Help me decide... simple decision maybe.

[bwanac]

Ok, so I am currently selling my PB and eventually my Mini so I can buy a Macbook. I plan on buying a refurb model. But not sure if I should go with the 1.83 or the 2.0 model. I do some graphic work at times, and some engineering work too. However, if I buy the 1.83 I plan on boosting up to 2Gig of ram and probably a 7200RPM harddrive. If I buy the 2.0 I will need to wait to get those specs.

The thing holding me back is that I cant find comparison between these two with equal RAM set-ups. I would like to know if the extra L2 cache the 2.0 has effects things at all.

This is probably a lame comparison but if I can save $150 off the bat, there is one upgrade right there.

 

[Vidd]

But not sure if I should go with the 1.83 or the 2.0 model. I do some graphic work at times, and some engineering work too. However, if I buy the 1.83 I plan on boosting up to 2Gig of ram and probably a 7200RPM harddrive. If I buy the 2.0 I will need to wait to get those specs.
This is probably a lame comparison but if I can save $150 off the bat, there is one upgrade right there.

Personally I'd sacrifice processor speed for the RAM and hard drive capacity.
The extra RAM would probably be of more benefit from the start rather than saving for it.
If you upgrade later you're still incurring the cost of the original memory sticks and hard drive.

 

[sturigdson]

I agree. You'll get much more noticable results in terms of speed just with more RAM and a faster HD than simply a faster CPU. I vote going with the slightly slower Macbook as well.

 

[andysc]

you probably wouldn't notice that much of a difference in cpu speed anyway. get the slower model and max out the ram; there will be a noticeable difference in performance just by increasing the ram instead of cpu speed.

 

[bwanac]

I did some more searching between these two CPUs and the effect the L2 cache really has, and well I cant justify the price difference so I think I will be going with the cheaper. Now if only I could buy without HD and RAM installed already.

EDIT: The increases being seen were minimal, as in 2-5% max for an increase of price around $150. Not worth it to me.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2006/07/14/intel_core_2_duo_processors/5.html

 

[bwanac]

I have flip flopped again, and this may help other who are in my situation.

Well, since I will be upgrading the RAM and HD myself, I figure I will sell the ones I take out. With the 1.83GHz, it seems near impossible to sell the RAM. This is bad, because the 2 512MB sticks I pull from the other can easily be sold. And on top of selling the HD I can see myself spending only $50 more or so for the better equipped version Macbook.

Now to get shopping for HD and RAM. Seagate and Crucial the way to go?

 

[Sun Baked]

Now to get shopping for HD and RAM. Seagate and Crucial the way to go?

If you get enough RAM, just go with the biggest HD (with the best warranty) you can afford.

If you want performance in the HD, look for one with the biggest cache.

Otherwise in notebooks, the size and warranty are far more important the RPMs.