Three Mac computers from Apple’s line have been refreshed recently, that being the mini, iMac and Mac Pro.

Odds  are you’re probably not interested in the Mac Pro because it’s out of the range of what most people can afford these days ($2,499), however you might have been interested in the other two.

The new Macs don’t bring any significant design changes but do put more horsepower under the hood. The iMac in particular gets bumped to a 320GB hard drive and has better processor offerings, but for some strange reason still only offers a 8x speed SuperDrive.

It should be noted that Apple’s Macbooks are far outselling the desktop versions, and to be honest are a better deal. People are switching more towards laptops these days compared to desktops. The entry level 13-inch Macbook is priced correct at $999 and will hold higher resale value compared to the desktop version, so not only is it lower in price but will sell for more later when you trade up.

There are those who need big honkin’ hard drives and those who don’t.

Typically, those that need the big-big drives do one or more of the following:

• Video editing. Camcorder, DV, DVR, Tivo, DVD ripping, etc.
• Multitrack audio editing. The raw WAV files are quite large.
• Gaming. Many newer games require a significant amount of space.
• Photography. Even on point-and-shoot digital camera photos, each photo can easily be over 3MB in size. If you take a lot of photos this can add up in size rather quickly.

Those that don’t do any of the above or only on a semi-regular basis typically don’t need the big-big drives (or just use an external when required).

With that being said, here are the numbers as of now for what you’d pay if you decide to add on a hard drive.

All prices are listed in US dollars. All drive types are standard 3.5-inch form factor with SATA connector. Links provided are lowest price offerings from NewEgg. Always remember to do your research with hard drives before buying one. Just because something is lowest price doesn’t mean it’s the best offering (obviously).

80GB: $35

It makes no sense to purchase a 40GB any longer because the 80GB versions are cheaper by a few bucks. This is the smallest and cheapest available offering for SATA.

If you are still going super-old-school with Windows 98, this is the drive you want because the 120GB versions are tough to come by new and that is the maximum ‘98 will recognize (technically it’s 137GB but you obviously can’t buy a 137GB drive).

160GB: $42

I have no idea why this size is still even offered. It’s too big for old-school operating systems and to small for newer ones. I’d skip it.

250GB: $50

I wouldn’t bother with this one either. See next listing.

320GB: $50

It’s amazing that for just 8 bucks more you double the size from 160GB to 320GB.

500GB: $55

Yes, you can go for the big guns for just 55 bucks. Most would agree that this is the start of big-big territory by current standards.

640GB: $70

The 640GB size is a bit of an oddity because the 750GB version is just 5 bucks more (see next listing).

750GB: $75

We started at $35. Forty dollars later we’re in 750GB territory.

1TB (1000GB): $100

Twenty-five bucks after that we’re in terabyte territory.

1.5TB (1500GB): $120

Twenty bucks beyond that is one-and-a-half terabyte territory.

…and this is where we end.

For now.

NewEgg currently doesn’t stock 2TB internal hard drives – but I’m sure they’re right around the corner and waiting to be sold in ‘09.

Is the terabyte range worth the price?

Yes. When it broke $200 it was worth the asking price.

However for most people that don’t do a ton of video stuff (be it DV and/or DVR, etc.), 500GB will fit the bill nicely.

Gas, if you drive you need it. Of course the prices fluctuate daily and depending on what side of town you are on the prices can vary, sometimes significantly. So to help find the lowest price in town, check out this MSN gas price tool.

Simply type in your zip code and you will see a listing of prices from stations in your area. Not all stations are listed, but typically stations in the same area only vary slightly so this will give you a good idea of what the prices are where.

We all know that the price of gas has increased exponentially for the last several months. Here in the Tampa Bay area, the average price per gallon is around $4.00. It now costs me about $60 to fill up my wife’s Honda Accord. In a word: damn.

Now, my wife and I are lucky in that we don’t commute. My wife is at home taking care of the little one and I work from home. But, for those who do drive to and from work, the gas prices have to hurt.

This last weekend, I had somebody pose the possibility that the gas prices could drive up costs for computers. Is that a possibility?

Continued