Hardest CPU decision EVER!! :???:
Ok I usually don't go all Noob status but I really can't make a decision on what laptop to get. Like many, I'm unimpressed at the new 13'' MBP so idk if I should get it. Here's what I'll be using my new laptop for:
School: writing documents, online classes, presentations, online research, note taking
Entertainment: Light-Medium Gaming (Half-Life series), Netflix, ITunes (my library is big)
Here are my 3 laptop options:
MBP 13'' stock $1199
Alienware 11x w/500gb HDD $1099
Asus U30Jc-1A w/ optimus gpu and core i3 $899
p/s: hate laggy games and low res, like windows 7 but kinda tired of the M$, i have a steam account, will be carrying around school and i travel about once a month, have been using google docs so i dont need office, in sophmore year and have 4 more years to go, buying a car so $$$ is an issue (which means $1199 is my limit!)
Thanks
School: writing documents, online classes, presentations, online research, note taking
Entertainment: Light-Medium Gaming (Half-Life series), Netflix, ITunes (my library is big)
Here are my 3 laptop options:
MBP 13'' stock $1199
Alienware 11x w/500gb HDD $1099
Asus U30Jc-1A w/ optimus gpu and core i3 $899
p/s: hate laggy games and low res, like windows 7 but kinda tired of the M$, i have a steam account, will be carrying around school and i travel about once a month, have been using google docs so i dont need office, in sophmore year and have 4 more years to go, buying a car so $$$ is an issue (which means $1199 is my limit!)
Thanks
Comments
One machine will run BOTH Windows AND OSX... the others only Windows.
GET THE MACBOOK !!!
Exactly what recommendation did you think you'd get from a Mac fanboy forum????
Or... do you want the ability to run OSX ??
One machine will run BOTH Windows AND OSX... the others only Windows.
GET THE MACBOOK !!!
Exactly what recommendation did you think you'd get from a Mac fanboy forum????
lmao...very true.
im waiting for some 13'' MBP benchmarks so i can make sure its worth the price...
are there any around? or does anyone actually have a 13'' mbp that thinks its MUCH better than the last version and worth it
School: writing documents, online classes, presentations, online research, note taking
Entertainment: Light-Medium Gaming (Half-Life series), Netflix, ITunes (my library is big)
Here are my 3 laptop options:
MBP 13'' stock $1199
Alienware 11x w/500gb HDD $1099
Asus U30Jc-1A w/ optimus gpu and core i3 $899
The 13" MBP would do the job but is obviously the worst value performance-wise. It'll just last the longest on battery.
You should be able to play the Half-Life series on high quality but not maxed out - lower AA settings and resolution. Newer games like Left 4 Dead will be medium quality. The display quality is really good and the aluminum shell is durable though.
The Alienware screen will be too small at 11" and still weighs 4.5lbs like the Macbook. Good GPU with the 335M though.
The Acer is 4.8lbs, the 310M is slower than the MBP and ugly. It looks like a very cheap laptop and the plastic doesn't look durable.
I was going to suggest a Sony Vaio i5 with Radeon 5650 for $899 but it weighs 5.9lbs and the 13" Z-series ones start at $1900.
So basically, I'd say the Asus is tacky and cheap, the Alienware is too small and I doubt you'll get decent battery life with it. The MBP is a well-built machine, lasts a long time on battery and will play games pretty smoothly on medium to high quality. Steam is also coming to the Mac this month and you get the games you already own for free so you shouldn't have to reboot into Windows 7.
what do you guys think about iworks? i use google docs and i really like it, simple but gets the job done. wondering if iworks is worth it....
I like it.
3DMark 06 came out at 6462:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Test-Pr...k.25840.0.html
The 320M gets 4748 so the Alienware machine is only 36% faster for gaming. This is similar to the 15" MBP performance.
There is the ASUS N81Vp-D2:
http://www.amazon.com/N81Vp-D2-14-In...dp_ob_title_ce
$30 more than the Macbook, 1lb heavier, faster CPU and the GPU is just faster than the Alienware. Still not worth it IMO. You'd be walking around with a brown piece of plastic junk with half the battery life and an extra 1lb weight just for 40-50% extra gaming performance.
Now really, do you expect anyone on an Apple site to recommend Windows machine?
If it were the best tool for the job, at the right price, YES! I'm a firm believer that you should recommend the best tool for the job, NOT the one you like the best personally.
Now really, do you expect anyone on an Apple site to recommend Windows machine?
Allow me to agree with mrochester. A computer is a tool to get the job done. It is incumbent upon each of us to lay out the facts and to make the best recommendation based on those facts. There are many jobs that can only be done using Windows. It irresponsible and not helpful to recommend tools that can't do the job.
Another thing is the Alienware looks like it uses a dual 1.3GHz ultra-low voltage Core 2 Duo, which is 2-3 times slower than the CPU in the Macbook. This means the battery life isn't bad but does affect application performance greatly - DVD ripping and encoding will take ages.
3DMark 06 came out at 6462:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Test-Pr...k.25840.0.html
The 320M gets 4748 so the Alienware machine is only 36% faster for gaming. This is similar to the 15" MBP performance.
There is the ASUS N81Vp-D2:
http://www.amazon.com/N81Vp-D2-14-In...dp_ob_title_ce
$30 more than the Macbook, 1lb heavier, faster CPU and the GPU is just faster than the Alienware. Still not worth it IMO. You'd be walking around with a brown piece of plastic junk with half the battery life and an extra 1lb weight just for 40-50% extra gaming performance.
where did you get that 320M benchmark from??
where did you get that 320M benchmark from??
A user on MacRumors benchmarked their new 13" machine with the 320M against their old one with 9400M running Windows 7:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=897364
A user on MacRumors benchmarked their new 13" machine with the 320M against their old one with 9400M running Windows 7:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=897364
wow! thats all i've been waiting for...looks like the perfect match for my needs
do you think that the mbp would produce better results when playing steam out of osx?
Now really, do you expect anyone on an Apple site to recommend Windows machine?
I got the idea for my new Vaio Z after reading this site.
do you think that the mbp would produce better results when playing steam out of osx?
I would expect Valve's games to run about the same speed but obviously their ports are recent so they may include optimizations that the Windows versions didn't get. The original Half-Life 2 is about 6 years old but will have been ported using the latest engine.
Plus, all Intel machines have a certain level of hardware and software grade that Valve can target and use specific optimizations. OS X introduced multi-threaded OpenGL a while ago (2007 I think) and it allowed World of Warcraft to run faster than the Windows counter-part:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CieHKqyhXeA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiqvYbJaR3k
That's with one line of code added. It's not really possible to tell for certain one way or the other just now how the games will run though. Unofficial ports using compatibility layers run at least as fast as native versions, although they cut out some graphical effects.
Steam for Mac might even be delayed because the beta page is closed now and says that testers will be chosen in the coming weeks. We've only got a week and a half left in April so I'd guess the official launch won't be until May - they might even keep it back for the WWDC in June because it's big news for games developers and good publicity for the distribution platform to help kick-off purchases.