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wuzup101 · Jun 30, 2004, 11:48 PM

Well the time has finally come for me to get a mac. I have used a windows PC all my life, but I've been suckered by their good looks and features and am planning diving into the mac world. My school gets the normal mac discount and they are running a special right now where you get 100 of the edu price of both 12" and 15" machines (150 off of 17"). Well the reason I went the mac rout was to keep prices down, as the only other lappy I was considering was a high end thinkpad T42 that would have run me next to 3k. Anyway, I can get the base 15" model for $1699 and can add apple care for another $139 (we get 100 off of this too).

This seems like a deal that I can't pass up. I was just wondering how much the extra mhz between the 1.33 and 1.5 matters. I figure if I go with the machine outlined above then I can easily add a 1gb mushkin stick of ram to up my total ram to 1280mb right away. If I go with the superdrive/80gb/1.5/512 than I can't afford to do this. Also I plan to upgrade to a 7.2k drive in the near future also.

Would anyone advise me to go for the more expensive machine anyway. I'm still going to have my PC at school, the PB is just going to be my portable... I'll only be typing, running mathematica, maybe some light photo stuff/dreamweaver/fireworks/etc... Would the 1.33 w/ 1280mb of ram be a better idea? I'm thinking yes, I just would rather not waste the money and then feel like I should have just went for it.

SupahCoolX · Jul 1, 2004, 06:12 PM

I think the extra RAM would be better than the few extra Mhz in this case. You might want to consider a SuperDrive model, too, as burning DVDs can be good for hobby (burning your iMovies) or backup/data transfer (4+ GB per disc). For students, I think it's only a $180 upgrade from a Combo drive.

Jwylie · Jul 1, 2004, 08:59 PM

wuzup101 : Is the discount you are getting for all education discounts, or just your school? Because when i get log on with my school it is the same old discount, $1399 for a 12" combo and $239 for applecare, thanks.

wuzup101 · Jul 1, 2004, 11:35 PM

The extra discount was just through my school's computer store. I go to Penn State btw. It doesn't show up on the apple edu sites. It was actually done at the physical store. However I missed the damn deal so I'm not sure what I'm going to do as of this moment. I'm still getting a mac... that's for sure... I really have wanted one for some time now...

As far as the DVD drive, I already have a dvd burner in my home built PC. I was just going to get an external enclosure for that instead of getting the superdrive. I may go to dual format though instead and just get an external enclosure for that right away...

wuzup101 · 12:45 AM

Crap I'm hooked... If the parents are willing to split the cost with me (which I'm fairly certain they will be... heck I'm a good kid...lol), I think I'm going to just go for the 1.5ghz/512mb/80gb@4200/128vid w/ applecare. I'm still undecided as to whether ot not to drop the superdrive and save the $180 or not though... I really think I'd rather just go for a dual layer external drive around xmas time...

Which means... I can play UT2004 on a lappy now! hehehe... oh school is going to be soo much fun!

gsxrboy · Jul 2, 2004, 01:58 AM

Originally posted by wuzup101:
Crap I'm hooked..... (snip) 1.5ghz/512mb/80gb@4200/128vid w/ applecare......(snip) ....

If you are going to CTO (BTO) the 128mb vram then you are nuts not to get the 5400rpm drive.. the little bit it costs will make a noticeable difference. I have it in my pbook of same specs and it works a treat, do yourself a favor and get it man !

wuzup101 · Jul 2, 2004, 12:47 PM

LOL... actually I was going to buy a 7200rpm drive soon after and just drop that in... if not I would definitely get the 5400rpm drive.

I'm also thinking about getting a 12" now. I've decided that I'm not going to get a superdrive in either configuration because I want to just get a dual layer burner around xmas w/ a nice external enclosure.

The configuration I'm looking at in the 12" is combo/80@5400/256mb w/ immediate 1gig upgrade/applecare. All of this would run me somewhere in the area of $2k. Also, If I go this rout I'll probably get a 60gb (or larger if they make them by then) internal 7200rpm drive for xmas and get an external 2.5" enclosure for the 80gb drive that I order the PB with. It really all depends on how my funding goes...lol.