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Considering my 1st MB/MBP over Windoze, few questions

B

BOSS10L

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 13, 2008
588
0
Upstate NY
Long time (Windoze) viewer, first time caller...

I'm heading back to college later this month, and have decided to purchase a laptop in order to study/research/unwind while on the go. Being a long time Windows user, it seemed natural that I would follow the trend and just move on to another one. Of course, I'm not all that enamored with what I've heard/seen of Vista yet, and the Macs have been intriguing me for a while now. I considered a Mac Mini about a year ago as a media server, but decided to not pull the trigger. I did go to the local Mac Store and get in on the free OS X and iLife introductory training sessions, and I have to say that the Mac does feel pretty intuitive.

My biggest concerns are these:

One of my majors is Computer Science, which will probably entail a lot of cross-platform coding, ect. I know that XP can be run via Bootcamp or Parallels, but will it be robust enough to do what I need?

I mentioned in my 1st paragraph about unwinding with the MB/MBP. I'd like to play some games occasionally, like Call of Duty 4/UT 3 (for example) or Neverwinter Nights 2. Obviously I'd have to run them in emulation via Bootcamp or Parallels. Can a MBP run these decently (if not flawlessly)?

I guess if push comes to shove, I could purchase a MB, and use the extra money saved over a MBP to get a Windows based laptop as well, but that just seems like it'd be too much of a headache. I'd have to lug around 2 laptops, or be stuck not having the right machine when I needed it. Sorry if these questions seem ignorant, but it's been a while since I've seriously messed around with computers (I built my last/current PC about 5 years ago), and returning to college at 36 with a wife, 2 kids and a mortgage doesn't leave a lot of extra time and definitely not a lot of cash for expensive technology choices.

Thanks!
 
BOSS10L said:
One of my majors is Computer Science, which will probably entail a lot of cross-platform coding, ect. I know that XP can be run via Bootcamp or Parallels, but will it be robust enough to do what I need?
Click to expand...

Running XP on a Macbook is just like running Windows on a PC with similar specs.

I mentioned in my 1st paragraph about unwinding with the MB/MBP. I'd like to play some games occasionally, like Call of Duty 4/UT 3 (for example) or Neverwinter Nights 2. Obviously I'd have to run them in emulation via Bootcamp or Parallels. Can a MBP run these decently (if not flawlessly)?
Click to expand...

In Bootcamp, yes, as far as I know, though I'm not a gamer.
 
If you are really into games, then get a Windows PC because there are more options and better developed video drivers geared towards gaming.

Also, the latest games are released on Windows, and then released for the Mac months later.

There are also a lot of proprietary software that will only run on Windows, so make sure the software that you will be using is Mac compatible.

Other than that, if you are the creative type and looking to "have fun" with your computer, then definitely go for the Mac.

There is a lot of great free software for the Mac and it also comes with great media software - photo organizer, music creation software, video editing software, and of course iTunes.

I think you will change the way you percieve computers if you get a Mac.

I feel they are more "fun" to use and not just for work.

Oh, and if your major is Computer Science, you will be able to run Mac OS, Windows XP or Vista, and many different flavors of Linux on the Mac. You won't be limited to learning just one system.
 
Obviously I'd have to run them in emulation via Bootcamp or Parallels
Click to expand...
You won't be "Emulating" anything through boot camp... Its just a boot loader and you'll be fully into XP, or whatever OS you choose to run through it.

I've been using dx9 experimental support through vmware, and it seems decent for games. MEaning, I don't ever have to reboot to get into XP, just clicking an icon.
 
You will be fine with a Macbook Pro.

When you run Windows on the Macbook it will be just like running it on a PC. There is no emulation. This will allow you to run games at the same speed as a similarly-equipped PC. Just don't wait for Mac versions of games to come out. In general, they take longer to be released, are more expensive and run poorly compared to the PC versions.
 
OS X is unix. It has terminal and SSH built in.

Using bootcamp is easy. Bootcamp is not emulation. It's much easier to multi-boot different OS on the Mac than other systems. (Hold OPTION when you start, and you'll see all possible boot options, such as OS X, Windows on bootcamp, linux on cd, linux on usb thumb drive, etc.)

Call of Duty 4 needs MBP. Works fine, but if you really like games, you should get the 256mb vram version. Most budget wintels cannot run COD4 anyway.

Although the upfront cost of Macs SEEM higher, it actually cost less over time because Macs lasts longer, and Macs have a higher resale value...

By the way the MacBook Pro is rated in '07 as "the fastest Windows Vista notebook this year" by PC World.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136649-page,3-c,notebooks/article.html
 
CapitalQ said:
That's a joke, right? Ha-ha?
Click to expand...

Quite serious. Figure that when a new Mac comes out, it's priced about the same as an equivilent Windows PC. (A few months later, the PC sells for less, I agree).

You can also factor in the "goodness" value of the Mac/OSX experience, the "badness" expense of the Windows/PC experience, the long Mac hardware USEFUL life, and the higher resale.

It works out pretty well.
 
CashGap said:
Quite serious. Figure that when a new Mac comes out, it's priced about the same as an equivilent Windows PC. (A few months later, the PC sells for less, I agree).

You can also factor in the "goodness" value of the Mac/OSX experience, the "badness" expense of the Windows/PC experience, the long Mac hardware USEFUL life, and the higher resale.

It works out pretty well.
Click to expand...

Comments like this are not helpful, they constitute entirely subjective "fanboying". It's really great that you love your Mac, but it's much more helpful if you combine that with objective reasons why a Mac will be a good choice for the OP. For example, comments like the earlier one to the effect that Mac OSX is a Unix system with SSH and Terminal built provides objective, helpful information to someone contemplating a switch. Saying OSX has more "goodness" than Windows "badness" is entirely unhelpful
 
Firstly, from everything you have mentioned on your post, I highly suggest getting a macbook pro over a macbook. For gaming or any high-end media/entertainment the dedicated graphics is a must. Secondly, for cross platform computing and programming, I would suggest bootcamp over parallels/vmware because it gives you access to the full potential of your hardware and provides better performance down the long road. Same for games. Does this mean that you will have to reboot to use windows, yes, but after a few weeks in the world of OSX, you will have trouble pressing that restart button, trust me (I used windows for 8 years prior to my switching experience, and I will never go back unless Apple COMPLETELY messes up their software/hardware)

-Josh :apple:

P.S. If you are concerned about restart times. My macbook pro shuts down in approx. 5 seconds (timed it) and starts up in about 20-25 seconds. How fast it will boot into windows, not sure, but the OSX boot experience has been faster than my dell returned from hibernate)
 
Apple: The Clear Value-Leader

I've heard this myth for ten-years-plus about the misperception of Macs appearing to cost more than PCs. This article adroitly dispels that myth through thorough, reasoned analysis and comparison.

Excerpt:

"Bottom line: When you configure low-end and midrange notebooks and desktops, you'll find that except at the very bottom of the heap, Windows machines are roughly comparable in price to Macs. There are fewer Mac models, so if your needs vary from what Apple has decided on, you may find a Windows model that costs less for you. But Apple's choices make a lot of sense for most people, and when you do the point-by-point comparison, Apple is actually a better value for some needs."​

Couldn't have said it better.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. I've all but made up my mind, I just need to figure out which MBP is the one for me. Are there skins out there for the MBP cases, I'm not 100% diggin' the corporate/industrial aluminum look. :D

MacCanick said:
I've heard this myth for ten-years-plus about the misperception of Macs appearing to cost more than PCs.
Click to expand...

Quite honestly, this is what put me on to thinking about MBs/MPBs in the first place. Sure, I can kill Apple price-wise if I want to go with a bottom-of-the-barrel (insert PC vendor of choice here) laptop that'll be only good for e-mail, light surfing and word processing.

The more features I added on, the closer I came to a laptop that I would be happy owning and not regretting later, the closer I came to Mac territory. And in all reality, its as if I would be getting two computers for the price of one.
 
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