Getting close to buying? Where to buy?

[SVG]

Hi, All. I've been following MacRumors for news on the Macbook for a long time, been shopping around at a few authorized resellers (unfortunately no Apple store for 3500 km ) and I have been hearing different things. Thought I want to get a few things clear on before I give someone my hard-earned cash

If I buy direct from Apple, I am really only interested in a larger hard drive, perhaps up to 80GB since its just $50+ more. I may considered paying for the upgrade RAM to 1GB, but I am not sure if that's a smart move. Is 1 GB of RAM enough in the long run? Seems like everyone on this site is a big fan of 2 GB, but I only do occasionally audiovisual editing.

I wanted to know more about AppleCare before I pay the extra cash, so I asked the different salespeople about certain scenarios. The Apple phone sales rep make AppleCare sound like a wonderful thing, how it will completely satisfy me, even if I get the screen cracked. On the other hand, the guy in the store say accidentally damage is not covered, and even if I break a hinge, I am out $800 for a screen. Now who's right?

If I am getting from a local store, I could very well have to live with a 60GB drive, would that be workable if I install boot camp as well? How big is a small OSX installation? Does the MacBook use an IDE drive or SATA? Are Apple drives proprietary? Does upgrading the drive myself void the warranty?

The apple sales rep say I should expect a BTO system within 10 days, is that realistic? Whereas the store salesman say Apple notarious for slow shipping.

Hehe, a lot of questions. Thanks a lot if you can answer them!

 

[WildCowboy]

Okay...a few answers. I'll probably miss some of your questions, so others can jump in later to clean things up.

1GB of RAM will work as long as you're not doing anything too heavy duty. 2 GB is of course better, but it's not crucial to get there now. I might recommend going with the stock RAM and buying a 1 GB stick from a third-party vendor...it'll be a lot cheaper that way. That way you'll have 1.25 GB of RAM and can upgrade to the full 2 GB in the future if you need it. Apple recommends installing RAM in matched pairs (which really means you should purchase both sticks at the same time), but the speed gain in having matched RAM is pretty small.

AppleCare does not cover accidental damage. But most people around here will recommend AppleCare for laptops...they're more prone to having problems due to their compactness and portability, and they're more expensive to fix when something does go wrong.

60 GB is getting pretty small for a dual boot system. I don't have an Intel Mac, so I don't have any experience in this area. Others can jump in here.

The default OS X installation (with all associated iLife programs and support files) can run in excess of 20 GB. I have an old iBook with a 10 GB hard drive that I have pared the OS X install down to about 3.5 GB. That's without iLife (except for iTunes) and getting rid of extra language support and printer drivers. MacBooks use SATA drives, the drives are not proprietary, and upgrading it yourself does not void the warranty unless you screw up your machine during the installation. Be careful and it shouldn't be a problem...swapping hard drives is very easy on the MacBook.

10 days for BTO sounds reasonable. Apple's online store is currently showing 1-5 business days for both stock and BTO MacBooks.

I think that's it...whew.

 

[SVG]

Wow, thanks for the quick reply, WildCowBoy. Very useful tips.

Just thought of 1 more things:

When using Boot Camp, can 1 OS see the files on the other OS?

Once again, thanks a lot for anyone who can help me out.