About to make the switch...

pixelcrackpixelcrack
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Hi all,



I'm a lifelong PC user about to purchase a 15" MBP. I have two questions:



1. Most games run pretty well in Boot Camp, right? Will the video card be powerful enough to last me for another 4 years or so? My current laptop has a Radeon Mobility 9000 that has run Black and White, The Sims, and all manner of Warcraft with no hiccups... but I'd like some smoother action in first-person shooters. Can the MBP deliver?



2. Is AppleCare worth it? I'm a college student and don't have a lot of cash to throw around, but the fact that the hard drive isn't user-replaceable terrifies me. What's the worst that can happen if I don't get AppleCare?





Any advice is appreciated... thanks.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    guarthoguartho Posts: 1,208member
    I would get Applecare on a laptop. I had an iBook G4 that I loved, but the logic board crapped out at about 1 1/2 years. I did not have Applecare and couldn't afford to repair or replace it. I had to part it out and try to get some investment back out.
  • Reply 2 of 15
    gwoodpeckergwoodpecker Posts: 367member
    Get AppleCare! Every repair, even if it's only the closing mechanism in the display, will probably cost you more than AppleCare. Replacing the display alone would be over 500 USD...The good thing is, however, that you don't have to buy AppleCare right away. Do so at any time during the first year after the purchase and you'll be fine.



    Don't know about the games thing, but notebooks usually don't have very strong graphics chips inside (exception: some huge, heavy, loud and ugly as hell Dell notebooks). Why don't you buy the cheaper model and get a "real" game console?



    P.S. Welcome to the forums!
  • Reply 3 of 15
    irelandireland Posts: 17,799member
    Buy a MacBook and buy a PS3. I velcum you too.
  • Reply 4 of 15
    fongyuenfongyuen Posts: 43member
    games do run reasonably well in boot camp. i play ghost recon advanced warfighter on native resolution and it runs smoothly. just installed WoW but haven't tried it yet although i've from others that it runs fine as well. wc3 is older so it runs just fine, but there's no option to not stretch it the size of the screen, so it's stretched out a bit.
  • Reply 5 of 15
    pixelcrackpixelcrack Posts: 5member
    Thanks for the helpful replies. I put the order in today and did get AppleCare... the total really stung (what's with $160 in taxes alone?!) but I can't wait to get it.



    (And I actually do have a PS3, but I'm one of the dirty people who's hawking it on eBay. Got the Wii with pure-hearted motives, though, and have been loving it.)
  • Reply 6 of 15
    guybrush threepwoodguybrush threepwood Posts: 1,109member
    Most games run fine in bootcamp, especially the newer ones. My only complaint is that my MBP won't play either of the Deus Ex games. I bought the first for .99 cents and was dying to play it for the first time in years, and when I tried it on bootcamp it seems that it was too fast. It skips so fast its unplayable. And the sequel, won't even let me get to the startup screen. Just freezes as soon as I get there.



    Although I'm not a big gamer, my roomate told me to play this newer game called FEAR, so he gave it to me to load onto it. It runs flawlessly, good res, fast gameplay, etc. I wish I were into computer games. Alas, those were the times before I discovered drinking as an alternative...
  • Reply 7 of 15
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,446moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Guybrush Threepwood


    My only complaint is that my MBP won't play either of the Deus Ex games. I bought the first for .99 cents and was dying to play it for the first time in years, and when I tried it on bootcamp it seems that it was too fast. It skips so fast its unplayable. And the sequel, won't even let me get to the startup screen. Just freezes as soon as I get there.



    Deus Ex doesn't like dual processors. You have to set the affinity to 1. There is a program called imagecfg that is supposed to do this but it didn't work for me so I used another prgram. I can't recall the name of the program at the moment but I'll find out. You can set the affinity by switching out of the program into the task manager and you can do it there. This should work for Deus Ex 1 but for Deus Ex 2, you will need the program to set the affinity at launch time.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Guybrush Threepwood


    Although I'm not a big gamer, my roomate told me to play this newer game called FEAR, so he gave it to me to load onto it. It runs flawlessly, good res, fast gameplay, etc. I wish I were into computer games. Alas, those were the times before I discovered drinking as an alternative...



    Good to hear that FEAR runs well. I was going to get that. I got the Half-Life 2 games and they've been great. I'm not much of a gamer either and there's been nothing over the past few years that has interested me but Half-Life 2 was really enjoyable and I've heard FarCry is good so I'm getting into some of the more modern games.



    I'm really surprised at how well the x1600 handles games. Most of them I can put the graphics right up to max and it's very smooth. The water effects in Half-Life 2 are incredible.



    BTW, I agree with the choice of Applecare but remember to enable it. You have to register your computer for Applecare through Apple's website. I guess it gives the opportunity to use it on another Mac but you might forget and lose the number they send you to register it.



    Oh yeah, if you want to use Bootcamp, you need a service pack 2 disc or higher and try to do it as early as possible. If you use OS X for a few months, the drive will become fragmented and you will have to clone and format your drive to allow Bootcamp to partition it. On a new drive, Bootcamp should have no problem.
  • Reply 8 of 15
    gwoodpeckergwoodpecker Posts: 367member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by PixelCrack


    Thanks for the helpful replies. I put the order in today and did get AppleCare... the total really stung (what's with $160 in taxes alone?!) but I can't wait to get it.



    Congratulations for your purchase! Btw, in my country (and most other european countries), each and every price in every shop in the country must include VAT, that way there are no surprises...
  • Reply 9 of 15
    guybrush threepwoodguybrush threepwood Posts: 1,109member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin


    Deus Ex doesn't like dual processors. You have to set the affinity to 1. There is a program called imagecfg that is supposed to do this but it didn't work for me so I used another prgram. I can't recall the name of the program at the moment but I'll find out. You can set the affinity by switching out of the program into the task manager and you can do it there. This should work for Deus Ex 1 but for Deus Ex 2, you will need the program to set the affinity at launch time.



    You da man! Let me know as soon as you find out. Those two games are pretty much the only reason I have bootcamp on my MBP. You got me all excited now...
  • Reply 9 of 15
    guybrush threepwoodguybrush threepwood Posts: 1,109member
    Whoa! Double post! See, I told you I was excited.
  • Reply 11 of 15
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,446moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Guybrush Threepwood


    You da man! Let me know as soon as you find out. Those two games are pretty much the only reason I have bootcamp on my MBP. You got me all excited now...



    Here it is:



    http://www.hayseed.net/~emerson/setaffin.html



    Download the first link to get a zip file and extract it. Then open an ms-dos prompt by doing start menu > run... and then type command and hit ok. When the prompt is open, drag in the program called setaffin that was in the zip file (be sure to extract the zip and not just open it). Then drag in the program that is in program files and the Deus Ex 2 folder. There's two of them - I think it's the DX2.exe one you use but it'll tell you if it's not. You drag that into the prompt too.



    The prompt would look something like



    C:\\> "C:\\somepath\\setaffin" "C:\\Program Files\\Deus Ex - Invisible War\\System\\DX2.exe"



    Then hit return and it should load up fine.
  • Reply 12 of 15
    guybrush threepwoodguybrush threepwood Posts: 1,109member
    Thanks Marvin!



    I ended up searching "affinity Deus Ex" on google last night and got a bunch of results. It's funny because I had no idea what the hell affinity meant until then. I used WinXPLauncher to set the affinity to both apps and now they work great. Thanks for help, had it not been for you, I wouldn't be able to enjoy my .99 cent purchase!
  • Reply 13 of 15
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,446moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Guybrush Threepwood


    Thanks Marvin!



    I ended up searching "affinity Deus Ex" on google last night and got a bunch of results. It's funny because I had no idea what the hell affinity meant until then. I used WinXPLauncher to set the affinity to both apps and now they work great. Thanks for help, had it not been for you, I wouldn't be able to enjoy my .99 cent purchase!



    WinXPLauncher looks better as it has a GUI. I'll probably use that too. Good to hear the games are working.
  • Reply 14 of 15
    guybrush threepwoodguybrush threepwood Posts: 1,109member
    Hey, what about just using the task manager?
  • Reply 15 of 15
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,446moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Guybrush Threepwood


    Hey, what about just using the task manager?



    Yeah, I said above that would work for Deus Ex 1 because I think it just runs very fast so all you do is ctrl-alt-delete and right-click the process to set the affinity. Deus Ex 2 on the other hand crashes at the menu screen so you have to remember to do it quickly enough. Sometimes XP won't let you force-quit the app when it does crash and you have to reboot the machine so I prefer just to launch it with the affinity set.
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