Thinking of getting a MAC..........

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I have been a long time Windows user and am looking for speed and reliability. I am a gamer as well, and that has kept me from coming to MAC as I love flight simulator and Battle field II and Battle field 2142. I have a Dell Inspiron laptop that I sometimes game on as I love the portability of a laptop, but I am sick of the registry problems, hard drive failures and problems that are associated with windows. I hear all of the time of how great MAC's are and Boot camp will run all windows programs, will this work for games as well? I am looking for good frame rates and reliability as well. What direction should I go? Also what about viruses and hacking as it is rampent on Windows machines as I need Nod 32 and Carbonite incase things go bad.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 18
    It's Mac btw, a MAC has to do with something total different (i.e. MAC Address).
  • Reply 2 of 18
    royboyroyboy Posts: 458member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by buddha View Post


    It's Mac btw, a MAC has to do with something total different (i.e. MAC Address).



    MAC=Media Access Control (among other things)
  • Reply 3 of 18
    I noticed that Battlefield 2142 is a game for MAC now, how well does this run on a MAC?
  • Reply 4 of 18
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MUSIC COLLECTOR View Post


    I noticed that Battlefield 2142 is a game for MAC now, how well does this run on a MAC?



    Mac = short for Macintosh...



    I'm not a gamer so I can't help you out there. I'd say Macs are for people who want to get work done, Windows boxes are for people who like to play games and don't mind wasting time with viruses.
  • Reply 5 of 18
    Ok how about on a Macbook pro, will that work for 2142 written for Apple?
  • Reply 6 of 18
    buddhabuddha Posts: 386member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MUSIC COLLECTOR View Post


    Ok how about on a Macbook pro, will that work for 2142 written for Apple?



    I would predict that a Macbook Pro would run that game pretty well, yes.
  • Reply 7 of 18
    Quote:

    Best case - do your web browsing and email on your Mac and your gaming on a PC that is quarantined from web browsing and email altogether.



    Thats what I am doin.



    Anyway will a 2142 work on a November - MacBook?
  • Reply 8 of 18
    I don't think I could justify a 1 to $4,000 just to surf the net, but I am tired of the high maintenance Microshaft OS stuff. I guess I want my cake and eat it too, but it sounds like if I go Apple on my computer, good by gaming, and I sorta have a problem with that.
  • Reply 9 of 18
    aplnubaplnub Posts: 2,605member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MUSIC COLLECTOR View Post


    I don't think I could justify a 1 to $4,000 just to surf the net, but I am tired of the high maintenance Microshaft OS stuff. I guess I want my cake and eat it too, but it sounds like if I go Apple on my computer, good by gaming, and I sorta have a problem with that.



    Just get a MacBook Pro and don't look back. Partition your drive and just game in it.



    MS convert as of Thanksgiving 2004. LIfe is good and now I know you are not supposed to be fixing something constantly with your OS. You use your OS to get stuff done.
  • Reply 10 of 18
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aplnub View Post


    Just get a MacBook Pro and don't look back. Partition your drive and just game in it.



    MS convert as of Thanksgiving 2004. LIfe is good and now I know you are not supposed to be fixing something constantly with your OS. You use your OS to get stuff done.



    I like the MacBook pro as I am a huge fan of laptops, I bet the frame rates are better on the machine. I just have to come up with over $3,000
  • Reply 11 of 18
    Forget about gaming on a mac. Just look at the hardware in them and you'll understand.



    If you get a mac and are a serious gamer you'll want to either buy an Xbox360 (cheap, huge selection of games plus a fantastic online community) or keep a PC for the ultimate gaming experience (but it'll cost ya). I went from PC gaming to my Xbox 360 and I gotta say it doesn't feel like a step down at all. Only problem you'll have is fighting the temptation to buy all the cool games that just keep coming nonstop.





    PS--If you go Xbox360 make sure you get the Elite. Big harddrive and HDMI output.
  • Reply 12 of 18
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MUSIC COLLECTOR View Post


    I don't think I could justify a 1 to $4,000 just to surf the net, but I am tired of the high maintenance Microshaft OS stuff. I guess I want my cake and eat it too, but it sounds like if I go Apple on my computer, good by gaming, and I sorta have a problem with that.



    Perhaps you can build your gaming rig and save some serious money that way? I have heard it's not difficult at all.
  • Reply 13 of 18
    I have considered the X Box 360, but I can't play Flight simulator on it. I have heard of Boot camp that I can partition my hard drive to run Windows and the Mac OS at the same time, how well does that work? The Mac people say it works well. I most likely will wait for the faster processors to come out.
  • Reply 14 of 18
    gongon Posts: 2,437member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by 4metta View Post


    PS--If you go Xbox360 make sure you get the Elite. Big harddrive and HDMI output.



    The regular 360 has HDMI now, so that's a moot point. Are you ever going to fill a 20GB HD with just console gaming activity?
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by 4metta View Post


    Perhaps you can build your gaming rig and save some serious money that way? I have heard it's not difficult at all.



    Yes. If you are fine with sticking to the desktop with the gaming, a separate PC and a basic Macbook are a really high-value combination. With about $800 worth of parts, the PC will have more gaming oomph than a decked out Mac Pro or the current consoles.



    Of course if the old PC laptop is fast enough for the time being, no need to build a desktop just yet - just pick up a Macbook and move your work on it.



    If you want mobile gaming, then I think Macbook Pro and Boot Camp make the most sense.
  • Reply 15 of 18
    buddhabuddha Posts: 386member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MUSIC COLLECTOR View Post


    I have heard of Boot camp that I can partition my hard drive to run Windows and the Mac OS at the same time, how well does that work?.



    No, Boot Camp only allows dual booting. It does not support two operating systems running at once. Parallels however is an emulator that runs windows in OS X. Parallels does not support native PC speed like Boot Camp and is terrible for anything involving video or 3D.
  • Reply 16 of 18
    4metta4metta Posts: 365member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MUSIC COLLECTOR View Post


    I have considered the X Box 360, but I can't play Flight simulator on it. I have heard of Boot camp that I can partition my hard drive to run Windows and the Mac OS at the same time, how well does that work? The Mac people say it works well. I most likely will wait for the faster processors to come out.



    I would consider the source. What I mean is that a lot of people who really don't game much or game at all will tell you you can. I would talk to gamers. Best thing to do is to contact tech support for your favorite games and ask them directly. You can also find fan sites of the games and ask in the message boards if anyone has set up the game(s) on a Mac.





    If you are going to play older games you may be able to pull some of them off, but even then I doubt you won't see problems. For example, Half-Life2 is still pretty much unplayable on a Mac and how old is that game?



    Also, how sure are you that you will not pick up a new game?



    Mac's stink for gaming. Just being honest. If you don't believe me just do a search and you'll find the threads of gamers who are trying to game on them. I enjoy my macbook very much but don't bother playing anything other than WoW on it. And only through bootcamp which runs it better than natively. That's something huh?
  • Reply 17 of 18
    4metta4metta Posts: 365member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MUSIC COLLECTOR View Post


    I have considered the X Box 360, but I can't play Flight simulator on it. I have heard of Boot camp that I can partition my hard drive to run Windows and the Mac OS at the same time, how well does that work? The Mac people say it works well. I most likely will wait for the faster processors to come out.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gon View Post


    The regular 360 has HDMI now, so that's a moot point. Are you ever going to fill a 20GB HD with just console gaming activity?





    It depends. If you are just playing games you can probably squeeze by with 20gb. But Xbox Live is also an entertainment community. You can download some games directly. You can also buy tv shows just like iTunes. There are other things like gamer themes, pics. You can purchase walk through videos that show you how to beat a game and find all the hidden things in it. You also rent hi def movies that are stored in your hard drive while you rent them. All this takes up space. Then there are the games themselves which can vary in how much of the hard drive you can use. It's up to the developers and the gamer's whims. For example, Halo3 has a feature that automatically records multiplayer matches so that you can go back and review them in a third person format. You can send this to friends as well. You can store hours of gaming vids just from Halo3.



    When you also take into account the new development that Microsoft has just given game developers** the go ahead to start using the hard drive as long as they advertise the space needed on the cover of the game, ( they previously discouraged it) you can see how it would be wise to go with the Elite system. It really is a very well priced system. You get a lot more for a little bit more money. It's best to go to the Xbox 360 website and compare the consoles before you buy them to see the differences.



    **it is rumored that the first developer that will make use of this new option will be Epic for the Xbox version of Unreal Tournament 3. The game will pretty much run like it does on a PC if you think about it. Should be wonderful.
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