# Thinking about buying a MacBook...



## adfro7 (Sep 8, 2007)

I'm thinking about spending some of my savings on a MacBook, and I have a few questions..

Firstly, there are three models that you can get. I don't know whether to get the 13 inch White 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or 13 inch White 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo.

I'm guessing the latter is quicker, but is there a huge difference?

I think 80GB would be a large enough drive, but just in case, I was wondering whether you can use an external hard drive with a MacBook?

Going back to the hard drive spec, if you install and run Windows Vista, does this take up a large amount of the hard drive?

Going onto the RAM, would it be worth getting 2GB from the beginning? I am thinking about using Vista as well as OS X, and I presume using 2 operating systems takes up some amount of RAM.

Could you also explain the difference between a '24x Combo drive' and a '8x double-layer SuperDrive'?

When buying a MacBook there's the option of the 'AppleCare Protection Plan for MacBook/iBook - Auto-enroll [+ £199.00]'. Is it worth taking this up? It's a big sum of money, but it's 3 years coverage..

Also, I think there's only one or two USB ports. Is there any way of getting more fitted? or is there any adapters on the market that you can plug into one of the USBs to make it form two?

They seem to be selling OS X Tiger right now, but I hear there is a new generation out in October. Should I wait it out until then to buy it? In fact, what does a new MacBook come pre installed with?

Finally, would iLife '08 be worth a punt at 55 quid? Doesn't break the bank and seems to look good from what I've seen on youtube and heard from people.

I'd like to know the pro's and con's on MacBook's too from people that own them. I'm somewhat of a convert from PC to Mac. I'll still have my desktop, but a MacBook would be ideal. Basically, ARE THEY WORTH THE PRICE TAG?


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

adfro7 said:


> I'm thinking about spending some of my savings on a MacBook, and I have a few questions..
> 
> Firstly, there are three models that you can get. I don't know whether to get the 13 inch White 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or 13 inch White 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo.
> 
> I'm guessing the latter is quicker, but is there a huge difference?


yes there is a difference, but it is not huge, the 2.16ghz cpu will just take a little longer before it is too slow, just like any computer cpu. should you spend the extra and get it? that rally depends on how long you intend to use it, and what you will be doing on it.


> I think 80GB would be a large enough drive, but just in case, I was wondering whether you can use an external hard drive with a MacBook?


you can use any firewire or usb2 external hard drive, as long as its formatted correctly. if the mac doesn't like it when you plug it in the 1st time, it will tell you and ask if it can format it. just remember, the mac can read, but not write ntfs, it can read and write fat32 and older. the mac itself will use jhfs+ format, which windows can not read (unless you buy an app called macdrive). so, if you plan on the external drive to be used only by the mac, go jhfs+. if you want to plug it into a windows computer, use fat32.


> Going back to the hard drive spec, if you install and run Windows Vista, does this take up a large amount of the hard drive?


that depends on how you install vista. you can use either bootcamp, which means the mac will be dual boot (you will start the computer in one os or the other, but not both at the same time), parallels, or vmware, the last two being virtual machines meaning that they will run as a program in the mac os giving windows an enviroment to run in thinking they are on a computer by it self (remember, you have to have either ultimate or enterprise to legally install it with a virtual machine). either way, they will take only as much hard drive space as you give them.


> Going onto the RAM, would it be worth getting 2GB from the beginning? I am thinking about using Vista as well as OS X, and I presume using 2 operating systems takes up some amount of RAM.


if you can afford it now, by all means, mac it out. but if you wait, remember that there will be 2 512mb sticks in it, and to upgrade, you have have to replace them in pairs, so 2 1gig sticks.


> Could you also explain the difference between a '24x Combo drive' and a '8x double-layer SuperDrive'?


a combo drive reads dvds and cds, and only burns cds. a super drive reads and burns dvds and cds. so the 24x combo drive can burn cds at 24 speed. the 8x superdrive can burn double layer dvds at 8 speed.


> When buying a MacBook there's the option of the 'AppleCare Protection Plan for MacBook/iBook - Auto-enroll [+ £199.00]'. Is it worth taking this up? It's a big sum of money, but it's 3 years coverage..


thats really up to you. there have been studies either way that say its good and bad. read up on the terms and agreement, talk the people in an apple store if you can. if i were to buy a new laptop, i would, but most likely not on a desktop.


> Also, I think there's only one or two USB ports. Is there any way of getting more fitted? or is there any adapters on the market that you can plug into one of the USBs to make it form two?


there are 2 ports, and like all laptops, there is no changing that. but everyone and their grandma make usb hubs. just be sure to get one that is powered (but not from the laptop) and is usb2 compliant. and they come from making one port into two all the way into making one port into 8.


> They seem to be selling OS X Tiger right now, but I hear there is a new generation out in October. Should I wait it out until then to buy it? In fact, what does a new MacBook come pre installed with?


i'd wait until the new os is out. and as what they come with, apple.com will have the answer. but all new macs come with the os, and the current ilife preinstalled on them (which is ilife 08 as of today), as well as 30 trials of the current iwork, and ms office for mac.


> Finally, would iLife '08 be worth a punt at 55 quid? Doesn't break the bank and seems to look good from what I've seen on youtube and heard from people.


again, a new mac comes with ilife already, and i think its awesome software. i use itunes and iphoto daily, and imovie and idvd are the best simple content apps i've ever used. now i haven't used the ilife imovie, and from what i read, i know i most likely will never use it, but apple has made the older imoviehd from ilife06 a free download for ilife08 owners.


> I'd like to know the pro's and con's on MacBook's too from people that own them. I'm somewhat of a convert from PC to Mac. I'll still have my desktop, but a MacBook would be ideal. Basically, ARE THEY WORTH THE PRICE TAG?


again, it really depends on what your plan is with this laptop, and what you are going to use it for. i personally think apple computers are worth the price. i personally would get a macbook pro over the macbook, but thats because it would be a desktop replacement for me. just remember, the macbook is aimed at students and most home users, the macbook pro is aimed at business and profressionals. but the macbook is a solid performer and will give you many years of service.


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## scathe30 (Jan 10, 2007)

About getting RAM:
I'm sure that it will be very good to have 2 Gigs of RAM, especially if you are going to run Windows via a VM, such as Parallels Desktop/ This will be essential to run Windows at native speed.


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## appledit (Aug 24, 2007)

I wouldn't advise putting Vista on your mac. IMHO it's a crap OS. My old Windows machine with XP still runs faster than my parents new one with Vista.

Maybe you have a good reason for wanting to do this, but in general I think OS X is way better than Vista.


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