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View Full Version : MacBook 2.0 w/ extras or MacBook 2.4?

Raider82
2008-12-26, 19:57
Hello Mac community! I am a long time Windows users, dare I say! I am going to be getting my first Mac as a Christmas present, yes it's a little late but the wife wanted me to pick it out. I am very excitied, but also have some questions.

First I guess I need to tell everyone what I want to do with this computer. I mainly will use it for the web, e-mail, photo editing, and some gaming, like WOW or Starcraft 2 when it comes out. I am not sure if I should get the 2.0 or the 2.4

Do you think I would get more use out of a MacBook 2.0 with the Time Capsule - 500 GB or the MacBook 2.4? Both come out to about the same price, with maybe a $30 dollar difference.

With the Time Capsule I would be getting an updated router (currently have a Dlink G) to take advantage of the N speed, and the extra hard drive space. Do you think that would be better then the extra speed, hard drive space and lighted keyboard on the 2.4?

This computer is an really expensive investment for me and I just want to make sure that it will be something that will last for sometime. Any advice?

Also what printer should I go with my purchase as I get one for free for buying a Mac? Cannon or HP?
Brad
2008-12-26, 20:14
Welcome, Raider82! :) Congratulations on such a nice gift!

Hmm... WoW should play pretty well on a new MacBook of either spec. I don't play it, but I'm sure there are others here who can give testimonials. I'd be a little more concerned about StarCraft 2, though, as its requirements still haven't been announced and it looks to be a pretty CPU and GPU-heavy game. I'm not sure if that should sway you into the higher-tier 2.4 GHz MacBook or not.

I can't speak for Time Capsule as I do my backups manually to an external drive.

As for the printer, I highly recommend Canon over HP. Canon's software, in my personal experience, has been far better about "staying out of my way" than HP's. The one time I had to install HP software on my Mac for a machine at work was a nightmare, but that was a few years ago and maybe (?) HP has gotten better.
Raider82
2008-12-26, 20:28
Brad thanks for the fast reply! Yeah I was very suprised!

The decision is really killing me as I want to order it tonight and get my Mac so I can play with it, but with it being such a huge investment I wanted some other advice on the matter.

Time Capsule sounds really neat to me, plus the Airport routers are supposed to be really great aren't they? I can always buy an external drive and backup that way, but I probably won't have money for that for awhile.

On the other hand I want current fastest and best MacBook currently so it will last me a good while, but I don't really know if the extra speed in the processor and bus speed will really make that much of a difference?

The only other differences between the two is the lighted keyboard and bigger hard drive. I haven't seen the lighted keyboard in person but everyone raves about it, and I do alot of computing at night, but can type w/o looking so I don't know what a difference that would make if any. The extra storage space would be nice though.

Does anyone know how much space the OS takes up? How much actual space will I have?
Bonn89
2008-12-26, 20:31
In my honest opinion, you're going to get more use out of the 500GB of storage (for both Time Machine and external storage) and the 802.11n wireless bandwidth than you will with the extra 400mhz.

The only thing you'll truly miss out on is the backlit keyboard, as you can use part of the Time Capsule as storage.

I'd go for the 2.0 MacBook Time Capsule, but no matter what you get, I'll be sitting here with my BlackBook jealously. :-P
remlemasi
2008-12-26, 20:34
I have the 2.4 and I am in love with the backlit keyboard, but I realize that it may or may not be worth it to you or others.

As for the Time Capsule: in my opinion, the N-speeds are not necessary unless you have super fast internet (+20 Mbps) and need the speed while you are wireless and/or are transferring a lot of data across your network (again, wirelessly). We have 20 Mbps FiOS and I don't find our wireless-G to be a bottleneck/issue at all. Also, you can probably find an external HD and router setup for Time Machine purposes for much cheaper than the Time Capsule.

There are others, though, that think the ease and performance of the Time Capsule to be worth the price just like I love my backlit keyboard. I LOVE its visibility at night... The keyboard alone isn't worth $300, of course, but if you need processing power, 2.4 vs 2.0 is relatively significant (more so than the 1.83 Core Duo vs 2.0 Core Duo of the 1st gen MacBooks). Hard drive capacity is relatively trivial since HD prices are always going down and it is super-ridiculously easy to replace.

1 Vote toward the 2.4.
Raider82
2008-12-26, 20:47
Thanks for the replies everyone! decisions.... decisions..

theelmerguy I have cable and I am not getting 20+ Mbps so N will not really make a huge difference? Anyone have any experience with the Aiport Routers? Are they really that much better?

So far it seems like I will be getting the Cannon printer for sure. Anyone have any experience with the MP480 or MP470?
Yontsey
2008-12-26, 21:15
Also keep in mind that if you have anything else running on your network that requires G (ie: Xbox360, PS3, iPhone, other computers, ect) it will only run at G speed.
Brad
2008-12-26, 21:42
The extra storage space would be nice though.

Does anyone know how much space the OS takes up? How much actual space will I have?

Pictures speak a thousand words. So, here's a screenshot of my MacBook Pro's used disk space. The drive's total space is 148 GB and 61 GB are currently used.

http://i44.tinypic.com/rswphs.png

The big blue blob on the left is my home directory. That's where all my documents, movies, music, et cetera go. I also keep most third-party applications installed under my home directory because this is a company computer. My home directory appears as one big file because I use FileVault (http://www.apple.com/sg/macosx/features/filevault/) to encrypt its contents.

The pink and teal blobs in the center make up a 7.6 GB VMware image. The little purple blobs towards the top are tons of printer drivers. The light green blobs in the middle right are various applications (totaling 4.2 GB). The oodles of other little blobs make up the rest of the system files.
Raider82
2008-12-26, 21:42
Yontsey I have the XBOX 360 and PS3 connected via ethernet and the Wii and another laptop using wi-fi at g speed currently.
Raider82
2008-12-26, 22:13
Brad so looking at your drive it seems that a 160 gig drive would be sufficent? Or are you saying you need more space? On my current Windows machine I have 90 gigs of space and only 1.47 gigs left! Most of the space goes to music and pictures.

Speaking of pictures does anyone have any of the lighted keyboard?
Yontsey
2008-12-26, 22:16
Brad so looking at your drive it seems that a 160 gig drive would be sufficent? Or are you saying you need more space? On my current Windows machine I have 90 gigs of space and only 1.47 gigs left! Most of the space goes to music and pictures.

Speaking of pictures does anyone have any of the lighted keyboard?

I got the smallest hdd and bought my own 500gig hdd from NewEgg and installed it myself. Best move I ever made.
Brad
2008-12-26, 22:35
Brad so looking at your drive it seems that a 160 gig drive would be sufficent? Or are you saying you need more space?
Eh, not making a judgment. Just sharing my stats. :)

That said, I only keep some of my personal content on this computer. I have hundreds GBs more on multiple drives in an older Mac in my home office. If this was my only personal machine, the current internal drive wouldn't be nearly enough storage.

I got the smallest hdd and bought my own 500gig hdd from NewEgg and installed it myself. Best move I ever made.
An excellent suggestion, especially since the MacBook hard drives are now brain-dead easy to replace.
curiousuburb
2008-12-27, 06:28
If you can wait a few weeks, MWSF is on the horizon, and although we won't have a Stevenote, it's possible that some hardware and/or software will get bumped.

Another fortnight might offer some new options or slight shifts in the bundles you might be tempted by.

(MacBooks aren't likely to get tweaked, but if TC gets upgraded it might impact your choice.)

Buy now if you must (as a backlitMBP fan, I'd personally go for the backlit 2.4 but at it's minimum spec and upgrade RAM and HDD yourself), but if you can stretch until mid-January you may benefit.

As for internal drive space, like Brad, I've got external drives to hold the > 100GB of music and podcasts that would overfill my internal hdd otherwise... but a user-replaceable hdd isn't an option on my mbp17.

Barefeats.com and Arstechnica have some benchmarks and spec whore shootouts of the performance differences between various models if you really care... but preference for backlit keys isn't obviously quantifiable. ;)
remlemasi
2008-12-27, 06:52
Speaking of pictures does anyone have any of the lighted keyboard?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3069/3140278883_b58a1ffc20.jpg?v=0
Raider82
2008-12-27, 08:35
Thanks for everyones help!

I weighed all my options and decided to go for the 2.4 MacBook. :)

I think it will be the best choice for me now, and later on when I have more money :lol: I will probably purchase TC.

Thanks again for everyones help! You might see me on the other forums asking for tips/help on my new Mac as I have never used one before only Windows, but I am very excitied!
curiousuburb
2008-12-27, 09:42
Thanks for everyones help!

I weighed all my options and decided to go for the 2.4 MacBook. :)

I think it will be the best choice for me now, and later on when I have more money :lol: I will probably purchase TC.

Thanks again for everyones help! You might see me on the other forums asking for tips/help on my new Mac as I have never used one before only Windows, but I am very excitied!
Apple has video tutorials to help (http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/)

As well as pages of useful FAQs like:

http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/ and
http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/

Glad you're excitied. We might be able to help you with the ropes. ;)
MagSafe
2008-12-27, 12:12
Just thought I'd say I replaced my iMac with an Alu MacBook as my main machine around the time they came out.

I went for the 2.0GHz option with all the basic specs, and have since upgraded to a 500GB Western Digital drive, and 4GB of Apple RAM (without any problems).

It's a really nice machine. I'm not much of a gamer so felt the MBP wasn't for me, and work wise I spend most of my time coding for the web, rather than doing anything graphical or involving video. Speed wise it's perfect, the thing that stopped me going for the 2.4 option is in a couple of years I'll probably just by a new one anyway, when they release a new model.

Hope you enjoy yours :)