considering a macbook for college

I've been looking at laptops for a while now. I'm looking at the macbook because of the student discount with the free ipod nano and possible free printer. what no other laptop matches is the battery life and apple support. However, what worries me is that apple will update to the santa rosa platform at any time or update something else. do you think that it will happen before september? secondly, from looking at the specs, the only difference between the white and black macbook is the bigger harddrive and price in the latter? thanks for your replies.

 

laptops are always being updated .. so if you wait till the next update .. you'll then be worried about the update after that .. I bought a MBP a year ago .. with a Core Duo processor .. and it runs every single application perfectly fine .. I don't think you'll greatly benefit from an update .. so don't worry about that ..

the MacBook comes in three configurations .. there's the "starter" model which is a 2.0 C2D processor w/ a combo drive .. then another white MacBook with a slightly faster processor (2.16 vs 2.0 in the starter model), a super-drive and more HD space .. (120 GB) .. the Black MacBook has the same processor as the faster white MacBook .. but a larger hard drive (160 GB) .. so, you're essentially paying for the extra 40 GB and the color (i.e. black vs. white) ..

all of them have 1 GB of ram .. and 4 MB L2 cache .. so you really can't go wrong with any of them .. be sure to get the 2.16 white model, if you need a dvd-writer, though .. since the starter one only has a combo drive ..

detailed specs can be found at:

http://www.apple.com/macbook/specs.html

 

In my opinion the biggest thing in this update was not the processor - it is going to be 6months to a year before any other new technology comes out (on the level of core duo to core 2 duo). The biggest upgrade out of this is of course the LED screen, which is a HUGE step in the right direction for those who hate looking at bad screens all the time. And the other given, the 8600m GT video card is a major step in the right direction because it is DX10 compatible and offers a great performance increase.

IMO, NOW is the best time to buy a macbook pro since, again, I very much doubt that they are going to have a major upgrade in the series for a good long time, and if there is an upgrade, I doubt it is going to have an equivalent performance increase from this Gen, as from the last gen to this gen.

Out of my lesser 2.2 Core 2, the hard drive is my biggest dissapointment since I purchased it in the store and did not customize. (came with the normal 120GB HD). Hard drive performs imo sub par, and drops my windows experience rating .3 points lower than everyone else =( heh, guess it doesn't matter that much. At least it is just the hard drive, which I can always change out later.

EDIT: Misread the title, this is a regular macbook. On that note, as long as you don't plan on playing any games or are in school for anything like 3d animation, the macbook is going to work great for you. I used to have a black core 2 duo 2.16 macbook, and you will be PLEASENTLY suprised with the screen especially. It doesn't even need an LED backlight. The regular macbook series has always had a marvelous screen compared to its pro counterpart. The screen was the main reason I went with the macbook instead of the macbook pro at the time, and it is only recently that the pro has had a nice screen to contend with. As for power, Santa Rosa is not imo a major upgrade to the regular core 2 duo, and batterly life on the macbook is already outstanding.

I still would say it is perfectly fine to buy now instead of try waiting.

 

No, don't worry...it seems pretty clear that Apple won't introduce Santa Rosa into this version of the MacBook...and considering they recently bumped up the power of the MacBooks for the same price, that's the "update" for the MacBook, at least until September. The current versions of the MacBooks won't be updated anytime soon. So relax and get yourself a MacBook now , you're getting the "latest" version if you get it now.

Yes, the only difference between the white MacBook and black MacBook is the bigger hard drive, and of course the chassis colour and note the outside of the white MacBook is "glossy" while the black MacBook is "matte". But it is true...the black MacBook costs more than a white MacBook with the same power. Its the premium you pay for the "higher" model, according to Apple.

 

thanks for the replies. I've also read about problems with the macbook. for the white ones, there a problem with discoloration. for the black ones, there is a problem with fingerprints/oil on the keyboard and trackpad that can't be cleaned. is this still a problem or has apple taken care of the issues?

 

Discoloration issues have happened, but if they happen to you Apple will immediately replace your MacBook. So even if it does occur don't worry, you'll get another, new (and possibly more powerful) MacBook.

Well, as long as you don't eat chicken wings and type I don't think there's going to much issue with permanent oily fingerprints .