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Replacing PC with Mac... Help! (iBook/Mini)
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<blockquote data-quote="kaidomac" data-source="post: 178678" data-attributes="member: 15110"><p>I wrote an article about upgrading the Mac Mini, available here:</p><p></p><p><a href="http://mini.wiredby.com" target="_blank">http://mini.wiredby.com</a></p><p></p><p>If you're a student, however, I'd suggest going with the iBook since it's more portable. There are plenty of upgrades you can do to an iBook as well. I would start out with the $999 12" iBook, which has a 1.33ghz processor, 512mb ram, 40gb hard drive, Bluetooth, and Airport Extreme.</p><p></p><p>The first upgrade I would do would be to add a 1gb stick of Crucial ram. Apple wants $300 for 1.5gb; if you get the stock 512mb, buy Crucial, and install it yourself, then it only costs $191.57. Instant savings of $100.</p><p></p><p>Next I would upgrade the hard drive. The stock iBook drive is only 4200rpm. Seagate has an excellent 100gb 7200rpm laptop hard drive out now, although it is quite expensive at nearly $300. Hitachi also offers several 7200rpm hard drives in 60, 80, and 100 gig flavors. You'll only lose about 5 minutes of battery life with these upgrades, nothing to worry about. If you require more storage, Seagate also has a 120gb drive out. Although the 120gb is only available in 5400rpm, not 7200rpm, that is still an improvement over 4200rpm. I know that they announced 160gb drives as well, but I don't know if the iBook has a limit of 120gb or not. Make sure you get the ATA version and not the SATA version of the drive if you decide to upgrade. Also, you can drop the stock 40 gig drive into an external Firewire/USB enclosure to use as backup. Here's a good enclosure for $35:</p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817146604" target="_blank">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817146604</a></p><p></p><p>You can also add a SuperDrive to the iBook, although not from Apple.com. MCE charges $149 for their 8x dual-layer DVD burner upgrade, available here:</p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.mcetech.com/ibg4dvdr8dl.html" target="_blank">http://www.mcetech.com/ibg4dvdr8dl.html</a></p><p></p><p>I'm not a fan of touchpads; I prefer mice. RadTech has a great mini Bluetooth mouse that will work with OS X. It's even available in white to match your iBook:</p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.radtech.us/Products/BT500.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.radtech.us/Products/BT500.aspx</a></p><p></p><p>So if a 12" notebook with 1.5gb ram, a DVD burner, a 7200rpm hard drive and a wireless mouse sounds good to you, then by all means get one <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite7" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue :p" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":p" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="kaidomac, post: 178678, member: 15110"] I wrote an article about upgrading the Mac Mini, available here: [url]http://mini.wiredby.com[/url] If you're a student, however, I'd suggest going with the iBook since it's more portable. There are plenty of upgrades you can do to an iBook as well. I would start out with the $999 12" iBook, which has a 1.33ghz processor, 512mb ram, 40gb hard drive, Bluetooth, and Airport Extreme. The first upgrade I would do would be to add a 1gb stick of Crucial ram. Apple wants $300 for 1.5gb; if you get the stock 512mb, buy Crucial, and install it yourself, then it only costs $191.57. Instant savings of $100. Next I would upgrade the hard drive. The stock iBook drive is only 4200rpm. Seagate has an excellent 100gb 7200rpm laptop hard drive out now, although it is quite expensive at nearly $300. Hitachi also offers several 7200rpm hard drives in 60, 80, and 100 gig flavors. You'll only lose about 5 minutes of battery life with these upgrades, nothing to worry about. If you require more storage, Seagate also has a 120gb drive out. Although the 120gb is only available in 5400rpm, not 7200rpm, that is still an improvement over 4200rpm. I know that they announced 160gb drives as well, but I don't know if the iBook has a limit of 120gb or not. Make sure you get the ATA version and not the SATA version of the drive if you decide to upgrade. Also, you can drop the stock 40 gig drive into an external Firewire/USB enclosure to use as backup. Here's a good enclosure for $35: [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817146604[/url] You can also add a SuperDrive to the iBook, although not from Apple.com. MCE charges $149 for their 8x dual-layer DVD burner upgrade, available here: [url]http://www.mcetech.com/ibg4dvdr8dl.html[/url] I'm not a fan of touchpads; I prefer mice. RadTech has a great mini Bluetooth mouse that will work with OS X. It's even available in white to match your iBook: [url]http://www.radtech.us/Products/BT500.aspx[/url] So if a 12" notebook with 1.5gb ram, a DVD burner, a 7200rpm hard drive and a wireless mouse sounds good to you, then by all means get one :p [/QUOTE]
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