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15 inch or 13 inch for gaming?

CAdavid said:
I heard Apple's next plan was to release the gap between Macbook Air and Macbook Pro.

And besides, if I waited for a new laptop they would just up the prices on whatever is new. Something better than todays 15 inch would cost like $1700.

But I will definately go for that top notch 15 inch. So I have the 512 mb

I expect the $1530 Mac to play games up to 2-3 years from now. I am fine with that though. I have a friend who had a laptop 5 yrs old that could play Starcraft 2, and Skyrim. So it's possible some games on low that far in advance will work. And SC2 and Diablo 3 have a long lifecycle since the games are so big the projects take long to make the next one in the series. D2 and SC2 had 10 yr cycles. Guild Wars had 6 yrs.
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I've been a mac user for 10 years and I've yet to see the day when a new Apple laptop is more expensive than the one being replaced.

Even if they change the gap between MBA/MBP it's most likely to remove optical drive which is the only thing they need to remove to do a slimmer MBP 15".

You're probably right on being able to play most games 2-3 years if you can settle with low settings, my white macbook with geforce 320m is still able to play most games on low.

Top notch 15" inch is 1GB btw.

If you really need a computer off course buy it, but most likely new generation is tops 2-3 months away and will probably be a big leap in both GPU and battery time. Since you see this as pretty longtime investment I would personlly wait (and I am, really hoping for a nice new 15" to replace my macbook)
 
I am hoping this new model that comes out has a good graphics card.

I dont need a new one rite away, but I am wondering if the new one doesnt have a good graphics card then will the GeForce GT 330M be able to play Diablo 3 on med and sc2 on med or at least low? It has 256mb though.

And also could that card play a new game 2 to 3 yrs from now?
 
There's about 20 (probably not even exaggerating) Diablo 3 "can it run" and results threads, just scroll down and read.

330 play games in 2-3 years? Besides browser based games, maybe some low req indie/Steam games, but really unlikely. It's kind of on its last leg as is.
 
malman89 said:
There's about 20 (probably not even exaggerating) Diablo 3 "can it run" and results threads, just scroll down and read.

330 play games in 2-3 years? Besides browser based games, maybe some low req indie/Steam games, but really unlikely. It's kind of on its last leg as is.
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Well most of the big names have come out, so I am guessing the 330M can play games a year from now at least.

Has anyone heard about the AirPro and how the graphics would be?
 
CAdavid said:
Well most of the big names have come out, so I am guessing the 330M can play games a year from now at least.

Has anyone heard about the AirPro and how the graphics would be?
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The GT330M is ok enough, but it is severely limited by 256MB VRAM.
I had the i5 with GT330M, but sold it a bit over a year ago.
I did play some game on it, like Borderlands, Fallout New Vegas, Mass Effect 2, etc.
Those games ran on on low/med settings, but once you crank up the settings it crawls to a slideshow.
 
CAdavid said:
I am trying to decide which laptop to get.

What is the difference between the 2 graphic cards? I heard one is dedicated. Does dedicated mean u can take it out or upgrade the graphics card? I was also thinking that the 15 inch might be good if I wanted to make sure my laptop could play new games 5 years down the road.

I want to play Diablo 3, Starcraft 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Torchlight 2, and Call of Duty 4.

I heard alot of people are fine with the 13 inch.
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13" is not any good for serious gaming. It will play older games and some modern ones on min spec but going forwards it will become obsolete very quickly. The 15" on the other hand can be bought with a real honest to goodness graphics card. If you want to game for the life of your laptop then buy the 15" If you can make sure you get the high end gfx card model as the difference is noticeable and will make it last a lot longer.

Although the 15" has a dedicated card like all laptops it is soldered to the motherboard and is not something you can remove.

Edwin
 
I read that the new Macbook Pro for this year will be about the same price or a little less than the current Macbook Pros and offer a new Nvidia Graphics card.

So I am going to wait for the new Macbook Pro coming out.

I have $1300 to spend.
 
CAdavid said:
I read that the new Macbook Pro for this year will be about the same price or a little less than the current Macbook Pros and offer a new Nvidia Graphics card.

So I am going to wait for the new Macbook Pro coming out.

I have $1300 to spend.
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1300 won't buy you a new 15". The 13" likely won't come with a dedicated GPU. But you're still wise to wait, the price of other MacBooks will dop after the new models are released.
 
mikeo007 said:
1300 won't buy you a new 15". The 13" likely won't come with a dedicated GPU. But you're still wise to wait, the price of other MacBooks will dop after the new models are released.
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http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/14/3020483/new-macbook-pros-confirmed-to-have-nvidia-graphics

The new 13 inch might have a good graphics card regardless of being decuated or not. Rather the price of the 15 inch with a AMD Radeon 6750 drops or the 13 inch new one has a graphics card better than the 2011 models.

A 13 inch right now costs $1099 at Best Buy and its the same price at the refurbished Mac store.
 
CAdavid said:
http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/14/3020483/new-macbook-pros-confirmed-to-have-nvidia-graphics

The new 13 inch might have a good graphics card regardless of being decuated or not. Rather the price of the 15 inch with a AMD Radeon 6750 drops or the 13 inch new one has a graphics card better than the 2011 models.

A 13 inch right now costs $1099 at Best Buy and its the same price at the refurbished Mac store.
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No, it won't. If the 13" doesn't have a dedicated GPU, it will have the HD 4000. There is no other possible integrated GPU if they use intel processors. The HD 4000 is an incremental upgrade from this years HD3000 and it is still nowhere near capable in playing recent games.

Also note, that $1099 will change when the new MacBooks come out. Best buy currently has them on sale to clear out stock.
 
So what should I get for $1300? Wait and see what drops in price or how much the new ones cost? I saw a laptop for $1400 on the refurbished macbook store that had 2 graphics card. hD 3000 and the amd radeon 6750. if that went down in price then that could work.

----------

http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC721LL/A

http://store.apple.com/us/product/FD318LL/A

I'm hoping one of these drops in price.

I couldnt prob afford the first one though
 
CAdavid said:
http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/14/3020483/new-macbook-pros-confirmed-to-have-nvidia-graphics

The new 13 inch might have a good graphics card regardless of being decuated or not. Rather the price of the 15 inch with a AMD Radeon 6750 drops or the 13 inch new one has a graphics card better than the 2011 models.

A 13 inch right now costs $1099 at Best Buy and its the same price at the refurbished Mac store.
Click to expand...

No integrated (Intel HD3000 or the new Intel HD4000) card will be great for gaming, if you want your laptop to last in terms of being able to play games then a dedicated card from AMD (or Nvidia if they start being used) is the thing to do.

Edwin
 
edddeduck said:
The 330M really performs quite poorly in my experience I would personally avoid that card.

Edwin
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I hear the 2012 models comes out next month. So I will be waiting and seeing. How soon do you think we will see price drops for older models?

Otherwise I think that last one is my best bet. $1,400-$1,500 is my range. Maybe a new 15 inch with low memory will run $1,400-$1500 or perhaps wait for a refurbished 2012 15 inch.
 
Anyone have a good suggestion for a laptop costing $800 plus tax, not mac, for gaming and can play D3 and possibley newer games?

In case, I dont get this new job, I have to have a back up plan.
 
cluthz said:
The GeForce 550M should run D3 very well.
The rest seems pretty ok too, except maybe the low res on screen, but if that doesn't bother you go on.
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Ive heard mixed details because of the brand. im going to keep looking
 
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