Macbook vs gaming laptop

B.def

Member
Jun 13, 2010
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I cannot decide what to do. I am currently testing out the 13" i5 Macbook Air for the first time. I love the build quality, speed of the SSD, and smoothness of the Mac Os.
But, for the same price I could buy a decent gaming laptop. Price($1000-1500)
The problem I am having is finding a gaming pc with the same build quality.
I also like the resale value of Macbooks, pc seems to just not compete.

I am a full time-student and work full time. I am constantly on the go, which is the main reason I bought the Air. But I'm also a gamer and the macbook air just cant game.

I have considered purchasing the 13" i5 Macbook Pro, but there is barely any difference and it wont keep up in gaming.

What would you guys recommend me doing? And are there any pc's that have as great of a build quality and Apple? I have being hearing a lot of good things about Asus. Also the laptops I've seen come with a 1-year accidental damage protection.
 
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rabbitz

Member
Dec 21, 2011
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Chances are if you're considering a macbook then you don't need al the power of a gaming pc. If you need the power, then you shouldn't get a macbook.
 

alent1234

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2002
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15" MBP refurb or with student discount from apple store

check the benchmarks, the 15" MBP with the upgraded GPU will beat almost every other gaming laptop out there
 

TheStu

Moderator<br>Mobile Devices & Gadgets
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Sep 15, 2004
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You are talking two completely different categories. You have the MacBook Air, which is thin and light and powerful enough.

Then you have the $1000-1500 gaming laptop, which is thick and heavy and stupidly fast sure, but falls down in almost every other category (in my opinion). They put the fastest CPU and GPU in there that they can, which is great but the trackpads and keyboards are subpar, as are other features. My buddy got a Asus gaming laptop, and the mic and camera on that thing are just total crap as well.

You can get higher quality gaming laptops sure, but you are never escaping the fact that it is going to be big and heavy and if you are carrying this thing to class and whatnot, then every pound counts.

As for PCs that match the Air... I really really like the look of the Lenovo ThinkPad u200 (I think it is the the u200), though it is lacking the SD card slot and the resolution isn't as good.

There is the new HP Envy Spectre coming out, HP usually puts pretty good screens into their laptops, and the resolution will be 1600*900 IIRC.
 

rabbitz

Member
Dec 21, 2011
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alent1234 said:
15" MBP refurb or with student discount from apple store

check the benchmarks, the 15" MBP with the upgraded GPU will beat almost every other gaming laptop out there

LOL bs

Latest macbook pro 15 upgraded has radeon hd6770m 1gb + core i7-2760m

Code:
16 	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M	384	620	1240	1500	256	11	
27355
57014.5	
27876.5	
20664.5	
13295.7
28 	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570M	336	575	1070	1150	192	11	
43735.3	
24808.5	
17232.2	
9902.4
37 	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M	192	775	1550	1250	192	11	
41315
38532.3	
22648.9	
15087.1	
8001.2
65 	NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M	144	525-753	1180-1505	785-900	128/192	11	
14449	
26417.7	
18199.3	
10453.2	
4847.1
69* 	AMD Radeon HD 6770M	480	675 / 725	675 / 725	800	128	11	
47877
24324.5	
15484.2	
10126.7	
5149.8

From: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html
 

Meaker10

Senior member
Apr 2, 2002
370
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You pretty much just said a desktop HD6670 is faster than any HD6870 and GTX560ti out there.

Congratulations you win today's ignorance prize!
 

alent1234

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2002
3,915
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0
you can buy an alienware for $3000 or more that will be the fastest and coolest

but at the $2000 level what will beat the MBP when you also take thinnness, battery life and all included software into account?
 

rabbitz

Member
Dec 21, 2011
93
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you can buy an alienware for $3000 or more that will be the fastest and coolest

but at the $2000 level what will beat the MBP when you also take thinnness, battery life and all included software into account?


First of all, you said every gaming laptop. Second of all, if you think you need to pay at least $3000 to get anything faster than a MBP, then you are wrong.

Third, I don't even get the point of your question. So you're asking me to find a 'better' laptop that happens to fit your arbitrary demands? For what?