Help Please

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I am in the process of purchasing a macbook for my freshman year in college. With my given range, i can get one of the 2 white models. I plan on putting office mac on it and thats really about it. What kind/ specs should i get? I basically plan on just using it for typical college things, internet, assignments, and maybe even some garage band in there. What specs should i get? I alos plan on getting the Apple Warrenty extender. My price range is 1350 maximum, but dont want to go that high if i dont have to. I plan on using this computer for the next 4 years and maybe even more. Thanks for your help.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
MBP 2.0 GHz CD, 20" iMac 2.16 C2D, Blackbook 2.16 GHz C2D
Well if you plan to use it for the next 4 years then get the mid range whitebook. I am not sure how you use a computer but for me the super drive is a good incentive to choose the mid range model.

As money seems to be an issue for you use it with the stock 1 Gig Ram. Upgrade it yourself later and change HD when ever you want. People always say get 2 Gig RAM but I found Macs run very quick on 1 Gig under Tiger at least. I wonder what people did way back in the day when we were running MB CD with 512?

4 years is a long time and if you won't be able to afford to replace it if it gets damaged I would suggest that you get a laptop bag that has adequate protection. I would maybe also consider investing in the iSkin keyboard protector as many a Mac have had a shortened life due to spills.

I think that covers all of the bases of what I would be looking for in a machine in your budget.
 

bobtomay

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15" MBP '06 2.33 C2D 4GB 10.7; 13" MBA '14 1.8 i7 8GB 10.11; 21" iMac '13 2.9 i5 8GB 10.11; 6S
Just some items to consider.

As a freshman entering college on a $1350 budget, I might suggest this:
The low end MacBook - $999

Take advantage of the $200 rebate and get yourself an iPod, depending on which one you choose, minimum - $199 up front - even if you don't want it, you can turn around and sell it.

Printer - don't see it on the Apple site, but I know the Apple stores also have a $100 rebate on printers, you'll need one I would think - $100

You are now up to your limit after tax of $1350

Use NeoOffice until the new version of Office for Mac is released, the current version runs under Rosetta, meaning it is not designed for the intel processors and will be a little slow - NeoOffice is free - Office for Mac should be still $150, but knowing MS - it may go up to $200 even with student discount - your rebate on the iPod will pay for this.

Extended warranty - $183 - you have a year warranty to start with and you also have the same year period to add the warranty later - The rebate on the printer will pay for half of this.

DVD burning and Hard drive for the $200 upgrade to the middle line MacBook -

The Super Drive - it's not really that super - would think that if you need DVD burning, most if not all of this could be done at home - an external Pioneer 18x and a case can be had for less than $80.

Right now you can get external 500GB hard drives from multiple manufacturers for $130

Both of these can be added later for the same $200 when you have saved a little more $$$.

Ram can also be upgraded later for a lot less money than Apple charges.
 
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thank you for your help. There is a student store in my area where i can get office mac for a mere $75. When do you think another version will be released? Will it be that much different from the one right now?
 
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15" Unibody MBP 2.4 Ghz C2D, 2 GB RAM, 250 GB HDD, 320 GB Time Machine HDD, 1 TB Ext Media Drive
thank you for your help. There is a student store in my area where i can get office mac for a mere $75. When do you think another version will be released? Will it be that much different from the one right now?

Having the new version running natively under Intel instead of essentially emulation under Rosetta would be enough to make me wait for the new version. In the interim, I would suggest you do what was said already and use Open/Neo Office. It is FREE (open source), and is compatible with all Microsoft Office document formats.

No one really knows, but seeing as the current version is 2004, an update is due soon, I would think.
 
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i dont have no mac's
i have troubled with using neooffice at school in a ms word world and it was a pain in the rear
-chris
 

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