Macbook questions

I'm new to Mac OSX and Macs in general, and was thinking about getting a Macbook for school and writing.

I will mostly be using it for wordprocessing, watching a few movies/tv shows, and web-browsing. Mostly for school, and some personal around the house use.

I also really want to try out, probably nothing too serious, some Mac applications like frontrow and iLife.


So the questions are:

Do I need the super drive? I don't want to come to a point where I want to burn a DVD and can't. (However, my windows box has a DVD burner, can that be configued so I can move mac files over and will the written be able to be used on the Mac?

Will an Extra 512MB of ram be worth it?

Is an extra 20GB of HD space be worth it?

Get as much RAM as you can afford, but buy it 3rd party.

A bigger hard drive depends on how much you want to keep on it. Huge files of music? get a bigger HDD.

EDIT: You can go external drives too.

You can always just buy an external DVD burner, but why not just pay a bit more and get it installed?

macdillon said:

Get as much RAM as you can afford, but buy it 3rd party.

Click to expand...

Is it difficult to install in a Macbook?

macdillon said:

A bigger hard drive depends on how much you want to keep on it. Huge files of music? get a bigger HDD.

Click to expand...

Music, probably not that much. Again, I can load what I want from my windows machine or my Ipod and delete it if I wish. I'll probably to with the 80gb, it's the ram I'm more concerned with.

macdillon said:

You can always just buy an external DVD burner, but why not just pay a bit more and get it installed?

Click to expand...

I am leaning toward the $1,300 model, so this won't be a problem.

Gundampilotspaz said:

Is it difficult to install in a Macbook?

Click to expand...

Not at all. The RAM is located beneath the battery. You just unscrew a plate and the RAM is right there. The HDD is located nearby and is also user-servicable.

dohidied said:

Not at all. The RAM is located beneath the battery. You just unscrew a plate and the RAM is right there. The HDD is located nearby and is also user-servicable.

Click to expand...

Oh wow, well that is a definite plus.

So you'd say that the out of the box extra 512 for $100 isn't worth it?

Note that I'd probably not get the extra ram right away.

for that $100; you can probably get an extra gig of Ram from newegg.com. 1 Gig total ram is plenty for doing word processing, listening to music, watching videos...etc.

1. If you ever want to burn a DVD using iDVD, get that SuperDrive. It's painless that way, and Windows cannot burn iDVD files.

2. HD Space depends on how much you consume, it's important to keep enough space so that your system doesn't slow down ever, and in a Laptop, it's hard to upgrade later.

3. Get as much RAM as you can, now or later. It's easy to install later. And cheaper if bought elsewhere, just be 1000% sure about the specs, or you'll be frustrated.

For 100$ you can get a fine stick of 1 GB anywhere. I have a Corsair stick I bought for 105 CHF, that's about 80$ .

I am pretty much in your boat with music, word, ext...

I went with 100 gigs and am very happy.

MacWill said:

I am pretty much in your boat with music, word, ext...

I went with 100 gigs and am very happy.

Click to expand...

With 512gb of ram?

If you're working with video, I recommend at-least another gig of RAM

macdillon said:

If you're working with video, I recommend at-least another gig of RAM

Click to expand...

Limited to none, really.

Watching video, yes. But 512 shouldn't have too much of an issue with that, till I can get an upgrade.

Gundampilotspaz said:

With 512gb of ram?

Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byte

Because of your very minor computer tasks, you will be fine with 512 RAM. You will, however, notice a speed increase when/if you upgrade to a Gig.

I tend to believe that 1gb of RAM on any Mac is the minmimum, mainly because I can't stand seeing that spinning beach ball of death! Here is some good RAM from Newegg that a lot of people buy and like:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231066

I plan on buying 2 of those, because I work with more intensive stuff. But, since you are only thinking of getting 1gb total (and it's best to pair RAM modules), you can pick up 2x512mb for around 90 bucks. Any of these could work:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9121114+1052910525&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=381

Finally, check out this YouTube video to see how easy it is to upgrade RAM or the HD:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=8c6ckjy-gdY

yogi said:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byte

Click to expand...

oops, force of habbit xD

Even Steve Gibson messed up by saying megabyte instead of byte at one point.



The reason why I'm asking is that funds are a bit of a problem, and if I can reduce the cost now it'll help. (I don't get my first pay check till first week in september since I started work at the end of a pay cycle and it's not really worth collecting)

RAM makes a LOT of difference.

I seriously think macbooks must ship with 1GB RAM by default. Why am I saying this? Well, macbooks have a super strong dual core processor lying in the motherboard, but it's a pity it keeps waiting for two tiny 256MB chips to supply it the data it needs. The result? I noticed 90% processing power free all the times, but only 2% of RAM free. As if the entire system were... constricted by lack of RAM.

I upgraded to 2GB from Newegg.com for about $165, installed it myself (takes 5 mins if you have #00 screwdriver and a coin). The macbook now flies. It boots up in less than 10 seconds... and I can work even when one of the MS Office apps is open.

For people who just surf the net and send emails, 512MB RAM is all they may need.

For people who use MS office and occasional sound/video editing with iMovie or garageband: 1GB should be fine.

Advanced users (particularly video and graphic professionals) should have 2GB.

I am not a video/graphic guy, but still went for 2GB because I can't wait for an app to load... I want things get done fast!

well, I don't really have a preference on where I buy my RAM or hard drive space from, so I will most likely go with apple.com just to get it out of the way in one shot. and, plus, I know I'll have enough to get what I WANT, you know? so.. I say just get the 1 GB of RAM, because.. it's worth it. I'm on an old desktop with only 256 MB of RAM and I seriously can't express how easier my life would probably be if I had 1 GB... AT LEAST. I can't wait! I would also go with the DVD burner just because I (personally) would think that I might need it in the future and wouldn't want to take any chances/have regrets.

I was looking at the Refurbished Macbooks, and if I were to get the base refurbished unit and upgrade it with third party parts I'd spend the same on a system that was 2GB ram, and 120 GB HD, as on one with 1GB of ram and 80 GB HD.

However, I'd perfer a new one...