Before I convert...

Hi,

I have a few questions I was hoping someone could answer before I buy my 15" Powerbook:

1. Is it possible to get memory upgrades once I have purchased my Powerbook? If so will I be able to do this myself or will I have to return the Powerbook to my nearest retail store? Also, would it cost more to upgrade the RAM in the future than it would to purchase it now with 1GB instead of 512MB (extra £99)?
   I have a limited budget, so I was thinking of getting the '15" Combo' but with the SuperDrive option, and then upgrading the RAM in the future.
   
   
2. I notice that the 17" has "Combined analog/digital I/O", what exactly is the difference between this and "Analog audio in/out" that the 12" and 15" come with?
   
   
3. Finally; when I buy my new Mac will it come with lots of extra 'crap' installed on it, like all new windows machines do? Or is it simply a fresh install of Tiger and nothing else? The later I hope!

Many thanks in advance.

1. Yes you can upgrade the memory in your PB yourself after the fact. Yes it will be dramatically cheaper to do it this way.

2. Digital refers to the fact that the unit has digital sound capability a.k.a. digital surround sound (Dolby Digital, DTS, etc.)

3. For the most part it's clean. No annoying Dell agents or HP/Compaq docks. Just straightfoward Mac goodness.

1)It would be cheeper to purchase the RAM from a wholesaler than through Apple. Just make sure you get the correct RAM. I suggest looking at http://www.crucial.com for good RAM prices. As for installation, its easy as undoing a few screws on the back and popping in the RAM. I have done it for my Powerbook.
3)The only thing that is installed on it is the opperating system and its components and any software that might come with your purchase. Definitely not as much crap as windows puts on their machines. Although, I do suggest reinstalling the OS so that you can customize it and not have all the printer drivers and languages installed that you dont need (takes up a lot of space).

1. It's very possible, and I reccomend that you do not upgrade Ram directly from Apple, you'll pay MUCH less from a 3rd Party retailer. Ram is really easy to install, you just need a small screwdriver.

2. Pretty much what the wording says. The 17" uses a digital signal, while the 15" only uses analog. I believe that becomes more important when outputting say to a surround sound system.

3. No crap at all.

I would strongly suggest upgrading to the better video card on the 15" model. It makes a very large difference.

wow, in the time it took me to write my post, two other people replied. of course I was IMing at the same time though, wow...

Upgrading the RAM yourself is also very easy; just open a hatch and put it in.

OS X does come with a bunch of apps that not everyone would want (particularly thinking of the garageband, IE, iDVD, iMovie and iCal that I don't need/use). They are far less than those on the average "retail" windows box, and are far easier to remove (drag to trash...). Of course, everyone's choices of which are good, and which bad will vary.

Only IE got met with a "*** is _that_ doing on there by default?!?" in my case...

I think he was probably reffering to stuff more like free offer kind of stuff. Weatherbug, AOL Trials, etc...

Macs have none of that