[geehamonster]

What to get a Macbook or a Macbook Pro? I will not really be doing any photoshopping or anything like that. I probably will watch DVD's, cruise the internet, run the normal word processing, spreadsheets, etc and maybe some Matlab. What do you all think I should get?

[chucker]

The MacBook.

[Brad]

MacBook and MacBook Pro both have a capital B.

The plural form of DVD has no apostrophe.

MATLAB is all caps.

FYI.

[psmith2.0]

geehamonster, your needs/usage has MacBook written all over it. A total no-brainer, IMO. You'd be spending an extra gob for a lot of power and features you'll probably never put to use.

Trust me...I'll not make that same purchasing slip again (overbuying and paying twice more than I need for what I do). I learned an expensive lesson two-and-a-half years ago! It's a $1,299 iMac or MacBook from here out...

[geehamonster]

Sorry Brad. I was just typing it up quickly because I was at work. I didn't mean to offend you.

[Brad]

Not offended.

If I was, I would have used one of these:

I'm just trying to educate the world one post at a time.

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by Brad Not offended. If I was, I would have used one of these: I'm just trying to educate the world one post at a time.

Yeah, don't take it personally. You'll notice once you've been here longer that we really value good communication skills here, and that especially includes good spelling and grammar. That's why you don't see a lot of "netspeak" here, unless it's a joke. While it wasn't a big deal that you misspelled those things, there are some common misspellings here that make a big difference in what you're saying (MAC is a lot different than Mac, for example). Don't worry about Brad, though. He's moody.

By the way, welcome to the 'Nova!

[blakbyrd]

Ze MacBook.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by fcgriz Don't worry about Brad, though. He's moody.

It's just that someone peed in my Cornflakes.

Oh. About the original question?

MacBook. Definitely.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by Brad It's just that someone peed in my Cornflakes.

Chris! How many times do I have to tell you.

[billybobsky]

You didn't want those cornflakes anyway.

[RowdyScot]

I'm sure somebody did. As for the question, I'll echo everyone else. MacBook, definitely.

[pilot1129]

MACBook Pr0! oh wait, yeah, just the mACbOOK.

-dont forget to pick up a leather iPod case

[Kusakun]

The answer is simple... MBP if you have the money and if you are going to use it as a "pro" if not go to the black Macbook

[usurp]

why black macbook and not the midrange white one? Does he need to pay $200 for just 20GB of extra space? Thats not good advice..

Go with either the low end or midrange macbook. it should be more then enough. I am personally getting the low end macbook since its the best deal.

[Sketch]

get the white MacBook and buy 3rd party RAM (512MB), buy an external 200GB HDD, all should cost the price of the black MacBook except with better specification.

[Mac Donald]

Originally Posted by Brad The plural form of DVD has no apostrophe. FYI.

We've had this discussion, and there is nothing wrong with pluralizing abbreviations with an apostrophe. It is a matter of style. Moreover, languages evolve---otherwise, we would all be speaking some weird Saxon/German language and Europe would be speaking Latin. Grammar, like languages, also evolves. Go pick up a copy of the Constitution, and note the grammar used. Every noun is capitalized. If Grammar had not evolved, every Sentence would look like This.

[DMBand0026]

Yes, there is something wrong with pluralizing something with an apostrophe. Abbreviation or not, it's not grammatically correct. Your argument that it is correct due to a linguistic evolution is flawed, by that logic, 1337 speak should be perfectly acceptable as well by now.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by Mac Donald We've had this discussion

Yes, indeed. So please learn from it. You can argue about style all you want; "DVD's" is not the accepted style here.

I recommend you read the Taligent Style Guide on this matter:

Forming plurals of abbreviations When forming plurals of abbreviated forms: Form the plural with a lowercase s (never an es). PBXs (not PBXes) If the abbreviation contains internal punctuation, form the plural with an apostrophe s. Ph.D.'s M.C.S.'s (but CPUs, LANs)

If Grammar had not evolved, every Sentence would look like This.

"This" is not a noun.

[Mac Donald]

Originally Posted by chucker "This" is not a noun.

This is a person, place or thing when used in the context I used it. It can also be used as an adjective -- e.g., this thing.

[PB PM]

I cannot believe how many grammar freaks there are on this forum.

[Mac Donald]

People who correct others' grammar in a snarky way are just out to prove how "smart" they think they are. I guarantee if I go through the archives, I can plenty of examples of both Brad and Chucker not following the correct rules of grammar --- differences between "who" and "whom" for example (which are thankfully evolving to become obsolete). But I doubt someone was obnoxious enough to devote a post to their mistaken grammar.

[Sketch]

am i in the right forums? did i bookmark it right. Jees luigi

[DMBand0026]

I don't believe that anyone here is claiming to be perfect, I know I'm not because I'm nowhere near perfect. However, I do know that myself, Brad, Chucker, and others who advocate for the use of correct grammar are at least putting an effort toward it, which is more than can be said for some members here at AppleNova. The issue arises when people intentionally misuse grammar as is often the case on the internet these days. I have a big problem with people who just don't care and don't even try.

I also have a problem with people claiming that grammar mistakes are now acceptable because of an evolution of language. Yes, the english language has evolved to a point where it's barely a shadow of its former self, but that doesn't give us the right to butcher it to the point where it becomes nothing at all like its former self. There are certain aspects of grammar and language that must be maintained or we'll all turn into a pack of bumbling idiots who shout w00t! at each other as we pass on the street.

Like I said, I'm not perfect, no one here is, but I know a lot of us who have a difficult time standing idly by as our language "evolves" into crap. I really don't think it's fair to yourself or to anyone else to just accept such blatant misuse of grammar and chalk it up to an evolution of language. Yes, the English language is constantly changing, that's fine, I know that we accept that. However, to allow it to suffer and die because, "that's the way the internet does it" is completely unacceptable to me. People should know better, there's 40 year old men making grammatical errors on the internet that would have them failing homework assignments that their 15 year old children are doing in school.

Don't bother pointing out that the above written isn't grammatically perfect, I know that. At least I tried, at least it's readable, at least I'm not attempting to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

Edit: See the above post for a perfect example of what I'm talking about. To say that it smacks of effort is a gigantic understatement.

[hutchtoo]

Would the more experienced Mac users here recommend buying the AppleCare protection plan along with the MacBook? At $200+ this seems like an incredible premium relative to the price.

(A little nervous now as I can't remember if there is a capital "C" in AppleCare... living dangerously. )

[Sketch]

well it is better to get AppleCare protection plan. And no i am not an experienced mac user. But i do have a protection plan which is different than the AppleCare, it covers accidental damages and all other hardware damages for less money (100 Euro for 3 years). It is from the apple store itself. But i am from Europe.

[DMBand0026]

Originally Posted by hutchtoo Would the more experienced Mac users here recommend buying the AppleCare protection plan along with the MacBook? At $200+ this seems like an incredible premium relative to the price. (A little nervous now as I can't remember if there is a capital "C" in AppleCare... living dangerously. )

You should absolutely get the AppleCare protection plan. Around here you'll find that most people will recommend that you get AppleCare with a portable computer, but it isn't always necessary for a desktop model. However, your milage may vary.

[FFL]

Originally Posted by DMBand0026 You should absolutely get the AppleCare protection plan. Around here you'll find that most people will recommend that you get AppleCare with a portable computer, but it isn't always necessary for a desktop model. However, your milage may vary.

Yep, that's a concise statement of the conventional wisdom regarding AppleCare among experienced users and industry pros.

[autodata]

Originally Posted by Mac Donald We've had this discussion, and there is nothing wrong with pluralizing abbreviations with an apostrophe.

You should only use them in abbreviations where it's not clear if the "s" is part of the abbreviation itself or in cases where the abbreviation contains punctuation.

Moreover, languages evolve

That's among the stupidest arguments I've seen.

It's one thing not to know the correct capitalization of irregularly capitalized brand names and trademarks, unless someone types "MAC," but it's a problem when so many people make the same glaring mistakes that make educated people hate chatting online.

[FFL]

Oh, and as to the original question - a midrange white MacBook, with an 80 or 100 GB drive, and a 3rd party RAM upgrade.