Curse

Renewing Harmony · Jan 13, 2010, 06:25 AM // 06:25

Hello, I was thinking about buying a Mac Book Pro. If I got this, I would get the 15-inch: 2.66GHz. It also comes with:
Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB Memory
320GB hard drive<sup>1
</sup>SD card slot
Built-in 7-hour battery <sup>2
</sup> NVIDIA GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT with 256MB

I purposely want this computer for the graphics card(s), but would also like to use it for college, I.E. Computer Engineering. The price of this 15-inch notebook is starting at 2,000 dollars, and on top of that, I'd need to buy the packages, etc.

This is a lot of money for one notebook. Granted, I would use it for both gaming and also College, but would I be better off going with this or getting a Windows Notebook with Windows 7?

I'd like to hear from several experiences. Also, if you say Windows 7 notebooks, could you please point me into the right direction for a good notebook, 15-inch monitor would be fine, needs a great graphics card, etc. Extra features, not needed as much, but some may be useful.

Thanks in advance!

P.S. My budget would probably be from $1,000 - $2,000.

End · Jan 13, 2010, 06:43 AM // 06:43

You could get an Alienware with the same specs (core i5 @ 2.53GHz) larger hard drive more memory and better graphics card for cheaper.

And we all know Alienware overcharges. (not to mention from what I'm told their totally overrated and such)

Not to mention for gaming purposes a windows based system will be much better.

take a look a ibuypower see what you can come up with from that. You'll probably get better for less

Quote:

Originally Posted by what I threw together on ibuypower cause i was bored

Battalion 101 FX-925Z Notebook
Case ( Battalion 101 FX-925Z 15.4" WXGA 1280x800 Widescreen LCD TFT Notebook w/Li-ion battery, Universal AC Power Adapter - Original Metallic Silver/Black 2-Tone Color )
Processor ( Intel® Core 2 Duo Mobile T9900 Dual-Core Processor (2x 3.06GHz/6MB Cache/1066FSB) )
Memory ( 4GB [2GB x 2] 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM [Notebook Memory] - Corsair or Major Brand )
Video Card ( Mobility DDR3 1GB NVIDIA GTS 160M PCI-Express 3D Video [FX-925Z] )
Primary Hard Drive ( 320 GB 7200rpm Serial-ATA Super Slim Notebook Hard Drive )
Optical Drive ( 8x Dual Format DVD±R/±RW + 16x CD-R/RW Combo Drive [FX-925Z] )
Flash Media Reader/Writer ( Built-in 4-in-1 Media Card Reader/Writer [Notebook] )
Sound Card ( 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard )
Network Card ( Built-in 10/100/1000 Network LAN [Notebook] )
Fax Modem ( Built-in 56K V.92 Fax Modem [Notebook] )
Internal Wireless Network Adapter ( MSI MN11BGN 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi Link )
Operating System ( Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate + [Free 60-Day !!!] Microsoft Office 2007(Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access ....) - 64-Bit
USB 2.0 Accessories ( Built-in 2x USB 2.0 Ports [Notebook] )
Carrying Case ( Free Deluxe Carrying Case )
Video Camera ( Built-in 2.0 Mega Pixels Digital Web Video Camera )
Warranty ( Standard Warranty Service - Standard One(1) Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support )

$1,688.00

Renewing Harmony · Jan 13, 2010, 07:15 AM // 07:15

End, I like Battalions, yet they are so thick... It has so many extra features which I don't really need/probably won't ever use... That's the only downfall to those types of notebooks.

moriz · Jan 13, 2010, 08:37 AM // 08:37

do you need to play games on it? if not, go with the mac.

also, keep in mind that you can install windows 7 on a mac too. and since you are an engineer student, you should have access to MSDN-AA, meaning you'll get free microsoft products.

Renewing Harmony · Jan 13, 2010, 08:42 AM // 08:42

Not a student yet, but soon.

Well, I would like to play Guild Wars and when it comes out, Guild Wars 2... But i mean, the mac has an Nvidia GeForce 9400... My desktop only has a 5500 GeForce and it runs so smoothly. Is there something missing in Macs that wouldn't allow me to play this as well as on my Desktop?

And overall, I like how macs run... Everything about them, there is time spent into the programs/engineering. It has so many useful features that I would actually be using on it,

moriz · Jan 13, 2010, 08:59 AM // 08:59

mac do not support directX, which GW uses as the API which calls the graphic card. without directX support, GW won't run. you can "emulate" DX support using Wine, but you are guaranteed to suffer loss in performance at best, or total unplayability if you are not lucky. to put it in perspective, my desktop can run GW maxed out at 300 FPS. under linux and using Wine, it ran GW at 3 FPS.

you are much better off, if you insist on the mac, to bootcamp windows XP/vista/7. this is essentially the same thing as dual booting.

Renewing Harmony · Jan 13, 2010, 09:01 AM // 09:01

Hmm, so... Random question:

Say I do buy the Mac and then put Windows 7 on it... Would I then be able to use DirectX or still not able?

BTW, thanks for the help everyone.

Lourens · Jan 13, 2010, 09:55 AM // 09:55

You will be don't worry

Renewing Harmony · Jan 13, 2010, 11:12 PM // 23:12

Thanks, Lourens... Yeah, I think overall, the Mac would be a better product to buy. And now knowing that I should get the Dual Boot, get to play GW, and also get to use the Mac features for College.

Thanks everyone for your help, it has been well appreciated.

Silverhand · Jan 13, 2010, 11:28 PM // 23:28

i had this same question about which to get
i went with the mac and i love it
i hvnt got to bootcamp it yet, but looking forward to it
i did try it with wine using crossover games and it worked fine for me

Renewing Harmony · Jan 14, 2010, 12:03 AM // 00:03

Awesome, thanks for the help. Yeah, Macs have so many features I can use with them, the only problem is you can't run Gw... Well, I guess I'll just pay to get to Dual Bootcamp and bam, run GW and also have the Mac capabilities.

Thanks everyone.

Chop it Off · Jan 14, 2010, 12:10 AM // 00:10

there are several reasons i hate apple computers, mainly they were proprietary in the software market for a long time, and still its extremely hard to get some compatible software for them that isnt "apple", but it all mainly comes down to two questions.

are you going to game on it?

and

do you care that much about physical appearances?

yes, you can dual boot macs, but other then physical aesthetics, there's no reason to pay the prices they ask for them.

just my two cents.

Renewing Harmony · Jan 14, 2010, 12:14 AM // 00:14

Well, I know what you're saying, but I mean, Macs, especially the one Nvidia 9400+9600, would run outstandingly. But I get what you're saying. The only downfall that I have to what you're saying is that I kind of do care about the appearance. I don't want to be tugging around a computer with so many extra features that it makes it big and bulky.

If you could, do you have any computers you seem would fit my needs by any chance?

Quaker · Jan 14, 2010, 04:25 PM // 16:25

Too often, people seem to compare Macs to low end Windows laptops and say how much better Macs are in quality and aesthetics. But, before you go off buying an overpriced MacBook, go to a local electronics store and take a look at some of the better laptops. I think you'll find that there are lots of high quality and good looking Windows laptops.
Of course, these high quality laptops are almost as expensive as a Mac, but they usually have better specs overall.

For example - http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pro...on=&langid=EN#

Of course it's always good to read reviews too.

For a while Macs were popular because of the "cool factor", but the trend is starting to wane a bit.

P.s. - I like Macs, they are nice machines, but they are over-priced.

Faer · Jan 14, 2010, 05:37 PM // 17:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Renewing Harmony

Yeah, I think overall, the Mac would be a better product to buy.

Less power for more price with a need to install a second OS to play your games hardly qualifies for the better overall award. Buying a Macbook is like buying a motorcycle with a lawnmower engine. Yeah, it's sturdy, and it looks great, but you're buying a fancy lawnmower without blades when what you really want is a motorcycle.

Unless you absolutely need one of the less than a handful applications that only run on a mac for college, there's no good reason to buy one instead of a cheaper, more powerful laptop (like the ones newegg offers, for example).

End · Jan 14, 2010, 08:45 PM // 20:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Theocrat

Less power for more price with a need to install a second OS to play your games hardly qualifies for the better overall award.

Sorry haven't taken a look at this in a bit...anyways yeah this is more what i was trying to point out with my post earlier. Not necessarily trying to show you what you want just trying to show that you can get more for less. And yeah...

Really looks is the only thing a Mac would have going for it at this point...

Quakers got a good example there... inch and a half can hardly be argued as to think I carry around books twice (at least) that width for school...or did at least...only issues I have is I would prefer 7200 RPM on the hard drive...but not a huge difference....

Renewing Harmony · Jan 14, 2010, 09:59 PM // 21:59

Thanks everyone so much...

So, if I were to get a Windows, which type of computer should I get? I.E. What would have great performance, but will last me a while and won't have any troubles with it later on?

Bob Slydell · Jan 14, 2010, 10:04 PM // 22:04

Mac Book Pro is nice, those GPU's are better than my x1600 i Think... but that isn't SLi at all if you are thinking that...so it would have been a waste if you bought it just for the graphics and for games. There are faster cards out there in notebooks right now.

OS X is good for iTunes and other things if you own something like an iPod touch or iPhone and want to rip DvD movies with no problems at all... because it just works great together, but don't buy it if you JUST wanna play games.

Unless you get an iMac...more powerful.., and at which don't go above 21.5" ones because the cards can't handle anything above 1680x1050 that well gaming wise.

BTW: I'll add this for you. Don't let anyone who says "its a pain to have to install window just to play games" put you down. But remember as I said, don't buy it JUST for games and Windows, OS X does handy stuff as well.

Lianna · Jan 14, 2010, 10:25 PM // 22:25

I use Guild Wars in OS X already portingteam.com

The macbook pro runs Win7 very well btw

The Bard · Jan 14, 2010, 10:28 PM // 22:28

I'd get something like this
http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=wGROClu9UevFOGKS
at least here it's about the same as a Macbook Pro 13" but with Intel i7 cpu, Geforce gtx260m full HD resolution (1920*1080) etc etc. It'll run anything the macbook will + 4 million other things and every game on the market.

oh and since you cared about the looks, these all look sick