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MBP - Taking this baby on a long road trip

S

superman666

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 25, 2007
124
0
Hey,
I'm going on a 7-hour road trip, and I'm taking my 15inch 2.4GHz MBP onto the trip. I have 'Unreal Tournament 2004', and some stupid widget games, but I was wondering on what you guys would suggest for stuff to do. I'm sure Unreal Tournament is going to be pretty hard to play in a car. I think we're bringing DVD's, but I think i'll need some more entertainment for 7 hours lol.

So any advice you have on downloads/games would be awesome. On my xbox 360 there is a game called marble blast ultra, and it would be amazing if I could find that for my computer.

P.S. I'm bringing the car charger thing if any of you wanted to know how I was going to be able to keep my Mac awake.
Linky
 
I get extremely sick while reading in a car ride, which probably means i'll get sick using the MBP. Well whatever ;).
 
superman666 said:
I get extremely sick while reading in a car ride, which probably means i'll get sick using the MBP. Well whatever ;).
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Yeah, reading in a car is pushing the motion sickness envelope for me too. Half-life in the back seat of a car = yak fest.

Personally, I am really enjoying the chess app. that came with my new MBP; have killed several hours at a stretch getting trounced. Chess is not for everyone though.
 
Alright so far I have:

Marble Demo - Thanks for that
Read - I get really sick reading...
Chess - Don't know if that'll keep me alive
Movies - Will do
Sleep - I don't think i'll be able to sleep for a good amount of time while in a car, i can't ever.
 
Does your cell phone have bluetooth and a data plan? Depending on the phone type, it might be possible to pair your cell phone, if you have one and it's bluetooth-capable, with your MacBook Pro. Then, using a carrier-specific dialing code, you can use your cell phone to get a mobile internet connection, and pretty much surf any site you want while on the road. Depending on the network, the speed of the connection can be anywhere from 1-5 times that of a 56k modem and can vary as you pass in and out of major cities.

A friend of mine did this once while we were on a six hour road trip from the New York City area, to Pittsburgh, PA. Other than a brief connection drop maybe once or twice the entire way, he was able to maintain an almost constant connection.

I should emphasize that doing this requires that you have some sort of web or data access plan, preferably of the unlimited variety. Otherwise, you can REALLY run up your cell phone bill this way.
 
superman666 said:
I wish I had a data plan on my cell phone. Pretty much screwed there..
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Well, you have to ask yourself if it's worth the $50+ per month. It really isn't too big of a deal for a road trip. I believe you said about 7 hours right? You can last that long without internet access (I've done it!):)
 
CalBoy said:
Well, you have to ask yourself if it's worth the $50+ per month.
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If you're paying $50+ a month for a data plan, you're getting cheated badly. :) Quite a few people get by with light usage using the standard $15-$20 plan. And at least one carrier offers a plan that explicitly permits using your phone as a modem for as long as you want, as much as you want, for $40.

I see it this way: if I surf the net at a Starbucks more than twice in a month, or travel to a hotel that either is behind the times and has no net connection, or even worse, charges extra for net access (as many Hyatts, Marriotts and Hiltons are prone to do), then the cell phone data plan has already paid for itself.
 
scaredpoet said:
If you're paying $50+ a month for a data plan, you're getting cheated badly. :) Quite a few people get by with light usage using the standard $15-$20 plan. And at least one carrier offers a plan that explicitly permits using your phone as a modem for as long as you want, as much as you want, for $40.

I see it this way: if I surf the net at a Starbucks more than twice in a month, or travel to a hotel that either is behind the times and has no net connection, or even worse, charges extra for net access (as many Hyatts, Marriotts and Hiltons are prone to do), then the cell phone data plan has already paid for itself.
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Wow, it's gotten a lot cheaper. Thanks for the update:)

I just don't travel that much, so for me it's not worth all that much. But, for the person who travels a lot, it's well worth it.
 
slightly off topic but as for the sickness while reading thing, if you bring some dramamine it should get rid of that sickness fairly quickly.;)
 
sorry to hijeack the thread, I'll be brief, I promise:)

@scaredpoet, does Starbucks charge for WiFi? and is it common for the standalone (re: not in a safeway/fred meyer) ones to have WiFi

thanks for the help
 
thebrain74 said:
sorry to hijeack the thread, I'll be brief, I promise:)

@scaredpoet, does Starbucks charge for WiFi? and is it common for the standalone (re: not in a safeway/fred meyer) ones to have WiFi

thanks for the help
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I think Starbucks gives you a code if you buy something...otherwise, I think you have to pay for their WiFi...it really sucks:mad::mad::mad: $5 for coffee and no WiFi!!!! WTF! Sorry, had to rant:p
 
No starbucks around here gives you a code, its ran by t-mobile. However when they first rolled it out they had a promotion of a free day when you sign up. Don't know if they still have it, but its easy to check, just join the t-mobile network and open up safari, will go straight to their website so you can pay.

Tullys has free wifi (if you have these) and alot of smaller coffee shops are adding them to compete against starbucks.

Good luck!
 
kellen said:
No starbucks around here gives you a code, its ran by t-mobile. However when they first rolled it out they had a promotion of a free day when you sign up. Don't know if they still have it, but its easy to check, just join the t-mobile network and open up safari, will go straight to their website so you can pay.

Tullys has free wifi (if you have these) and alot of smaller coffee shops are adding them to compete against starbucks.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

I think you mean run. But anyways, I've noticed this too. A lot of local coffee shops have free WiFi in order to compete with Starbucks. Although lately I've noticed that Starbucks' quality has been declining(in coffee):mad:
 
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