Help me to choose a new MacBook

Question

I plan to buy a MacBook within next 15 days. Now I am little bit confused to choose between the two models of 13'' MacBook (new) 2.0GHz or 2.4GHz.
The 2.4 GHz model has 250 GB HDD and illuminating key board as an extra than the 2.0 GHz model. Now I can always upgrade my MacBook HDD even if i go with 160 GB model. So that is surely not a big issue. But I want to know about your views on the processor of 2.4 GHz. Is it really something that makes it much better than 2.0 GHz model?If not, it is wise to go with the 2.0 GHz model as far as the cost it concerned. Since this is going to be my first MacBook I want your views on that. Please compare the two models in a realistic manner so that I can make a good deal. My purpose is surfing, ssh to other machines, slight programming (for large programs I have access to supercomputers), lots of presentation.
I would also like to know about purchasing Apple care. It is really costly. But do you think I should go for it? I am an more or less an expert in Linux OS and computers. Personally I dont believe I need to have this. What do you think of it?

Answer 1

I have used the last two versions of the white Macbooks, and I now have a new 2.4 Ghz aluminum Macbook. The last version of the white Macbooks that I had was the 2.4Ghz one. It seemed to run every bit as fast as the new 2.4GHz model that I have now. Since I had 4GB of RAM in the old one (I also have 4GB in the new one) - I can give you some thoughts.
1. If you want a white or black MacBook, see if there are still refurbished ones available through Apple. The last four machines I bought were Macbooks (I've been buying them for my family members)- and every one of them were perfect and indistinguishable from new machines (other than the boxes they came in). You could get a 2.4Ghz Black Macbook this way with the same processor as the newest ones (Intel Pereyn). They run every bit as cool as the newest machines, and the memory is much cheaper (about $40 for 4GB through newegg.com as opposed to around $130 for the 4GB for the new machines). Since the hard drive interface is the same, you can easily put any size drive in them you want. I had a 320GB drive in my last white MacBook and I have a 500GB drive in my new aluminum Macbook. The battery life is different. The older model had better battery life - I would say an average of 20-35 more minutes on a charger than the newer model, and the time required to recharge the battery was much lower on the older model. Replacing RAM and the Hard drive on both models is relatively simple. The screen on the newer model is better- even if there seems to be a number of people who don't like it- I think it's fine. And yes, the older model does have firewire - which is only a must if you have legacy firewire devices or plan on using firewire in the future- I don't have either issue, and if I do need firewire connectivity I use my Desktop machine anyway. I upgraded because I had a 12" powerbook in the past, and I really liked it. The 13" aluminum Macbook seems to be the best combination of both worlds. The graphics processing on the newer machine is the NVIDIA chip as opposed to the X1300 in the older machine- but I found the older machine more the adequate for running my application suite, which ran the gambit from web surfing to full on video editing in Final Cut Pro. Hope this helps.