Macbook Advice

[Platinum]

Looking at taking the plunge and moving to the dark side, never really been a Mac fan, coudlnt stand the whole Apple Fanboyism, Itunes and the prices but looking around the White updated macbook seems to be just the spec I have been looking for (Small with a half decent graphics card) and a resnoble price (Speced the Dell XPS 13" and it came out around the same, more memory but only the older 8400m GPU), also gives me a good chance to have a play with Mac OS.
But I also see the Alu model at £200 more and im like "Oh Shiney!", But apart from the LED screen, Alu Body and 40gb more HDD space I fail to see where that £200 goes?
Anyone advise me what you get for that £200?, if its just the above then ill go with the plastic one .
/me awaits flames from people on here that know me

[Gfinch]

A newer version of the Macbook

Buy it!

[Platinum]

Ok dont want a fanboy responce , no offence , All I need to know is there £200 more laptop in the Alu model than the plastic model?, if so ill prolly get the Alu, if not then when I check one out in the store tomorrow it better be uber nice to get me to buy it

[Whiternoise]

I've just bought an Alu 2.4 (paid for by Comrade Brown - read: my student loan ) and its' awesome.

Alu wise, the construction feels solid - if you want any pics (of particular bits rather than the commercial "make it look good" ones) i'll be glad to post some up. It's a lot more solid than the plastic ones. One serious benefit is that the older cases sometimes had a tendency to warp, which is a lot less likely with an all metal frame.

Most of the money is going to be cosmetic, you're paying for a few extra features like a battery indicator on the side (rather than the bottom?), the new bezel and so on. The gloss is really not a problem, i've only noticed it when sitting directly behind a window - in my uni room it's not an issue. The case is a teeny bit thinner

Specs wise, i'll copypasta

HDD: 120GB compared to 160 for the next one up
CPU: Same
Display: Same resolution, but the new ones have LED backlights - the white one doesn't iirc
RAM: DDR2 vs DDR3 in the alus if that's important to you
Battery: 0.5 hours more in theory
GPU: 9400M in both, but the alus again have DDR3 memory
Dimensions: Around 300 cubic cm less, from the slightly lower profile
Weight: The aluminiums weigh 1/3KG less which is quite a lot really!

So, your 200 is going on a slightly larger hard drive, faster RAM, the metal shell, LED backlighting, a slightly slimmer shell (and arguably MUCH sexier shell), weight reduction, and a bit of battery life.

If you can stretch i would say do so, but if not then the white macbook - now it's actually got a decent integrated GPU - is a fine choice. One downside of aluminium is that you're going to get slightly less wifi range. Mostly this shouldn't be a problem, it's only going to be noticeable if you're in the habit of wardriving i think!

EDIT: One important addition also - multitouch trackpad! Whether you think that's a worthy edition of course.. personally i think it's good and bad. Actually no, it's great, but it takes getting used to. You CAN rest your hand on it without accidentally making gestures or it not picking up any input, and you can enable right click to be either a two finger click or a click in the bottom right hand corner.

[Platinum]

I can strech to it, guess im just trying to justify it, I would like to have the Alu one, but the White one would do what I want, and the white one is cheap compared to a equivlent Dell but the Alu works out a little more expensive than a equivelnt Dell.

[Stoo]

Yup, that it does - I guess it depends on what else you'd spend that £200 on, if you'd rather have that bit extra, then get the alu, if you'd rather spend it on bills, beer, games, going out, or whatever, get the plastic mac, it'll be superb either way

[Whiternoise]

Therein lies the problem!

Personally i think it's worth the little extra outlay, but if you don't need it then don't spend it - as i said, the fact that they updated the graphics card in it makes it a very sweet deal. That £200 could go towards any extra software you need, plus a slip case, etc.

[Steve B]

the alu one has things like the glossy screen, the side access for the battery meter, the single trackpad that functions as the whole button, better multi-touch, a glossier screen, is lighter than the polycarb (i think)

the only thing the polycarb has is firewire 400

[alsenior]

A friend of mine has the Alu one and it fells very well built (better than my Lenovo T60P). plus it looks gorgeous. If you have the money go for it. i doubt you will regret it. Plus if you don't like OsX then you can put vista on

[Whiternoise]

Yep very true, i put Win 7 on boot camp, it installed arguably faster than my desktop - a proper < 20 minute job!

Handy for when i want to play a bit of Fallout 3 on the move

[Platinum]

A friend of mine has the Alu one and it fells very well built (better than my Lenovo T60P). plus it looks gorgeous. If you have the money go for it. i doubt you will regret it. Plus if you don't like OsX then you can put vista on

Vista? on a laptop? are you mad, XP will go on it
Gonna go to the Apple store today (Ughhh) and have a look

[Gordy]

The aluminium macbook is one of the best mac's ever built and wipes the floor in design with pc laptops. It's well worth going for, I love mine. The flexibility of being able to use os x and windows or even linux in one portable machine is unbeatable.

Also bare in mind that the dell machine's value will drop like a stone, but the mac will retain much more of its value. You can get a massive amount for second hand mac's.

[Platinum]

Gah just seen the Studio XPS13, better spec for the same price, what to do?

[Platinum]

Been in the Apple store and had a look, the white one just looks to much like it should be in the early learning center, impressed with the Alu one, very nice screen so thinking against my better judgment (Dell has a better spec) ill give it a go, should be refreshing to try something new.

[Platinum]

Ok, Dells 21&#37; APR on there credit orders have put me off them (Can get the Apple through work).
Anyhow I have been advised to wait for the Snow Leapard as theres rumours it might be out this / next month?, As far as I was aware its not due till late Q2?

[4444405]

get a macbook cheaper....

goto apple store online UK
find the link to the refurbished macbooks and macbook pro's and if your quick enough in the morning then u can buy a shiny new macbook with warranty from apple for as little as 500pounds...saving 200!
I got one a few weeks ago...but you have to be quick!