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I am starting college next year and my wonderful father has agreed to buy me an ibook. I went to the online store and made a cart with what I think I need in it. I was just if anyone could suggest additions.
My cart:
iBook 12" 1.2GHz Combo Part Number: Z0AX AirPort Extreme Card Keyboard & Mac OS X - U.S. English 30GB Ultra ATA drive Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) 512MB DDR266 SDRAM (256MB built-in & 256MB SO-DIMM)
APP for iBook - Enrollment Kit Part Number: M8852LL/A
Office 2004 for Mac - Student and Teacher Edition Part Number: T9188LL/A
Apple Mouse Part Number: M9035G/A
Epson Stylus C86 Ink Jet Printer Part Number: TA214LL/A
posted
I'd drop the Apple mouse and get a two-button wireless Logitech one instead. If you're looking for style in your mouse, Microsoft is selling a nice one designed by Phillip Stark. I'd reccomend staying away from their wireless mice, though, they tend to be poo.
Posts: 903 | Registered: May 2003
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posted
You can buy ram cheaper than on the apple site, most likely. I checked, and RamSeeker shows you could probably get a 256 MB extra card for roughly $60 after shipping. Or you could get a 512 MB card for roughly $100 after shipping. Either way, getting 512 total (including the 256 that comes by default) would be a good idea.
I'm of mixed feelings when it comes to APP. Keep in mind that it doesn't cover drops/dings/steal. Also, any mods you do to your iBook break the plan. I've had a lot of Macs in my life, and while I've had problems, they've almost exclusively occurred during the first year (under the automatic warranty coverage). My current tower's drive is getting fidgety (almost 3 yrs old), but I've altered the firmware so it wouldn't have been covered anyhow.
You can use any USB-powered mouse, pretty much. Mac OS X will automatically understand the concept of a two-button mouse. You should be able to program any other buttons at will.
I don't know much about Office or the InkJet. I'm reasonably sure that the iBook comes with AppleWorks 6, which is Apple's own word processor. AppleWorks can import MS files, and has its own spreadsheet stuff. So if all you need is something to make papers with, then AppleWorks is likely enough.
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You don't really need office, it can be handy, but Appleworks does all the same stuff. I have it simply cause I sorta collect programs, but I know how to get the programs I collect for free for the most part. If you're gonna be paying for it don't bother, stick to Appleworks.
Posts: 3295 | Registered: Jun 2004
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If you want to get Applecare you must get Apple's RAM.
And, truth be told, Apple does sell really high quality RAM, though it should be a little cheaper. I just consider it part of the price of Applecare, which is worth it often enough.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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Woah I hadn't realized that Applecare would not be cover me if I had different RAM in my system. What is the logic behind this?
Also you can wait to buy applecare anytime in your first year of ownership. I just bought mine a few days before my 1st year of coverage was up. Also Applecare will replace your batteries if you're having problems, something I was until recently unaware of.
Posts: 872 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Re: Office, call and find out if your U has a better pricing deal. Or if you don't mind breaking a licensing agreement mildly, find a friendly non-Mac using IU student to purchase it for you for like $10. If you don't want to do that and your U lacks a better pricing deal, get it. You will want to have Office in college. It will make your life easier.
Re: the printer, unless you have an overwhelming urge to print color stuff, ditch it, and if you feel there aren't enough printers around your campus it'll be a lot cheaper in the long run (read: first year, year and a half, and that's if you get a pretty nice low end laser) to acquire a laser printer.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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If Apple finds out about non-Apple RAM on an Applecare call, they'll make you remove it (edit: for the purposes of troubleshooting, and you can put it back later of course).
Which makes a certain amount of sense, bad RAM can cause all sorts of funky problems.
posted
The 30-gig drive might be a little small, especially if you do anything with video editing. Or if you take tons of pictures or own ungodly amounts of music. Otherwise the others have just about covered everything. I'll especially second fugu's comment about the printer. My Epson inkjet died a horrible painful death early in its second year, and while it was alive it guzzled ink, printed slowly and loudly, and produced the worst prints I've seen since the old imagewriter we used to have at home. This was about 7 years ago, though.
*goes off to replace his dying powerbook battery*
Posts: 1810 | Registered: Jan 1999
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posted
I want to echo the call for more RAM. I've got 512 on my iMac and OS X seems like it could use more (but I do a lot of photo/video stuff on my Mac).
Also, Bluetooth! This is a technology that is just now coming into its stride. It's a $50 upgrade and will allow you to connect to the internet with your cell, use a wireless mouse/ keyboard and countless other uses existing or under development. It's cheap as far as upgrades go and almost limitless in future uses, you can't lose.
[edit] I'm very fluent in Office and can't stand AppleWorks. There are far to many downfalls to that wretched set of programs.
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Office: I would like to have it on my computer. Mostly because I am used to it. Fugu:I can get the IU discount through my mom. Might as well do it if it is only 10-15 dollars.
Applecare: It is good to know that it only covers so much, but I would feel better about the investment if I had a longer warranty.
Printer: I would like to have a small one in my room. Mike or Fugu: can you recommend a similarly priced printer that would be better?
RAM: I will be putting all of my CDs on my computer so it might be good to get more. have about 75 CDs. Does that sound like enough to need more RAM?I will not be downloadind music and/ or movies.
Scottneb: Thank you, I wasn't clear on what bluetooth is. It sounds like an upgrade worth having.
Posts: 1015 | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
RAM is different from hard drive space. RAM is memory your computer uses on the fly, to run programs. Hard drive space is "permanent" storage for data. More RAM lets you run programs more effectively as they can store information in fast-access spots.
Music and files are stored on the hard drive. Each album is probably only 70-80 MB to store. There are 1000 MB in a gigabyte*. So, your CDs wouldn't take more than a gigabyte (a gig) of space. Video files take up a lot more space, because it's raw data. CDs in mp3 or aac format are compressed, and that's why they take up less space. If you were to save the CDs in uncompressed format, they would take 600 MB apiece, but that's considered unnecessary. You'd need very good speakers to hear the difference.
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The Samsung ML 1710 seems to be well reviewed, though it appears to le older (that matters little with laser printers).
Even the new one at $185 would save you money over one year of moderate usage compared to a $50 inkjet.
There are doubtless others, I would recommend going to the Mac Experience locally (in Wonderlab's old location) and asking them what cheap laser printers they have/recommend. Then see if you can get one of those cheaper through the IU Bookstore computer shop.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
You probably don't need the extra battery. I have an ibook case I bought for $40, by Marware. I like it, except it squeaks. It's very thin, and doesn't hold much besides a few papers and the AC adapter. Kinda foamy exterior.
Get a laptop lock, though. Probably only costs about $20. Lock it down to something very secure while it's in your room. Never forget to lock your dorm door when you're not in. Many laptops get stolen every year just by casual passerbys who decide to take a chance on your door.
Posts: 1892 | Registered: Mar 2002
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posted
Or take your laptop with you everywhere. That's what I do. 99% of the time when it's not being a laptop, it's pretending to be a book in my backpack.
I've bonded with my little aluminum powerbook. It's power supply doesn't die, nor does it require huge security updates to be downloaded. On the other hand, for a metal case, it seems remarkably pliable. I've dropped it from about 6-8" and had it make a substantial dent in the case. Luckily, further dropping (while powered down) hammered it back into order. I sorta wish I could've gotten a powerbook back when they were titanium.
I wish someone would make a laptop out of high-impact ceramics or whatever the Xbox is made out of.
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