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buying tonight but questions first-2Ghz 15in macbook

S

starstreak

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 5, 2004
456
11
1) How long is battery life when watching a dvd(full brightness/40% sound) Can I watch a 3hr movie like King kong?
2) Keyboard backlight(I love that) will it work on the windows side?
3) I would be using the Macbook 95% windows and 5% mac (work related) Do you think this is a bad idea? As in too many issues/bugs on the macbook windows?
4) I had 12in powerbook before and I HATED the screen. Is this new screen much clearer?
 
1) probably not a 3 hour movie, no. A two hour movie, maybe
2) no
3) I'm an admitted mac fanboy, but you should not be buying a mac if you're going to be spending 95% of your time in windows UNLESS you actually need applications that are unique to each environment.
4) yes
 
Forgot to ask if the digital camera will work on the PC side.

Yeah- I need it to use at work (the mac side) for troubleshooting. But it's minor as I have other computers I could use. So it would be used as a PC for when I'm not at work.

Anyway to get the keyboard light to work on the PC side?

2hours, max? Shoot. If it wasnt for the faster video card, I was looking at the SZ120 (granted its only a 13in screen) and it would get about 2:40min watching a movie.

And when you say the screen is better, I guess it was because I was used to screen with antiglare. Does the new macs come with that? Or they are just better than before becuase its a brighter screen?
 
If you don't need it immediately, I suggest that you hold off on your purchase. With the introduction of the 17-inch MacBook Pro, most people expect price drops on the 15-inch model to compensate.
 
More answers...

No, the digital camera doesn't currently work inside Windows either. (There's a good chance that Apple will eventually support it with a Windows driver - but the "BootCamp" software allowing you to boot into XP on a MacBook Pro is still just a "beta" release. I expect the backlit keyboard may be the same way. There's no reason it can't work inside XP, really. Apple just needs to provide some type of driver and/or control panel for it.)

As a Core-Duo 2.0Ghz MacBook Pro owner myself, I'd say you'll have no problems watching a DVD movie with it that's up to a little over 2 hours in length. 3 hours is probably not going to happen though. Maybe if you ran with the screen set really dim and didn't turn the volume up much, etc. etc. But not on anything you'd call "typical" settings for power management.

I'd also agree that if you're using Windows over 90% of the time, a MacBook Pro isn't currently a real sensible choice for you. They're great notebooks, but OS X is their primary focus. When the next version of OS X comes out, it will likely run Windows applications seamlessly inside OS X as the most common way someone would have XP or Vista loaded on it.

For a strictly Windows laptop, I thought Sony VAIO's like the VGN-S570P were attractive options. Only 4.3lbs., great 13.3" LCD screen, etc. etc.


starstreak said:
Forgot to ask if the digital camera will work on the PC side.

Yeah- I need it to use at work (the mac side) for troubleshooting. But it's minor as I have other computers I could use. So it would be used as a PC for when I'm not at work.

2hours, max? Shoot. If it wasnt for the faster video card, I was looking at the SZ120 (granted its only a 13in screen) and it would get about 2:40min watching a movie.
Click to expand...
 
Well the 15in is the largest I wanted to goto. Ok bummers. Might need to rethink this Mac thing...
 
Umm...

Rip the DVD with Mac the Ripper or encode with handbrake. Saves you a ton of battery life without the DVD in the drive...
 
starstreak said:
Well the 15in is the largest I wanted to goto. Ok bummers. Might need to rethink this Mac thing...
Click to expand...

I would be apt to agree that if you're going to be using Windows a majority of the time, then get a Windows PC. But as a Mac guy, and since you're on a Mac forum, I've got to ask why you would want to use Windows most of the time anyway?
 
well I was hoping not to rip anything. I wanted something that I could grab a dvd and run.
 
why are you buying a mac if you dont really want a mac...? Macs are great but what makes them great is the operating system the hardware is realistically about the same as a windows box.
 
As I mentioned, I use teh mac at work for trouoblleshooting. But besides work, the laptop is mine to use and I play my pc games. And pretty much used to pc software. So as long as it runs all the major software, I would be happy.

Too bad on the keyboard lighting and camera doesnt work on the pc side.
 
starstreak said:
As I mentioned, I use teh mac at work for trouoblleshooting. But besides work, the laptop is mine to use and I play my pc games. And pretty much used to pc software. So as long as it runs all the major software, I would be happy.

Too bad on the keyboard lighting and camera doesnt work on the pc side.
Click to expand...

I hope I'm not sounding condescending, but I don't see the reason in spending $2500 on a laptop, and then using it primarily with an OS that is installed with a beta boot loader. Quite simply enough, if you want a Windows pc, then get one of those, you can find a comparably equipped one that's cheaper, notably since it's already been said that some of the luxuries of a MBP don't even work with Windows on. Buying a Mac and then running windows 95% of the time is, IMO at least, a waste of money, especially when you already have a PowerBook. You also should realize that a Mac isn't designed to run windows, it can mind you, but Boot Camp is still in beta. If you really have your heart set on this, wait until Leopard comes out at least, I wouldn't rely mainly on an OS that's installed through a beta program.

But in the end it's your decision, you already know that most of us are going to extol the virtues of OS X.
 
Heh, I forgot to change that. I sold the 12in book a few months ago. The mac part was so that work would fork over some of the cost if it can be said I use it for work. So getting a dualboot is good.
 
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