What is a "super drive", and why buy the 2.0 Ghz model?

As you can see, I have another thread out about the MacBook as I am looking to buy.

Looking at the Apple website, I am looking at either the $1099 MacBook with the 1.83 Ghz processor, or the $1299 MacBook with the 2.0 Ghz processor and the "superdrive".

The way I see it, I am spending $200 extra to get .17 Ghz extra speed, a DVD burner, and a super drive? By the way, what exactly is a superdrive?

I guess what I'm asking is, what is the appeal of the 2.0 Ghz model over the 1.83 Ghz? The reason I say that is, when I look at everyone's signature, 90% of them show the 2.0 Ghz model. What is making you go with that model, the extra .17 Ghz, the DVD burner, the "super drive"?

The way I see it, I would rather spend that money on a major RAM upgrade. That being said, most people seem to have the 2.0 Ghz model, so I would like to know why. Thanks!

the superdrive is a disc drive with dvd burning capabilities. the combo drive reads dvds but cannot burn them. as for the processor speed difference, cant help you with that because i just bought what i could afford

I dished out the 200 extra bux for more HDD space (i'm upgrading soon to 100gb anyways) the extra speed and also superdrive... I really wanted the superdrive, so the 2ghz kinda came as a 'cool' bonus

i dont think you can really tell the diff in between unless ure' doing some real heavy work

See, thats what I'm struggling with.

For $150, I can upgrade my RAM to 1Gb, which I really think ought to be a minimum these days for laptops, and for 20 Gb more of hard drive space. To me, there is more value in that then getting a little fast clock speed and a DVD-burner, but I do realize it will be different by the individual.

Thanks for the advice and information.

get base 512 ram... and then go to newegg and get the ram there... I got 2 gigs for 170 bux, HUGEEE diff

Really??? I was told to go to Crucial.com, and the only way to upgrade to 2 Gb of RAM outside of Apple is to take out the original 512 (2X256) Mb of RAM, and replace it completely with two 1 Gb sticks. Crucial listed that for over $330!

I will look into NewEgg for sure. Will there be a difference with the RAM???

thats right, u wanna have 2 of the same RAMs because our computers are dual channel, and it benefits alot from it....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231069

thats the one I have and many of us use... I highly reccomend it

OK, went to NewEgg, and this is what I found:

mushkin 2GB (2 x 1GB) 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Dual Channel Kit Notebook Memory Model 991479 - Retail

Buffered/Registered: Unbuffered
Cas Latency: 4
ECC: No
Heat Spreader: No
Manufacturer Warranty: Lifetime
Timing: 4-4-4-12
Voltage: 1.8V
# Model #: 991479
# Item #: N82E16820146440
$159.99

OR

mushkin 2GB (2 x 1GB) 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Dual Channel Kit Notebook Memory Model 991505 - Retail

Buffered/Registered: Unbuffered
Cas Latency: 5
ECC: No
Heat Spreader: No
Manufacturer Warranty: limited lifetime warranty
Timing: 5-5-5-15
Voltage: 1.8V-1.9V
# Model #: 991505
# Item #: N82E16820146125
# Out Of Stock
$179.99

First off, can you tell me the difference between the two? Second, the $179.99 RAM is currently showing out of stock. Any experience with NewEgg on this? Just curious how long it might take to get delivered if you ordered while showing out of stock. Thanks!!!

***EDIT***

I can see that you provided a link and responded while I was furiously typing away on this. Thanks so much for the help!!!

np buddy

Buy the fastest processor you can afford - why ?

because you can not replace the cpu! with a new one.

but you can add ram or an HD anytime you want.
The difference is the timing, the 2nd one is faster then the first one.

But, you should open your macbook and look on the ram to get the exact specs, some laptops may bee the Cas 5 speed vs the CAS 4 speeds and may not work with the faster ram

I bought it for the faster processor speed and the superdrive function.

I bought the 2GHz because of the superdrive - I transfer quite a bit of data about and being able to stick nearly 5 gigs on a dvd and take it with me is a necessity for me.

Mathiau said:

The difference is the timing, the 2nd one is faster then the first one.

But, you should open your macbook and look on the ram to get the exact specs, some laptops may bee the Cas 5 speed vs the CAS 4 speeds and may not work with the faster ram

Click to expand...

Actually the LOWER the CAS rating the Faster the ram...
2-3-3-12 will ALWAYS be faster then 3-4-4-14

But in the above mentioned situation - Overall, the Clock speed on the Stock RAM on the MacBook is PC25300, so you should go with the second Ram choice, you dont want to go lower on the ram speed if the MacBook is spec'd for PC25300

I could get into it more, but I wont

<~~~ Huge Overclocker here...

I bought 2GB of memory at Frys for $170. The customer exprience was horrible as usual, but the price was right, and I didn't have to wait for it to be shipped.

Well, I wound up buying the 1.83 GHz MacBook two days ago and am loving it so far. I will be upgrading the RAM to 2 Gb here soon. I found a good deal on NewEgg for two 1 Gig sticks at $75 each. All of the reviews for the RAM were from MacBook upgraders, and all had nothing but praise for the chips.

I will eventually upgrade the HD, but not anytime soon until I really get to the point that I have to have more space.

JGruber said:

Actually the LOWER the CAS rating the Faster the ram...
2-3-3-12 will ALWAYS be faster then 3-4-4-14

But in the above mentioned situation - Overall, the Clock speed on the Stock RAM on the MacBook is PC25300, so you should go with the second Ram choice, you dont want to go lower on the ram speed if the MacBook is spec'd for PC25300

I could get into it more, but I wont

<~~~ Huge Overclocker here...

Click to expand...

<-- even bigger one here

and that is what i had meant with the speeds.

i just used my example based on some dell laptops that would not work with say pc25300 2-3-3-12 but would work with pc25300 3-4-4-14, sometimes they make those system so picky.

Mathiau said:

<-- even bigger one here

and that is what i had meant with the speeds.

i just used my example based on some dell laptops that would not work with say pc25300 2-3-3-12 but would work with pc25300 3-4-4-14, sometimes they make those system so picky.

Click to expand...

boy i wish i understood anything of what you just said.

lol... PC World stuff talk...

I dont want to get into what I have an start compairing, after all we are on a Mac Forum