Need a new laptop...macbook? acer aspire?

[Unkno]

Well, i'm currently looking at the lowest-end macbook 13.3" and the acer AS5920-6655
I don't mind the operating systems (might even prefer OSX a bit since i've never used it before and it's generally more stable with fewer malware).
I will be doing some light gaming but it's mostly intended as a work/school laptop.


Acer:
Intel Centrino Core 2 Duo T5250 1.5GHz
2048MB ram
HD-DVD
Up To 3.5 Hours of battery life
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
15.4" LCD

Macbook:
T7300 Core 2 Duo 2.0GhZ
1GB Ram
Up to 6 Hours of battery life
Intel GMA X3100 graphics processor
13.3" LCD


The main problem in deciding these two is that the acer has more ram, a hd-dvd drive, and a MUCH better gpu. While the macbook has a better cpu with a better battery life. Would 1gb of ram, but with a better cpu, be able to keep up with the acer (when not gaming)?

 

[sgleo87]

I think it would if you are just doing the basic stuff like surfing the web, using Word, Excel, etc, or listening to music. If you mainly use it for school/work then I would guess that's all you would be doing. Anything beyond that like video editing, gaming, watching HD movies or multitaksing with a lot of applications open would probably run better on the Acer because it has more RAM and a better GPU. So both would definitely do the job just fine for the basic things that you do for work/school.
I don't know how important battery life is to you but I personally made sure that I had at least 5 hours of battery life when I bought mine because wanted it to just run on battery during classes and I have days where I have 4 hours of classes back to back. Ultimately you have to decide how important that HD-DVD drive and gaming is to you (Gaming on the Mac will probably not be a fun experience). Also, have you thought about the weight and size differences...if the small form factor is important to you I would compare the Mac to some other 13" out there and see how those compare. How do these compare in price anyhow?

 

[Parasitic]

The 6 hours is a little bit on the high side...it's more like 3-4 hours.
Upgrading the memory in the Macbook is easy and fast though, so don't let that be a discouraging factor to you.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: Unkno
Well, i'm currently looking at the lowest-end macbook 13.3" and the acer AS5920-6655
I don't mind the operating systems (might even prefer OSX a bit since i've never used it before and it's generally more stable with fewer malware).
I will be doing some light gaming but it's mostly intended as a work/school laptop.


Acer:
Intel Centrino Core 2 Duo T5250 1.5GHz
2048MB ram
HD-DVD
Up To 3.5 Hours of battery life
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
15.4" LCD

Macbook:
T7300 Core 2 Duo 2.0GhZ
1GB Ram
Up to 6 Hours of battery life
Intel GMA X3100 graphics processor
13.3" LCD


The main problem in deciding these two is that the acer has more ram, a hd-dvd drive, and a MUCH better gpu. While the macbook has a better cpu with a better battery life. Would 1gb of ram, but with a better cpu, be able to keep up with the acer (when not gaming)?

Well, in my personal experiences, OS X can multi-task like a fiend even with 1GB of RAM... so that isn't too much of a limiting factor.

The GMA X3100 is obviously going to get trounced by the 8600gt though... it all depends on the games you play, and what you do when not gaming. I think that I would appreciate the 33% faster processor and smaller frame, but that is just me.

 

[Rottie]

It depends on what kind of work you do....For school I think MacBook is good one considering the size is only 13 inches very easy to carry around classes. For work you can find any notebook or you prefer Acer Aspire.
I am an artist I should have bought MacBook but I don't have a lot of money right now so I bought new Compaq notebook I am happy with and I prefer to work art on my desktop pc.

 

[ToXiCRaGE]

I got the the same 5920g and I got nothing but good things to say. Yes, the Mac has a better CPU and for none gaming apps it will be faster than the Acer, however, in games, the Acer takes the win.

Also, if you do get the Acer, you may not like Vista (I didn't), OSX may be better and you will not have to format the computer. I went back to XP; and no, I didn't do it cuz it is "trendy"

I can't speak about battery life of the Acer cuz I primarily use it at home hooked up to a power supply. You may want to do more research on that.

If you are gonna use the laptop for school/work away from power, pick the Mac, if you are going to use it as a general PC to play games, surf the web, rip music, etc. pick the Acer.