Macbook

odd-one-out

Hello all,

I'm looking to buy a Macbook within the next year and my budget is £600 though I could push it if need be. I'm looking at the specs of at least 1GB RAM, 100GB HDD, and a good graphics card. Other factors doesn't matter to me so much.

I'm not too bothered about whether it's new, refurbished, or used as long as it will last me and has no scratches or problems. I know there are several different types of Macbooks and I'm not sure which one is most suited to me for the budget of £600.

I'll be mainly using it to run graphics programs that will eat at the RAM (such as Photoshop, 3DS Max, etc), Windows XP as well as whatever the Mac OS is, and the typical Internet browsing.

What are yuor suggestions to which Macbook I should get, and whereabouts can you point me to? Many thanks, MSErs!

FreheitOverture

You can't get one for that price. They pretty much start at £700 for the basic. And you get a built in graphics card for that.
3DS Max is not available on Mac, and by the time you dual boot a Windows OS the RAM you will need is over 3GB to run 3DS Max with any degree of success. Well....that's based on my experiences anyway.

Expect to pay upwards of £1000 for a MAC that can do what you need

odd-one-out

Alright, I'll just have to save up for longer then Thank you for the valuable information regarding Macbooks.

taff007

I guess you'll be looking for a Macbook Pro because of the built in graphics in the standard macbook, and you're unlikely to get one of those for £600.

When you do come to buy I would recommend the refurbished deals on the Apple Store website (usually a link 3/4 of the way down on the right of the Apple Store webpage). There are often good deals with anything from 10% to 30% off the original price depending on model and spec. While it is a risk that the exterior may not be perfect, I don't think I've ever heard anyone complaining about the quality of the computers. The Macbook refurb I bought was spotless, and I couldn't tell if it had ever been used before.

odd-one-out

Macbook Pro was on my mind, and thank you for telling me about the refurb section. That should help me when buying the Macbook.

Bob63

Buy the best you can afford then budget £60 (perhaps a bit less) to upgrade the memory to 4GB with 2x2GB modules. Don't buy Apple's memory. Macbook is great for photo work, Macbook Pro is better for 3D graphics.

System

Yea I agree with cheesy mike about not just going for a pro because its better, it depends what you'll be using it for - a normal macbook might be sufficient for your needs!

The macbook pros (new) start at around double your budget at the moment so if you were going to save up it would be quite a bit more...

Even the refurb deals only knock a few hundred pound off the price if you're lucky!

Good luck though, I'm thinking about doing the same in a few months time so would be interesting to know how you get on!

Marty_J

Does it have to be a laptop?

If you bought an iMac, you could get much better specs for the same money (including a graphics card).

odd-one-out

I would buy an iMac but I need the portability factor

Marty_J

I guess a MacBook or MacBook Pro it is then.

The cheapest MacBook Pro in the refurb store at the minute is £1,099 so you have a way to go if you want to save up for something like that. There are rumours that Apple's notebook line will be refreshed in October, so you might be able to pick one of the older models up a bit cheaper.

Are you still in education? Or do you know anyone still in education? You might find some good deals in Apple's education store.

geekgirl

Here
is the link for future, there are no macbooks on there at the mo.
My son uses a macbook using reason music programme, photoshop etc... and the only problem he has is the hard drive isn't big enough and he has to use an external a lot. He got his macbook from the refurb store for £520. Not sure of the technicalities regarding using of 3DS Max as he doesn't use that.
He upgraded the RAM from 1gb too 2gb.

Good luck.