Speccing up a macbook for the wife

[tinners]

Excuse my ignorance here but my only knowledge of macs is using a Mac II at Uni in about 1994.

Am thinking of getting the wife a Macbook (the 13" one) so she can get on the web, write documents (she's a writer) and stuff without needing to be in the study. Other uses would be movies on the plane, iPod sync etc.

So am interested to know what kind of spec I should get, what software I need, where to get it etc. Am over in the states in September or October so could get it in NYC, but am concerned over warranty etc. Also are there any new models coming out ? I heard something about a touchscreen Macbook or something ?

Anyway this is where I'm at:
2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor / 1GB RAM / 80GB SATA HD / iWork / Apple Mini-DVI to Video Adapter
£632.19 in USA (from J&R New York) or £769.82 from John Lewis

2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor / 1GB / 120GB SATA HD / iWork / Apple Mini-DVI to Video Adapter
£738.98 in USA or £969.82 from John Lewis

Do these come with a bag or anything ? What would you recommend if not ?

Any help gratefully received. Thanks.

[mrt9888]

Get it from NY all portable Apple pcs have an international warranty so if anything goes wrong you can takke it to your nearest aplle store. The cpu speed is not going to make much difference but if extra hard disk space is needed get 2.16GHz otherwise the 2.0GHz is enough. For movies you will need Perian to watch AVI files and Flip4Mac to watch WMV files in Quicktime or theres VLC or MPlayer. Personally Open Office or NeoOffice are good enough for word processing etc so MS Office is not needed unless you need compatabilty with MS Office macros etc.

[b0redom]

I would also recommend dropping in an extra 1GB of RAM if it's not eye wateringly expensive. That's going to make far more difference than the CPU speed bump. The lower spec one is probably fine CPU wise. I was using my 1.66Ghz macmini as a media centre PC and it will decode 720p streams just fine.

[Gordy]

Buy your ram elsewhere as apple charge the earth for it.

All you will need to get a usa macbook working over here is a 3quid replacement socket for the power supply.

Also check out the apple refurb store for bargins: http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObje...ecialdeals/mac

[charleski]

I wouldn't worry about rumours. Apple might move the Macbooks over to LED-lit screens sometime, but they're having supply problems with the screens for the Macbook Pros at present, so I doubt that will happen soon. The rumours about large touchpads etc are long-term stuff. The current Macbook models were introduced in May, so it's unlikely that there'll be another change this year.

It doesn't come with a case, but there are many different types to choose from.

I agree with going for the lower-end model, though it's only £699 from the UK Apple store. I think John Lewis gives an automatic 2-yr warranty, maybe that's why it's more expensive. Definitely upgrade to 2Gb of RAM. If you need full MS Office compatibility the safest route is to install VMWare Fusion or Parallels and run Office in a Windows VM, heh. Otherwise if she just needs a wordprocessor without 56784 features, the machine will come with a trial version of Apple's own office suite, which is £55.

[Guy]

Having got a first gen macbook that has a 1.83ghz core duo (not even core2!) processer, I can say unless she is going to need alot of hard drive space, get the cheapest model, then stick 2 gigs of ram in yourself 2x http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=548347 and your sorted

Also if your going to be over in the states id wait and get one from there based on how good £------$ is looking.

On the office front, ive got and would recomend I work, its only £50 and personally find it much better to use than anything microsoft can offer.

[b0redom]

TBH any pay-for-office software is pointless. NeoOffice is likely to do everything you need and more, and it's free.

[tinners]

Excellent thanks for all the replies, good news on the warranty front
Will add in the £60 Scan memory upgrade
The 80Gb hard drive will do the job for what it's being used for so fine for the time being

[Guy]

TBH any pay-for-office software is pointless. NeoOffice is likely to do everything you need and more, and it's free.

To a certain extent id agree with you, but the reason I paid for I-work was that I do well did do quite alot of Presentations with slides etc, and I needed something slick, and to be able to use the apple remote to control the slides etc.

But otherwise id always go for openoffice or the equvilent.


And after having look at the apple site the prices have come down slightly on up-ing the spec to 2 gigs, but its still £30 more than doing it yourself.

[b0redom]

To be honest, having just updated the wireless card, cpu, and memory in my macmini, I'd probably pay the extra £30 if that's all it is. I don't know how difficult a DIY macbook upgrade is, but the mini had LOADS of little tiny, fiddly screws.

[Guy]

Macbook upgrades are relativly straight forward, for the ram all you have to do is remove the battery, and unscrew a backing plate, and the ram just pops out.

[Gordy]

To be honest, having just updated the wireless card, cpu, and memory in my macmini, I'd probably pay the extra £30 if that's all it is. I don't know how difficult a DIY macbook upgrade is, but the mini had LOADS of little tiny, fiddly screws.

They are far far far easier than the mini.

[Stoo]

Remove the battery, undo 3 screws, slide the ram cover plate off, insert ram, and reverse iirc..

[Budding]

I would also recommend you purchasing the RAM from a reliable supplied, for example Crucial Technologies, and upgrading yourself.

Do note that it is highly recommended to keep the RAM that comes with your Mac, because in the case that you need to send yours back to Apple for repairs, putting the original RAM that was supplied with your Mac back into your machine and then sending it, could save you a world of hassle.

[arizonagroove]

macrumors.com do a buyer's guide that track product life cycles. Current advice for MacBook is 'Neutral - Mid product cycle' so no point waiting for an upgrade to buy unless you can wait a good while.

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#MacBook

Certainly check the memory prices against somewhere like http://crucial.com/uk or Scan. Most of the time it is cheaper than buying from Apple, but in my experience not always.
As budding said, hang on to the original ram.

If you or your wife are involved in education at all or know someone who is, Apple do education discounts. http://www.apple.com/uk/education The Higher Education prices are very good but they're only available to staff and students at HE establishments. You can't even look at the HE store unless you have the right IP address.

For free software take a look at http://www.apple.com/downloads/ and http://versiontracker.com/macosx/

[mightymouse]

i'd wait till you go to the states cuz i hear that there is a new sub macbook pro coming out. its supposed to be similar to the old silver powerbooks (13") this one is supposed to be widescreen too so i think it will be worth it. on average the apple stuff are around 300pounds cheaper if you are a student or if you ask a friend to go with you and bring along a student card. they give 10% in store automatically. then dont forget to get your tax back before you fly.