never ended up needing it, but I knew several people who did. I was glad I had it as it offered peace of mind if something should go wrong. At the end of 3 years, I'm either willing to live with the risk or I'm replacing the machine. I have a Time Capsule, a dot mac account and a network drive (buffalo linkstation) so I'm backing up 3 ways. The biggest down side if my Macbook dies will be doing without it until it gets fixed or replaced as my data is safe. If you have to choose between Applecare and a backup drive, go for the backup drive as Apple can't restore files from a crashed hard disk. But I would put Applecare at 3 on my must have list:
1 - machine (duh)
2 - backup
3 - applecare (or some kind of replacement plan, even if it's money sitting in an account in case you need a new system or repair)

 

I'd get the mid-level white mb. I too are iffy about refurbished products no matter what company it is + I dont like the black version since your paying a premium on top of what it shoud cost and that trackpad gets damned greasy in black as well.

 

That may well be, but its just a personal preference of mine. I got a buddy who wont buy anything unless its refurb or at a great sale price. Me? I just prefer brand new

 

Well, I can't argue with that, I prefer brand new as well. But at that sort of deal, and the "trust" that Apple refurbs are great quality, I'd rather have a black MacBook .