Yet another Macbook Vs Macbook Pro question!

[thegrandmaster]

Hey,
sorry to bother you guys who must be sick of seing this kind of question again, but I'm trying to choose between a Macbook and a Pro.

I would be using it for standard stuff, work, browsing, but also for tougher work. I'd be using all the iLife apps with iMovie and iPhoto being the heaviest used. The other thing I want to use it for is playing games in Bootcamp. My friends have LAN gaming fests and I'm left with the shitey PC in the corner. It'd be used to play some pretty new games in there and I haven't found any hard info on how the Macbook deals with that, so any input there would be helpful.

Money isn't a massive issue but I want something that is fairly futureproof and will keep me going for at least 4-5 years, the major failing I find with the Macbook is its integrated graphics, which I'm worried about leaving me shinyless in a few years.

How does a Macbook stack up against an iMac G5 second rev, anybody know?

I have a tremor in my hands so I use the laptop alot at school and I recall reading that the new MBP is lighter than the iBook I'm currently using (which isn't mine its mum's) so another important aspect is portability.

Is the MBP a pain to carry around or no worse than a Powerbook or iBook was?

Running Windows is a huge bonous as my school only run's XP and won't connect OS X (for two reasons : the IT guys live in the Stone age and couldn't connect themselves out of a paper bag, and two, everything here is PC, its terrible!) so I assume Parallels runs better on an MBP than it does on a Macbook, is it particularly noticeable?

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[jsw]

Keeping in mind that no laptop you buy from anyone today will be competitive in 4-5 years (usable? yes. "fast enough"? depends), it sounds to me like, given your priorities, you'd prefer the MBP. I have both - an MB for home, and an MBP via work - and the MB is just as usable in almost all situations as the MBP. However, once you throw games into the mix, the MBP is really your only bet.

The MB is slightly easier to carry that the 15" MBP, but the MBP isn't a hassle to carry.

Again, were it not for the games, I'd recommend you save money and go with the MB (it's essentially as fast for non-3D apps). But, given your criteria, I recommend the MBP.

 

[thegrandmaster]

Damn!!

That was one fast reply man!

Thanks for the advice and input is always welcome!

Have you sued the MBP or tried the Macbook for games? Do they play well on the MBP, the lowest end C2D is the only one that's in my ballpark and I want to make sure that I go for the right one.

I was just discussing a new PC for my friend last weekend and had to tell him there was no such thing as a futureproof PC, which finally convinced him that a Nvidia GTS was serious overkill for what he wanted to do. Couldn't convince him into a Mac though, ALL he wants is games.

A final question that is hard to accurately guage the answer to is, how widespread are the issues reported? How likely are you to get the problems listed on the Appledefects page? Were many of them fixed with the C2D or do they still remain, and just how serious is clicking or whistling?
Again, thanks for the help.

Love the sig by the way, sounds like the sort of thing I'd say, my friends and I are big fans of sarcasm.

 

[diadem]

you chances of geting a defective MBP are very low, I got mine first time perfect. just dont worry about geting a defective one. if you do you will know in the first 2 days get it sent back and you'll get a replacment one in 7 days.

 

[thegrandmaster]

Thanks!

Thanks for the help guys, your help is much appreciated and I can't wait to pick up my MBP, just need to scrape a few more pennies together!

 

[OC Lakerfan]

If you are a gamer, definitely get the Macbook Pro. Size really isn't that big of an issue if you get a nice, comfortable backpack.

 

[thegrandmaster]

Excellent

Now that I'm definitely going for the Pro, I won't sell my old Windows games, AOE2 from about 4 years ago, classic!

Thanks for putting the worries about carrying to rest, I will be carrying it around quite a lot, but the big screen, graphics card and bonus 160MHZ just sell the whole thing.

I read on Macworld that the same games for Windows and OS X run faster under Windows, anyone also agree with this?

It's gonna be nice to be able to leave the G4 for something faster and flashier, and it'll be somewhat ironic seeing a Mac playing games faster than my friends PCs, whilst still having all the bonuses, can't wait!

Now, where can I find it cheapest...
Not that I won't get shafted here in the UK!

 

[Icewind]

Now, where can I find it cheapest...
Not that I won't get shafted here in the UK!

LOL, Yeah... we totally get shafted left right and centre here in the UK.
I'm not sure about "the cheapest", as the prices for Macs are pretty much standardised, so they should be about the same from wherever.

I have bought my last 3 Macs from John Lewis (online store). They are the same price as from the Apple Store, but being John Lewis, you get a 2 year warranty as standard with anything you buy from them. I've actually used the warranty on my old iBook G4 (which started to get keyboard problems after about 1.5 years). I took it into my local John lewis store, and it was fixed and returned to me in 3 days. Pretty damn good getting peace of mind 2 year warranty for free. Their delivery is super-fast too. I'm talking next day delivery for an addition £6 or 3-5 working days for FREE.

GO FOR IT DUDE

 

[thegrandmaster]

Yeah!

John Lewis is a great place to get stuff, its where I picked up the G5 from and the extra year warranty is a huge plus, but so far I haven't had to use it!