may i ask why you are so opposed to getting a 1.83 with a 7200RPM HD? That seems like it would be the bet for you, more than enough processing power and a very speedy notebook HD.
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All or Nothing: Maxed out 2 GHz or stock 1.83?
- Thread starter ieani
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I am suprised it took until page two for this question. Id be waiting even longer now since BTO's are taking ages to ship on apple's store. Also its only $440 less. Not worth to me for the wait and the slower CPU, less VRAM.
I want to bring something up:
You say that you do not have a budget and you seem to have no qualms about spending an extra $700 on a slightly better laptop. Yet, for all this talk, you say that you need spend money on college and for a backpacking trip, for which you will fund with a second job. Needing a second job to fund a backpack trip (which is no doubt expensive) means that money is an issue for you, and for that reason you should get the 1.83. You are throwing $700 around as if you were rich (and if you were, you wouldn't be asking this question), but you aren't. Since you need a second job to pay for a backpacking trip to Europe it is obvious that you are not completely loaded. Your money could be better spent elsewhere...
You say that you do not have a budget and you seem to have no qualms about spending an extra $700 on a slightly better laptop. Yet, for all this talk, you say that you need spend money on college and for a backpacking trip, for which you will fund with a second job. Needing a second job to fund a backpack trip (which is no doubt expensive) means that money is an issue for you, and for that reason you should get the 1.83. You are throwing $700 around as if you were rich (and if you were, you wouldn't be asking this question), but you aren't. Since you need a second job to pay for a backpacking trip to Europe it is obvious that you are not completely loaded. Your money could be better spent elsewhere...
Badandy said:
Im not rich but Im working full time with very little expenses as im still living my parents. So my income is almost entirely expendable, which makes it tough to find value in money when every two weeks I can replace whatever I spend or at least a huge chunk of it.
The second job may not even be necessary if I am able to transfer to a store in my college's city and work during the year.
I spend $170 on jeans but skip lunch sometimes because $6 at chipotle or subway or for chinese just seems way too much to pay. I have warped views of money now, making this laptop buying idea very hard.
Even more perplexing I ask my clearheaded mom who is not very into technology or spending money on it and she tells me to get the faster one. I didnt see that one coming I was almost sure she would have thought $2500 on a computer was ridiculous.
Oh and I am selling my entire home theater set-up before going off to college for spare cash. 27inch flat screen, infinity 5.1 system, JVC reciever, DVD player.
EDIT: I set-up a little meeting with my Dad to help me budget my money. Then Im going to the apple store again tom. night to see exactly what speed I really need and may even pick one up.
It is hard to argue that the processor is so much better on the 2.0ghz models and up when prior to the free upgrade the highest available processor was 1.83ghz and Apple was saying that this was enough to meet everybody needs. I had an order on the 1.83ghz model at the time but would have liked at least a 2ghz model just to get it into that 2ghz and up level and that is what i have now got courtesy of the free upgrade. I won’t argue though that the higher processors are a good reason to upgrade but for me it makes me feel better having a processor at least at that 2 level mark.
Also, the graphics card is better on the 2ghz model and this for me also makes it a better investment for the future. 128mb is kind of standard in a lot of models today and in a year or so it may seem a bit old and some people may regret that they didn’t opt for the 256mb model. The higher graphics card gives better overall performance that i wanted even though i am not a gamer or neither do any graphic intensive things.
The hard drive and memory is also bigger on the 2ghz model. If you do not get these upgraded parts from Apple looking around to upgrade all these things is a bit of a hassle in my opinion and not really worth the effort and time in my opinion.
I think the 2ghz is worth every penny but the 1,83ghz is a very good machine also but the 2ghz is just better. If you think that you cannot afford to get the 2ghz then the 1.83 would still be a great buy. I had a dilemma when they announced the 2.16 processor but that increase i could not justify to myself and ended up buying myself some other things instead with the money that i would have spent.
I mainly utilise my 2ghz model for entertainment purposes, listening to music, surfing the web, reading my mail, using photobooth, IM, using pages and that is about it for me and i am very glad that i bought the 2ghz as it is a better model. I only buy a new notebook about once every three year and when i do buy I buy a high end top of the range notebook even if i do not intend to utilise all the features or not. This model gives me better performance, great satisfaction and it also is better future proof investment than the 1.83 so i am very happy with what i have got.
Also, the graphics card is better on the 2ghz model and this for me also makes it a better investment for the future. 128mb is kind of standard in a lot of models today and in a year or so it may seem a bit old and some people may regret that they didn’t opt for the 256mb model. The higher graphics card gives better overall performance that i wanted even though i am not a gamer or neither do any graphic intensive things.
The hard drive and memory is also bigger on the 2ghz model. If you do not get these upgraded parts from Apple looking around to upgrade all these things is a bit of a hassle in my opinion and not really worth the effort and time in my opinion.
I think the 2ghz is worth every penny but the 1,83ghz is a very good machine also but the 2ghz is just better. If you think that you cannot afford to get the 2ghz then the 1.83 would still be a great buy. I had a dilemma when they announced the 2.16 processor but that increase i could not justify to myself and ended up buying myself some other things instead with the money that i would have spent.
I mainly utilise my 2ghz model for entertainment purposes, listening to music, surfing the web, reading my mail, using photobooth, IM, using pages and that is about it for me and i am very glad that i bought the 2ghz as it is a better model. I only buy a new notebook about once every three year and when i do buy I buy a high end top of the range notebook even if i do not intend to utilise all the features or not. This model gives me better performance, great satisfaction and it also is better future proof investment than the 1.83 so i am very happy with what i have got.
Just a bit of food for thought.
My daughter is heading off to college this fall and she is absolutely delighted with her 12" 1.33Ghz iBook which we purchased refurb for $799.00
She is very responsible and takes great care of her iBook.
Unfortunately, accidents do happen and her iBook took a hard fall
from her desk requiring a new display.
This repair was not covered by AppleCare.
This comes to mind when you say that you NEED to spend $1800-$2400
on a laptop for school.
You've mentioned that the iBook seems too small, but the single 1.33 GHz processor is plenty powerful for the use you've indicated.
A dual core 1.83 is going to be way more computer than you'll ever really need.
Even if you did go for the maxed out 2.1 GHz model, it will soon be leap-frogged by the Merom processor units still to come.
There's nothing wrong with wanting the best, but in your case, I think
you'll be more than content with the 1.83 GHz model adding 2 GB of 3rd party RAM.
My daughter is heading off to college this fall and she is absolutely delighted with her 12" 1.33Ghz iBook which we purchased refurb for $799.00
She is very responsible and takes great care of her iBook.
Unfortunately, accidents do happen and her iBook took a hard fall
from her desk requiring a new display.
This repair was not covered by AppleCare.
This comes to mind when you say that you NEED to spend $1800-$2400
on a laptop for school.
You've mentioned that the iBook seems too small, but the single 1.33 GHz processor is plenty powerful for the use you've indicated.
A dual core 1.83 is going to be way more computer than you'll ever really need.
Even if you did go for the maxed out 2.1 GHz model, it will soon be leap-frogged by the Merom processor units still to come.
There's nothing wrong with wanting the best, but in your case, I think
you'll be more than content with the 1.83 GHz model adding 2 GB of 3rd party RAM.
Chundles said:
Hardly. The MacBookPro is fast for a laptop, but it's not the fastest machine around. Heck the Intel iMac 2GHz is faster. You can thank the laptop form factor for that.
On applications that only really make use of a single core, the 3Ghz P4 Desktop would run rings around the MacBookPro. It's a similar CPU, running at 50% higher clockspeed. On applications that make use of the dual core it would be a close run thing. The MacBook would shine on multi-tasking. That's where I get the biggest performance gain with my dual 2.7GHz PowerMac over my Athlon 3000XP.
FFTT said:
I disagree. Because someone doesn't plan any graphically intensive usage doesn't mean that they don't, and won't ever, need the performance of the faster machine. Someone who just emails, listens to itunes, does some word, and the occasional photoshop will still appreciate a computer that opens apps and does their requested tasks quicker than another machine. It's a pleasure to find things happen near instantly. It's also future proofing yourself as much as possible against app and OS requirements down the line.
With my powermac, I love the fact that I can macpar a group of files quicker than I could on my PC, and still do other tasks at the same time with no performance hit. Faster is always better. Just in different ways for different people. Otherwise we'd all be running G3s or Pentium 90s.
As someone else said, you'll get more HDD space, better graphics card, etc with the faster model too. If you can afford it, and want it, it's the one to go for. Later when you have more cash you can then upgrade the memory or whatever. If you go slower, then later have spare cash you'll be kicking yourself for not getting the faster machine.
Personally I'd wait and watch the refurb store.
Maybe it's just me, but maybe saving this money for the future would be better than spending it on more computer than you actually need, which by October could be eclipsed by rev. B. Just because you have money doesn't mean you should spend it.
You should go for the low end option in your case.
1) Your not gaming so no need for extra 128mb of vram.
2) Movie editing and heavy duty photoshop is where you will see a speed bumb for the hard drive
3) the procesor is plenty fast.
Just me thoughts though, if you want the extreme go ahead and get.
1) Your not gaming so no need for extra 128mb of vram.
2) Movie editing and heavy duty photoshop is where you will see a speed bumb for the hard drive
3) the procesor is plenty fast.
Just me thoughts though, if you want the extreme go ahead and get.
ieani said:
Clearly. Maybe waiting until you start school and actually need the notebook will give you an opporunity to re-assess your true needs vs. wants and to learn how to handle your money.
You'd probably also do well to wait until the new macbook/ibook comes out. With all the complaints about the 14" version utilizing the same resolution as the 12" in the previous model, there's a good chance that we'll see some changes in that department. Perhaps you'll find that whatever replaces the 14" ibook will fit your needs nicely (at probably half the price of the MBP).
munckee said:
I could really use the laptop now though and I think the 1.83 is still as slow as I would want to go.
FFTT said:
I originally bought the ibook but returned it after a few days because it was too slow for what I was doing on it.
My advice would be to go for the best/fastest one you can afford. You say you can afford either, so get the fully loaded one.
Is it worth it? Well, everyone has different priorities, and will give you a different answer, but you obviously seem keen so go for it.
Oh, and I am biased as I've had the same decision recently, and I maxed my MBP out
Is it worth it? Well, everyone has different priorities, and will give you a different answer, but you obviously seem keen so go for it.
Oh, and I am biased as I've had the same decision recently, and I maxed my MBP out
In your original post you gave me the impression that you were just going to
be using your portable for very basic typing and entertainment.
An iBook with 1 GB RAM usually handles that kind of load with no problem.
Normally I also recommend getting the fastest processor you can afford, but in this case you're spending a considerable amount on a yet to be proven Rev A model.
By the time you add in extra RAM, necessary software, AppleCare and/or
hazard insurance, you've spent a small fortune.
For the amount you're spending, you'd be better off with a well equipped 17" Core Duo iMac that stays in your quarters and an iBook to carry to and from class.
If you have your heart set on a do everything desktop replacement laptop, then I would wait to see the rest of Apple's line-up later this summer.
But what do I know?
be using your portable for very basic typing and entertainment.
An iBook with 1 GB RAM usually handles that kind of load with no problem.
Normally I also recommend getting the fastest processor you can afford, but in this case you're spending a considerable amount on a yet to be proven Rev A model.
By the time you add in extra RAM, necessary software, AppleCare and/or
hazard insurance, you've spent a small fortune.
For the amount you're spending, you'd be better off with a well equipped 17" Core Duo iMac that stays in your quarters and an iBook to carry to and from class.
If you have your heart set on a do everything desktop replacement laptop, then I would wait to see the rest of Apple's line-up later this summer.
But what do I know?
FFTT said:In your original post you gave me the impression that you were just going to
be using your portable for very basic typing and entertainment.
An iBook with 1 GB RAM usually handles that kind of load with no problem.
Normally I also recommend getting the fastest processor you can afford, but in this case you're spending a considerable amount on a yet to be proven Rev A model.
By the time you add in extra RAM, necessary software, AppleCare and/or
hazard insurance, you've spent a small fortune.
For the amount you're spending, you'd be better off with a well equipped 17" Core Duo iMac that stays in your quarters and an iBook to carry to and from class.
If you have your heart set on a do everything desktop replacement laptop, then I would wait to see the rest of Apple's line-up later this summer.
But what do I know?
Two computers would be too much of a hassle. As expensive as it is. Im going to keep my order and never look back. Im tired of debating and thinking about which laptop I should get. So, im going to stick with the maxed out one, which will last me the longest. Im sure ill be happy with it even when merom comes out right when Im actually going to be heading to college.
Fixer said:Get the 1.8 You'll need the $700 to replace it when it gets stolen.
Welcome to college!
Thats why im purchasing insurance before I go.
Did you order the Apple after care as well? If not then i would think that it is worth while that you should consider doing so. If you cannot afford to get the Apple after care right now then i would only opt for the 1GB of single ram and max out the ram in stages.
I hope that you enjoy your new machine when it comes
I hope that you enjoy your new machine when it comes
Roba said:Did you order the Apple after care as well? If not then i would think that it is worth while that you should consider doing so. If you cannot afford to get the Apple after care right now then i would only opt for the 1GB of single ram and max out the ram in stages.
I hope that you enjoy your new machine when it comes
Ill be getting apple care in a year when my warranty runs out. I already have the 1GB stick of RAM.