New MacBooks... HOW!!

[JeremyK]

Hi...

Im not the most computer-knowledgeable person in the world and I have some questions?

How do the LEDS in the new MacBooks work? Is it like a standard TFT display with lots of LEDS to light it up - or are the LEDs actually producing the colour needed?

Is there much difference in 2.0GHz and 2.4GHz. Is it that much faster?

What does RAM actually do?

Why does the box say I have a 160GB HD but I only have 141GB storage capacity (surely the operating system etc doesn't take up 19GB)

Sorry if these are dumb questions...

[bendrucker]

I believe variable color temperature LEDs exist, but as far as I know most displays use red, green, and blue LEDs.

2Ghz and 2.4Ghz is a fairly significant speed difference as processors go, however, you need to understand that speeds are only comparisons between processors of the same model. A 3Ghz Pentium 4 is a lot slower than a 2Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo.

RAM is a high speed solid state storage that is used to store running applications and data currently in use. More of it is always better, since that will allow more data to be stored in RAM, which is significantly faster than a hard drive. However, RAM size isn't the only thing that matters. Speed is also important.

Here's a good explanation from Wikipedia regarding why your hard drive only appears as 141GB. It's not the OS files, although they probably take up 10GB out of those 141GB.

Most operating-system tools report capacity using the same abbreviations but actually use binary prefixes. For instance, the prefix mega-, which normally means 106 (1,000,000), in the context of data storage can mean 220 (1,048,576), which is nearly 5% more. Similar usage has been applied to prefixes of greater magnitude. This results in a discrepancy between the disk manufacturer's stated capacity and the apparent capacity of the drive when examined through most operating-system tools. The difference becomes even more noticeable for a gigabyte (7%), and again for a terabyte (9%). For a petabyte there is a 11% difference between the SI (10005) and binary (10245) definitions. For example, Microsoft Windows reports disk capacity both in a decimal integer to 12 or more digits and with binary-based units to three significant digits. Thus a disk specified by a disk manufacturer as a 30 GB disk might have its capacity reported by Windows 2000 both as "30,065,098,568 bytes" and "28.0 GB". The disk manufacturer used the SI definition of "giga", 109 to arrive at 30 GB; however, because Microsoft Windows, Mac OS and some Linux distributions use "gigabyte" for 1,073,741,824 bytes (230 bytes), the operating system reports capacity of the disk drive as (only) 28.0 GB.

--Via Wikipedia

[JeremyK]

Originally Posted by baseballboy828

A 3Ghz Pentium 4 is a lot slower than a 2Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo.

How does that work? The Intel Core is a whole GHz Less!!

So your saying that 7% of 160 is 19, therfore making the hard drive 160GB but only shows as 141?

[houltmac]

@jeremyk I think BBB did a great job of explaining all these things really. In essence CPU speed measured in GHz isn't a true description of the speed. Two identical CPUs clocked at different speeds would produce the results you'd expect, but other than that it wouldn't be a fair comparison and could be very misleading.

With regards to hard drive capacity (advertised vs. actual), it's not a question of percentages, but calculations. It's the difference between 1024 and 1000 when trying to make calculations simple, as well as some other small mathematical errors. Back when these "standards" were decided it really didn't matter because the capacities they were talking about were so low, however now you can see a real difference and that annoys everyone.

[JeremyK]

Oh that makes sense now

[MacHead, B.S.C.S]

RAM stands for "Random Access Memory". Here is the easiest way that I can explain RAM. Picture a 12x12 desk (your RAM) overflowing with 1,000 papers (your music, pics, apps, documents, etc.) . If you were to look for single piece of paper from that pile it will take you a couple of minutes to go through 1,000 pieces of paper to find 1 single paper. Now, take 3 more 12x12 desks (your RAM) and spread those 1,000 papers on all four of those desks. It will speed up your process by looking for that paper in a matter of seconds. This is how RAM works. Now if you were to find that paper your RAM now know where it is located and will store it in your RAM Cache so the next time youf go to open that document it will open very quickly. Thats why if you notice a program opens slower the first time you open it. But, if you were to close it and reopen it, the program will almost open instantly. This is because your program (the process) is already stored in your RAM Cache from the first time you open it. This is as easy as I can explain it. Hopefully it makes sense.

Now for your processor. 2.4Ghz of processing speed of Intel Core 2 Duo is really fast for a Macbook Pro, especially if you just use it for browsing, music, school, etc. The "processor" is the quickness of how your computer can process information. It collaborates with your RAM to actually determine the speed of how quickly your RAM can find the information, while your "processor" processes the information that the RAM has found. That's why they call RAM "memory". In a human, there are many different parts of the brain. There is memory, hypnocampus, etc. A computer is similar in context. The processes are stored in your RAM or RAM Cache and the processor will process that information that the RAM has gathered. It is important to have these 2 components equivalent to one another for a very well working computer.

As for your Hard Drive (HD) only having 141 GB rather than 160 GB is because the HD has an 11 GB Operating System (OS). Without the OS there 152 GB on your HD. It is very hard to give a precise Byte on a HD. Most Operating Systems can only detect a Hard Drive to the nearest 1,000 Kilobyte. This is why your HD only says 141. Now, what about looking at the HD without the OS detecting it? From the Desktop click "GO" in the menu bar. Then, Go to "Utilities" from the drop down list. Next, choose "Disk Utilities". Now, HOLD DOWN "CTRL" key and click on your main HD, not the Partition. From the drop down list click on "Information". You will see where your Hard Drive is listed as 141 GB, but LOOK NEXT TO THAT IN PARENTHESIS. It shows your Hard Drive in BYTES. It should give you the exact Byte of your hard drive, which is converted from 160, XXX, XXX, XXX Bytes to 160 GB.

I really hope that this has helped you understand the fundamentals of your computer. If you need more answers, then ask me and I'll explain. CHEERS!

[JeremyK]

Thankyou, MacHead, This has helped alot!

[MacHead, B.S.C.S]

Originally Posted by JeremyK

Thankyou, MacHead, This has helped alot!

You're very welcome!