Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

immunologist · Jul 5, 2005, 04:10 PM

hey everyone,
i'm planning on making the switch to mac in the fall (15" powerbook). I'm pondering these two options, a 15" 1.5 GHZ w/ combo drive and RAM upgrade to 1GB, or a 15" 1.67GHZ sans the superdrive with the 512MB that comes standard. What would you recommend, I'm looking for this computer to be as fast as possible, ie. as little like the PC I own now; I'm so sick of it stalling and taking forever to load ( am i just being paranoid about the speed of these things?). This computer will be mostly used for Word processing, listening to music, and powerpoint and PDF lecture files. Any other recommendations (around $2550 Cdn w/ education discount) would be much appreciated.
Thankx!

iREZ · Jul 5, 2005, 04:14 PM

the cpu difference between these two computers is hardly an issue...i'd say go with the 1.5 with added RAM, 512MB is the minimum nowadays. if it were me though...i'd get the 1.67 and run it stock for a couple months untill i saved enough for a 1G stick...then you'd have the best of both worlds.

mgehman · Jul 5, 2005, 04:15 PM

Take the faster processor and upgrade the RAM yourself. RAM is cheap and it is easy to install. Or you could get the slower processor without the RAM and spend the extra on the superdrive and ram.

kappa4life · Jul 5, 2005, 04:15 PM

Ok, do you really need the Superdrive? If not, Id go with the 1.5 with the ram upgrade. You will notice that more so than if had the 1.67. And I wouldnt buy your ram through Apple, its too expensive. Buy it through a third party and install it yourself.

Josh

Luca Rescigno · Jul 5, 2005, 04:46 PM

A 1.5 GHz G4 with 1 GB of RAM will probably be faster in day-to-day operation than a 1.67 GHz with only 512 MB.

By the way, upgrading to 1 GB from the standard 512 MB should only cost you about $50. That's all it costs to buy a 512 MB RAM module these days. Don't buy your RAM from Apple... it's a HUGE rip off. They routinely charge 3x more than even the premium RAM vendors (like Crucial).

warra · Jul 5, 2005, 07:51 PM

By the way, upgrading to 1 GB from the standard 512 MB should only cost you about $50.

Are you saying 1g is $50 or an additional 512 is $50?

Luca Rescigno · Jul 5, 2005, 07:56 PM

The additional 512 MB.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other.../2700DDRS512M/

sodamnregistered2 · Jul 5, 2005, 08:16 PM

You won't feel any difference between the 1.5 and 1.67.

The only real reason to get the 1.67 is to get the 128MB video card.

Link · Jul 5, 2005, 10:15 PM

Get the 1.5 and the extra ram, unless you're gonna be driving a 30" the 128mb VRAM is unnecessary...

Plus the Matshita 835 is a lousy superdrive. There's a whole thread here dedicated to that, and whether you get a matshita 845 or not is hit or miss. Back when I was ordering I wanted to do a BTO 17" with 80gb drive (didn't want the 100 at all), and couldn't wait that long, didn't care for superdrive roulette so the 15" 1.67 wasn't worth it and nor was the extra 167mhz in speed to me ... sooo yeah

The 1.5ghz is pretty darn snappy anyway

doucy2 · Jul 5, 2005, 10:20 PM

def go with the 1.5
the 1.67 is just a waste at this point of time save youur pennies