Powerbook purchase advice...

risingzanrisingzan
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I'm currently a student doing a great deal of animation and compositing work and plan to purchase a 15" powerbook within the next week or so. I've been messing with configurations of the Combo and Superdrive models to get the pricing to a reasonable level. However, I'm stuck. With either configuration I am selecting a smaller HD and a combo drive to save money, and when all is said and done there is about a $200 dollar difference between getting the 1ghz model with an airport extreme card and 256megs of RAM, and the 1.25ghz model with the airport card and 512megs. My question is, and keep in mind I'm on a budget, is it better to spend the additional $200 for the .25 speed bump additional 256megs of RAM and light-up keyboard, or would I be better off in forgoing the speed bump and light-up keyboard and spend the additional $200 on additional RAM via Crucial?



I guess I'm asking if the .25 more proc power and backlit keyboard is worth more than additional ram?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 3
    richardtrussrichardtruss Posts: 36member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by RisingZan

    I'm currently a student doing a great deal of animation and compositing work and plan to purchase a 15" powerbook within the next week or so. I've been messing with configurations of the Combo and Superdrive models to get the pricing to a reasonable level. However, I'm stuck. With either configuration I am selecting a smaller HD and a combo drive to save money, and when all is said and done there is about a $200 dollar difference between getting the 1ghz model with an airport extreme card and 256megs of RAM, and the 1.25ghz model with the airport card and 512megs. My question is, and keep in mind I'm on a budget, is it better to spend the additional $200 for the .25 speed bump additional 256megs of RAM and light-up keyboard, or would I be better off in forgoing the speed bump and light-up keyboard and spend the additional $200 on additional RAM via Crucial?



    I guess I'm asking if the .25 more proc power and backlit keyboard is worth more than additional ram?





    im in the market myself and i would say buy the best one you can afford. cant upgrade the processor or keyboard, but you can find more money for ram in the future. also, check chip merchant for ram. its a lot cheaper there.
  • Reply 2 of 3
    back2macback2mac Posts: 13member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by RisingZan

    I'm currently a student doing a great deal of animation and compositing work and plan to purchase a 15" powerbook within the next week or so. I've been messing with configurations of the Combo and Superdrive models to get the pricing to a reasonable level. However, I'm stuck. With either configuration I am selecting a smaller HD and a combo drive to save money, and when all is said and done there is about a $200 dollar difference between getting the 1ghz model with an airport extreme card and 256megs of RAM, and the 1.25ghz model with the airport card and 512megs. My question is, and keep in mind I'm on a budget, is it better to spend the additional $200 for the .25 speed bump additional 256megs of RAM and light-up keyboard, or would I be better off in forgoing the speed bump and light-up keyboard and spend the additional $200 on additional RAM via Crucial?



    I guess I'm asking if the .25 more proc power and backlit keyboard is worth more than additional ram?



    I'm posting this from my brand new (i.e., arrived today!) PB15", superdrive, 80GB HD, 1GB RAM (not bragging, just SOOO happy to have it in my hot little hands )



    I'm just a lowly law student, and as such don't need half the computing power you do, but my philosophy is to get as much power/performance as you can possibly afford. I weighed the processor v. RAM question just as you are and fortunately my budget allowed for both. Thank god for Apple Loan.



    I ordered the PB with 1x512MB RAM (a $90 option) and ordered another 512MB RAM from a third party supplier who I've done business with before. It's OEM RAM and was $110. Others have suggested going with Apple's stock 256MB RAM, selling it on ebay and buying 1GB aftermarket. Seemed like a hassle to me, but I guess it probably comes out cheaper than paying apple a premium for 1x512MB...



    I suppose if I had to choose, I'd say go with the RAM. That's my $.02 worth.



    Good luck with what ever decision you make.
  • Reply 3 of 3
    formerlurkerformerlurker Posts: 2,686member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by back2mac

    I suppose if I had to choose, I'd say go with the RAM. That's my $.02 worth.



    Good luck with what ever decision you make.



    I'd agree with this advice, and I've advised on hundreds of new purchases. OWC stands behind their RAM (they've replaced bad chips years after purchase for myself and many clients quickly and easily), and might be cheaper than either Crucial or Kingston with the same quality level.



    You'll always get the most bang for your buck if you buy as cheaply as possible from Apple, and upgrade with good quality 3rd party RAM.
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