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Mac Mini -> MacBook, how much faster?

R

rohopish

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 12, 2006
45
0
I currently have a Mac Mini as my desktop mainstay, but I need a notebook Mac for school to type up note, do keynote presentations, etc. I want to purchase a laptop before September, and was wondering if the MacBook is worth the money. My current Mac Mini specs are:

1 GB RAM
80 GB HD
1.42 GHz
32 MB Graphics (Dedicated)

Will the MacBook open programs snapier? How will games go with frame rates when compard to my Mini's 32 MB Dedicated Card? I just hope the battery will last long enough. I don't mind pluggin' it in during one or two classes, but not all the time hehe. Thanks for your help everyone. :p

-Bobby
 
Yeah, but...

See, I really don't like XP because of viruses/I think it's ulgy/the operating system is actually quite old (that is until Vista comes out). I love OS X and don't really want to ditch it. Maybe a MacBook Pro? But they're awfully expensive, and I don't really play hardcore games lol.
 
so then if you can't afford the MBP ... only the MB is left

lol see what's so nice about apple, it's easy to choose since there are only 5 computers they sell
 
LoveMacMini said:
ehhhh buying a macbook right now is like playing lotto. you hope you find a non defective one.

i may be wrong, but everyone i know with a macbook ... not too good experiances.
Click to expand...
Not from my experience (I don't own one, but I know someone who uses several of them quite happily).

if battery life is your number one concern then you should get a thinkpad or something
Click to expand...
Unless, of course, you'd like to run Mac OS X ;)
 
The macbook will be notably faster. Going from PPC to Intel will be a switch you appreciate. I haven't seen any benchmarks, but it wouldn't surprise me if the GMA 950 in the macbook was faster than the chip in the mini.

If you don't need one right now, the mini should suit you fine for the first months of school; I've found a laptop isn't crucial, but the portability is very nice to have.

I do own one, and I've been happy with it.
 
LoveMacMini said:
ehhhh buying a macbook right now is like playing lotto. you hope you find a non defective one.

i may be wrong, but everyone i know with a macbook ... not too good experiances.

if battery life is your number one concern then you should get a thinkpad or something

watch this video: http://reviews.cnet.com/Lenovo_ThinkPad_X60s/4505-3121_7-31786426.html
Click to expand...

That's incredibly vague and smells like trolling. How many people could you possibly know with a MacBook? 3? 5? 10?

Of course on forums you are only going to see the problems with these new transitional machines from Apple, so it may seem really bad, however the vast majority of people are happy with their MacBooks, believe it or not.

I agree that battery life of Apple's notebooks leaves a lot to be desired, but the OP came here with a specific question, not asking for general purchasing advice.

Sadly, i cannot offer any first hand information on this topic for you rohopish.
 
let's see, between this forum, two more forums (macnn and ars.technica), a single friend of mine, and the latest episode of diggnation where kevin roses macbook died on him SEVERAL times in the first 15 minutes of taping ... i hope you can understand why i'm a little less than enthusiastic

and don't ever acuse me of trolling because i'm recommending him something he cares about: a notebook with amazing battery life.
 
Well if you can live with the mac mini as your main machine since you just need the laptop for notes and presentations, you can get a really nice 12 inch powerbook for around $600. They're amazing, compact machines that I very much recommend if you don't need the power of the macbook.
 
The MacBook is great. No doubt the Moo issue will be sorted for those afflicted with a firmware update.
 
Couple Of Reasons Why I Need A Laptop:

Basically, I have many advanced classes this coming school year which involve a lot of note taking. Some of them are also bilingual (German and French), and I know that OS X Tiger is amazingly flexible when it comes to spell-checking, writing specialized characters, etc. in other languages. After reading your comments, I would just like to ask one last question; if you were in my shoes and needed a notebook with OS X for school, would you purchase a MacBook (with how much RAM and HD size)?

Thanks so much for all your help. I was amazed at the number of enthusiatic replies! :)

-Bobby
 
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