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Krzysztof M. - 17 Aug 2007 19:23 GMT

Hello,
Currently I have a White Macbook which I bought aroung a one year ago.
It is not a Intel Core 2 Duo, it is older Core Duo. Everything works
just fine on this machine and I found it very mobile and handy. It has
2GB of RAM.
Everytime when I go to Apple Store I am looking on Macbook Pro and
start thinking is it worth to buy for me. I don't need especially
Express Card slot and FireWire 800. Bigger LCD would be nice, but not
as much as my major point in case of laptop is mobility. Also in my
case major aplications which I used to play are
Mail/Web/Chat/Newsgroups/Photo (not pro) and some office/technical
stuff somethimes. Everything works good (at least now on my Whitebook).

Of course in case of Pro I will get faster CPU, potentially more RAM in
the future and nicer design. But, what about battery life in Pro series
- bigger LCD and faster CPU more power needed right?

Next thing, weight is it much heavier than Macbook? Enclousure
temperature is a second question, since Pro was built with Al?

Even more important thing is the performance. Pro has Core 2 Duo chips
on board which is 64-bit ready. My Whitebook has no 64-bit CPU, but is
a problem in case of future Leopard Mac OSX version? I mean is 64-bit
in normal application plays a significant role in performance?

Is it Pro really worth of additional money for non-Pro user? What are
your opinion?

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Krzysztof M.
I'm a Mac, are you still a PC?

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Tim Lance - 17 Aug 2007 20:03 GMT

> Hello,
> Currently I have a White Macbook which I bought aroung a one year ago.
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
> Is it Pro really worth of additional money for non-Pro user? What are
> your opinion?

I do believe I'd pay more just for the illuminated keyboard! I love mine.
When I'm on my MacBook or iMacs, not to mention my wife's Dell laptop, it
takes a bit to get used to not having it, it is that functional.

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Tim
lance_1012@hotmail.com

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patrick j - 17 Aug 2007 20:06 GMT

> Hello,
> Currently I have a White Macbook which I bought aroung a one year ago.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> Everytime when I go to Apple Store I am looking on Macbook Pro and
> start thinking is it worth to buy for me.

Hi

I feel that you should stop going to the Apple Store :)

You have only had your MacBook for 1 year and I am certain that there is a
lot of life in it for you.

If you buy a new one now it is quite likely that there'll be some new model
soon enough and then you might want that one instead.

I keep Macs until they really are no longer working in the environment and
for me this seems to be approximately six years of life these days.

By "no longer working in the environment" I mean that they can only take an
older OS and the applications for that are no longer being updated etc.
That kind of thing.

Consumerism doesn't make you happy :)

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Patrick - Brighton, UK
If you wish email me from my web-site: <http://www.patrickjames.me.uk>

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Krzysztof M. - 17 Aug 2007 20:11 GMT

>> Hello,
>> Currently I have a White Macbook which I bought aroung a one year ago.
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
>
> Consumerism doesn't make you happy :)

Hehe, I know, but I am just thinking about new release of Mac OSX
coming, which I found that's gonna be a huge improvement of some
day-to-day application like RSS feeds in Mail, TODO's, WebDav, Spaces
etc. Do you think that Leo will work on my one year old Macbook with
2GB of RAM like a charm? What about 64-bit in your opinion, is it also
a myth for normal non-pro user?

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Krzysztof M.
I'm a Mac, are you still a PC?

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Bob Harris - 18 Aug 2007 02:43 GMT

> >> Hello,
> >> Currently I have a White Macbook which I bought aroung a one year ago.
[quoted text clipped - 29 lines]
> 2GB of RAM like a charm? What about 64-bit in your opinion, is it also
> a myth for normal non-pro user?

I strongly suspect Leopard will work very nicely on your Mac,
especially with 2GB of RAM.

As for 64 bits, the most useful place for that is if you have more
than 4GB of RAM (like what you can get in a Mac Pro tower), and
you have huge images to manipulate. On the current laptops, 64
bit addressing is less likely to affect your performance.

And for the tasks you mention, the speed of your internet and/or
Wifi home network is going to matter more than your current CPU or
64 bit addressing.

Now if you really don't have any other use for that money (like
saving for retirement, or even bigger toys), then by all means get
a new MacBook Pro. And then if you don't have anything useful to
do with the old MacBook turn it into a home NAS device. Get a few
terabytes of external firewire storage, attache it to your old
MacBook, and backup your system on a regular basis.
<http://dealnews.com> will show you some under $300 deals on 1TB
storage (I just picked up a Buffalo DriveStation 1TB firewire
400/USB 2 box for $280 shipped from NewEgg.com, which is attached
to my old iBook acting as my household NAS device).

Bob Harris

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Krzysztof M. - 18 Aug 2007 06:29 GMT

> I strongly suspect Leopard will work very nicely on your Mac,
> especially with 2GB of RAM.

Thanks a lot, I hope so. Maybe I should stop going to Apple Store
indeed ;-) I cannot wait for Leo anymore, it will introduce many new,
very useful features IMHO, but I will keep my finger crossed for the
realease date in October. The only one thing which I should buy to my
Mac is a bigger HDD - now I have 60GB. I think about 120/160GB from
Seagate or Hitachi.

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Krzysztof M.
I'm a Mac, are you still a PC?

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Garner Miller - 18 Aug 2007 02:02 GMT

> Currently I have a White Macbook which I bought aroung a one year ago...
> Everytime when I go to Apple Store I am looking on Macbook Pro and
> start thinking is it worth to buy for me. I don't need especially
> Express Card slot and FireWire 800. Bigger LCD would be nice, but not
> as much as my major point in case of laptop is mobility....

I have the same machine, which I've had for about 13 months. I also
have 2GB of RAM in it, and I upgraded the hard drive to a 160GB model.
I have similar needs as you, and this MacBook does everything I need, as
fast as I need it to do.

I'm a pilot by trade, and portability is very important to me. I like a
big screen, but not as much as I like a small, compact laptop.

If I a couple thousand dollars to lay down right now, it wouldn't be to
replace the MacBook -- it would be to add a nice, big LCD monitor, as
big as the MacBook will drive (1920x1200). From Apple, that would cost
me $900 for the 23" model. I've also heard excellent reviews of Dell's
displays; their model 2407WFP-HC (also 1920x1200) is currently $569. In
either case, you'll need an Apple Mini-DVI to DVI adapter, at $19.

Pair it with an external keyboard and mouse, and you can run the MacBook
with its lid closed if you want. Or leave it open, and use both
monitors at the same time. And with all the money you have left over,
you can buy AppleCare on the MacBook if you haven't already, and your
1-year warranty hasn't expired.

Now I wish I had an extra $1000 lying around. I'd love a nice big
monitor!

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Krzysztof M. - 19 Aug 2007 20:22 GMT

> If I a couple thousand dollars to lay down right now, it wouldn't be to
> replace the MacBook -- it would be to add a nice, big LCD monitor, as
> big as the MacBook will drive (1920x1200). From Apple, that would cost
> me $900 for the 23" model. I've also heard excellent reviews of Dell's
> displays; their model 2407WFP-HC (also 1920x1200) is currently $569. In
> either case, you'll need an Apple Mini-DVI to DVI adapter, at $19.

Well probably you are right. But I was curious about new LED backlight
in Macbook Pro and overall performance of Pro serie in comparison to
consumer product like Macbook. Anyway big screen is always great, but
on your desk not in your bag.

What HDD did you buy for your Whitebook?

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Krzysztof M.
I'm a Mac, are you still a PC?

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Mac Forum / General / Hardware / August 2007

Looking for buying advice