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Buying a Laptop

Z

ZZ Topless

Junior Member
Hello,

I am going to university in September and I need a laptop. I have a budget of about $2500-$3000 canadian, or ~$2500 american if you want to keep it simple. I have been lookin gat lots of laptops but I can't really decide. I want to be able to do some gaming on it, no FPS's but if I could play Oblivion on it that'd be cool but not necessary. My budget is big enough to hopefully allow for some good gaming upgrades though.

Anyway, I am leaning toward a Macbook Pro 2.16Ghz with the 7200RPM HDD upgrade. With my student discount it is within my budget. It would be my first mac though and I'm unsure about a couple things: First, do games work on the Mac OS X? Do they work well? I mean games like WoW, NWN2 etc.. as well as older games I like to play every so often, mainly old RPGs such as baldur's gate and fallout 2.

Thanks for any replies and suggestions.

 
I can at least reassure you that my friend runs WoW on his new MBP with the highest graphics settings on. For other non-Mac games you can do bootcamp and run Windows XP>
 
Honestly, on my MacBookPro, I do all of my gaming in Windows. I already had Call Of Duty 2 and NWN for Windows and I wasn't about to go out and pay more money for the same game just so I could run it in OSX. But I might be tempted to buy new games for OSX once I've finished Oblivion. And you should be able to run Oblivion decently at 1024x768 w/ 2xAA turned on. Under Bootcamp, everything just works like any other Windows machine.
 
ZZ Topless:

Windows games won't run natively in MacOS X. However, anyone with a copy of World of Warcraft already has a Mac version. They'll run well enough if they have Intel-native versions (World of Warcraft does). You'd need to install Boot Camp (free from Apple) and Windows XP SP2 for Windows-only games.
 
Thanks for the replies. I hear the MacBook comes underclocked though? Does this mean I will take a performance hit as opposed to a similarly configured laptop from another brand?
 
Originally posted by: ZZ Topless
Thanks for the replies. I hear the MacBook comes underclocked though? Does this mean I will take a performance hit as opposed to a similarly configured laptop from another brand?
Click to expand...

Yes, the MacBookPro's ATI x1600 is underclocked compared to say an Acer TravelMate 8200. There's another forum member here who has one and has significantly higher 3dmark06 scores than I do. But he can't run OSX :evil:
 
OK, what about the difference between the 17" and 15.4"? I can get the 17" version for just over a hundred canadian more with the same configuration. The reason I'm curious is I notice the 17 comes with an 8x DVD drive as opposed to 4x, is this significant? Not to mention that a slightly larger screen's always nice
 
Originally posted by: ZZ Topless
OK, what about the difference between the 17" and 15.4"? I can get the 17" version for just over a hundred canadian more with the same configuration. The reason I'm curious is I notice the 17 comes with an 8x DVD drive as opposed to 4x, is this significant? Not to mention that a slightly larger screen's always nice
Click to expand...

I was a little envious of the 17" model when it came out since I might have chosen that instead of my 15". But I was at the local Apple Store the other day and went to see them in person. I gotta say I'm glad I got the 15.4" one. The 17" is very wide and yet the keyboard is the same size as in the 15.4". So the fan vents on the top, to the left and right of the keyboard, are a lot wider and IMO not as good looking as the smaller MBP. And as far as the DVD burning goes, how often do you really use it? If burning DVDs is an everyday occurance for you then yeah, I'd get the 17" MBP. If not, save the dough. The wider screen was nice though, although since I dual screen mine with an external LCD, it's not that big of a deal to me unless I'm mobile.
 
I hear the X1600 chipset in the 17" model is clocked higher (more room for cooling, obviously).

However...

If you'll be carrying the system to class often, you should probably get the 15" model instead. Your classmates will thank you when you're not crowding out their binders, and your shoulder might thank you in terms of weight savings. Just about any 17" notebook is meant as a desktop replacement for people who need as much screen area as possible; the 17" MacBook Pro may be one of the thinnest and lightest in its class, but that still makes it big.
 
Once again, thank you all for the replies. As an alternative to the MBP what do you guys think of this model?
The Asus S96J [2] Notebook from iBuypower.com. configured as such:

Case ( Asus S96J Notebook, 15.4" WXGA 1280x800 LCD TFT Notebook w/Li-Ion Battery, Universal AC Power Adapter, Deluxe Carrying bag Intel LEAP Panel )
Processor ( Intel® Core Duo Processor T2600 (2.16GHz/2M Cache/677FSB) )
Memory ( 1024MB(1024MB X1) DDR2-667 PC5300 [Notebook Memory] Corsair )
Video Card ( Mobility 256MB ATI Radeon X1600 PCI-Express 3D Video )
Hard Drive ( 80 GB 5400rpm Serial-ATA-150 Super Slim Notebook Hard Drive )
CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive ( 8x Dual Format DVD±R/±RW + 16x CD-R/RW Combo Drive [Asus S96J] )
Sound Card ( 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard )
Fax Modem ( Build-in 56K V.92 Fax Modem [Notebook] )
Network Card ( Build-in 10/100/1000 Network LAN [Notebook] )
USB 2.0 Accessories ( Build-in 3x USB 2.0 Ports [Notebook] )
Flash Media Reader/Writer ( Build-in 3-in-1 Media Card Reader/Writer [Notebook] )
Car/Air Charger (Opti-UPS SS1200-AVR Mighty Voltage Regulator )
Carrying Case ( Pacific Design Action II Backpack XL Carrying Case )
Operation System ( MS Windows XP Professional Edition w/Service Pack-2 )
Additional Software ( MS Works Suite 2006 [Word, Works, Money, Encarta, Digital Image, Streets and Trips] )
IEEE-1394 Fire Wire Card ( Build-in 1x IEEE-1394 Firewire Port [Notebook] )
Video Camera ( Build-in Digital Web Video Camera )
Wireless Network Adapter ( [Free !!!] Intel® Wireless 802.11 a/b/g 3945 Mini-Card )
Warranty ( Warranty Service Standard One(1) Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support )

All together it is over 1000 bucks cheaper (Canadian) than the MBP, although it does have a 5200RPM HDD rather than 7200 and the warranty is 1 year rather than the MBP's 3 year I selected. This thing has other advantages hardware wise too though.

Ack, I don't know. Are there things software-wise or otherwise to justify the extra grand? Keep in ming I will do little gaming so that's not a downside of the MBP for me..
 
I have an Acer TravelMate 8204 WLMI and can run wow,HMMV and BF2. Thats with a core duo @2.0 and 2gb of ddr2. It also has the x1600 512mb with 256mb dedicated. Dont forget the 120 GB HD and built in cam 🙂
 
ZZ, you can definitely find cheaper options than the MBP like the Acer and Asus laptops. You just have to figure out if that machine will keep you satisfied. Sure each of those are cheaper and have more options, but are they reliable? Will the manufacturer provide quick and top-notch support and service? What included software are included with the other machines? The MBP has iPhoto, iDVD, iMovie, and iWeb which would cost extra on a Windows machine. Plus with the MBP you'll be running OSX which IMO is better than any Linux distro out there in terms of usability and beats Windows as far as security and functionality (but not gaming).

For me, it came down to the MBP and a Lenovo T60p. The Acer and Asus simply were not options to me because this is a work machine and I need it to be reliable and have excellent support. I chose the MBP because of OSX.
 
Thanks AmigaMan, you make a good point about reliability/support, and the 3 year warrant appeals to me. I am almost set on the MBP, but with one final question. I noticed that Microsoft has stopped support for MSN for Mac OS's, but all of my friends use this messenger service. Is there a mac messenger service I can sue to connect to my friends on MSN?

If not I might have to get XP pro I guess.
 
You guys are the best. Thanks for all your help - I really, really appreciate it, every one of you who replied. After much consideration, deliberation and not an insignificant amount of frustration, I've settled on 2.0ghz MBP with an extra 512mb ram. Once again, cheers.
 
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