Worth it to upgrade Macbook?

Hey Guys, I am looking to buy a new Macbook. I was just wondering if you felt it was worth it to go from the 2.0 to the 2.4 for an extra 300 dollars. I will be buying the Macbook at Best Buy, so they It would also come with the 250 gig hard drive and the illuminated keyboard. Do you guys feel this is worth the added 300 dollars? Thanks for any input.

 

It would sort of depend whether your have a need for the extra power or not, and how much of a need it was and how often you'd be using it (the extra power, that is).

 

I'd say if you do video or audio work on the machine, the additional processing power would be useful. If it's primarily an email/itunes/internet machine you probably don't need it.

Also the 2.4's price is getting a bit close to the macbook pro price. If you are going to spend that much, you might as save some extra money and get the macbook pro.

I didn't realize the base model didn't have an iluminated keyboard, kind of disappointing!

 

Yeah, not having the illuminated keyboard is a drag. I will not do audio video stuff, but I will be doing alot of programming and i do a crap load of multi tasking. I think I might go with the lower model because I will probably update the hard drive to ssd soon anyways, since a 128 is so cheap these days. I think the 2.0 ghz will do fine, since I have 2.4 ghz in my XPS right now and OSX doesnt bog the cpu down as much as it does in vista.

 

i dont think you will even notice the lit up keyboard after a few days. i never use it on my mbp. save yourself the cash and just get the 2.0 rig and put the extra cash towards that ssd

 

+1 to that. And you won't feel the difference if you aren't going to do CPU intensive work on it.

 

I agree about the keyboard. Once in a blue moon I use it. That money would be better spent on larger drive or more RAM in the aftermarket.

 

i have only turn my keyboard on maybe five times since i have my mbp and out of that 5times only once was actually "using" it than fooling around with light settings

 

I recently went thru the same question. I ended up going with the 2.4.... but I got mine off ebay, and saved about 250€ so it was about the same price as a 2.0 new from apple.
So far I'm pretty happy with my choice. I have used the backlit a few times, its a nice feature but not really worth $300.
I think if I had my time over I would have gone and got a re-furb 2.0 which would have been around 200€ less than any other option.
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Wait for snowleopard if you can..Maybe new chips will come with it

 

This topic was discussed to death back in Oct/Nov when the new systems were released.

It comes down to personal choice, how much the cpu or kb is/isn't worth to you, and whether you want the added HDD space at the start (as compared to spending $100-ish and time spent to drop one into your brand new notebook after you get it home). And finally, whether $300 is a substantial factor or amount of money in the immediate term for your purchase; some people look at it by averaging the difference over 2-4 years of expected use and that only ends up as $75-100/yr...

These are all personal decisions that vary by your situation -- others' opinions are just that, and your individual lifestyle/requirements may be different.

I took the upgrade because I wanted the cpu (didn't exactly need it, as the difference between video encode speed was unlikely to be more than 10% different), I liked the backlit kb (from using my MILaw's MBP), and after upgrading the HDD (160 was too small for me) the price difference would only have been ~$200.

 

Wow, I must just be weird - the backlit keyboard is a killer feature for me. Got addicted to it on the MBP, loved it on the Air and would not have gotten a MB without it. Guess I work in a lot of dim places and I'm not a touch typist.

But a 20% boost in cpu and considerable bump in HD size are a nice bonus too.

 

So i finally decided on the 2.4 inch version. With my student discount it got me an extra 100 off, when the 2.0 version only gave 50 off. I love it.

 

Congrats!!! You'll notice how you love it.. you will soon forget windows!!!

 

I am in the same boat. I can't live without my backlit keyboard, even it I am in a place with a light I'll still use it on.

 

So, it's more habitual than useful

(just kidding)

 

Well that's what makes it useful for me.