Any Mac Owners?

[Nums]

I'm considering getting a mac laptop, this one specifically: MacBook Pro 15.4"

I want to hear from the people that own a mac and see what you guys have to say. It's a pretty big investment for someone on as tight of a budget as I am, so I want to make sure it is the right choice.

 

[Sir Travis D]

If you're on a tight budget, you should think about this. That laptop costs $1750.

This laptop for $650 less has the same size hard drive, double the ram, the same processor, and dedicated graphics, which are much better than the mac's integrated graphics.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220461

But, of course, you can decide which one is better for you.

$1100 Laptop wins in:
Same hard drive size
Same CPU
Larger amount of ram
Graphics card (Mac = 256mb 9600, PC = 1024mb 9650)

$1750 laptop wins in:
"Glass" touchpad
"Aluminum body"

Now, if people want to get into apps, that is another discussion.

Also note: The asus includes an LED backlit keyboard just like the mac.

 

[Geoff]

I have my C2D MacBook that I got free through the school I work at, honestly I wouldn't spend $1,800 on a MacBook, they aren't worth that much IMO.

 

[Kill Bill]

If you're on a tight budget, you should think about this. That laptop costs $1750.

This laptop for $650 less has the same size hard drive, double the ram, the same processor, and dedicated graphics, which are much better than the mac's integrated graphics.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220461

But, of course, you can decide which one is better for you.

$1100 Laptop wins in:
Same hard drive size
Same CPU
Larger amount of ram
Graphics card (Mac = 256mb 9600, PC = 1024mb 9650)

$1750 laptop wins in:
"Glass" touchpad
"Aluminum body"

Now, if people want to get into apps, that is another discussion.

Also note: The asus includes an LED backlit keyboard just like the mac.

HAHA Rofl I'm putting that as my signature. Get the Mac

Same hard drive size - Fair
Same CPU - No it's not. The Macs one is Penryn
Larger amount of ram - Is it DDR3
Graphics card (Mac = 256mb 9600, PC = 1024mb 9650) - Is that Asus Hybrid SLI so if hes on the move can he switch to the 9400M indergrated if hes just watching films and websurfing.

Does it have SMS. Automatic Backups every hour, ability to run Gmail etc on outlook without going through a POP setup. Is it 1'' thick. The Mac is a real laptop if it's thin as of course they are supposed to be portable.

 

[Justin]

the ram on the MBP isn't ddr3. it's ddr2 1066.

i'd get the MBP if you're after the software like final cut studio/express.

 

[massahwahl]

I like the Mac operating system personally, but I see it as sort of a 'specialty' thing. If you have a reason for having one then its good, like lots of photo editing, video editing, music recording, etc. but if your just getting one for the 'thrill' of owning one then its really really dumb and a waste. You dont buy a mac to surf the web and write word docs on :/

 

[Sir Travis D]

HAHA Rofl I'm putting that as my signature. Get the Mac

Same hard drive size - Fair
Same CPU - No it's not. The Macs one is Penryn
Larger amount of ram - Is it DDR3
Graphics card (Mac = 256mb 9600, PC = 1024mb 9650) - Is that Asus Hybrid SLI so if hes on the move can he switch to the 9400M indergrated if hes just watching films and websurfing.

Does it have SMS. Automatic Backups every hour, ability to run Gmail etc on outlook without going through a POP setup. Is it 1'' thick. The Mac is a real laptop if it's thin as of course they are supposed to be portable.

LOL @ that. The asus's is a penryn, and the ram is the same. The 9650m gt outpreforms the 9600m gt by over 1000 points in 3dmark, and it has 4x the graphics ram. Or, if you need an extra 10-30 minutes of battery life, get the mac. Anyone can underclock a laptop GPU. --To get the same amout of ram as the asus, that's another added cost. Oh, and at the mac's 1 inch thick statement, the asus is 1.1 inch thick. That's sure a lot of difference.

 

[Kill Bill]

the ram on the MBP isn't ddr3. it's ddr2 1066.

i'd get the MBP if you're after the software like final cut studio/express.

I'ts DDR3 check the tech spec on the site if you want.

LOL @ that. The asus's is a penryn, and the ram is the same. The 9650m gt outpreforms the 9600m gt by over 1000 points in 3dmark, and it has 4x the graphics ram. Or, if you need an extra 10-30 minutes of battery life, get the mac. Anyone can underclock a laptop GPU. --To get the same amout of ram as the asus, that's another added cost. Oh, and at the mac's 1 inch thick statement, the asus is 1.1 inch thick. That's sure a lot of difference.

Your not getting it. DDR2 VS DDR3. Then Leopard will use that and in snow leopard it is supposed to support up to 4TB of DDR3 Mem or is 2TB. Also how can the Mac Run 3Dmark without using awful windows Nvidia drivers. Also is the Asus multi touch

 

[Geoff]

Your not getting it. DDR2 VS DDR3. Then Leopard will use that and in snow leopard it is supposed to support up to 4TB of DDR3 Mem or is 2TB. Also how can the Mac Run 3Dmark without using awful windows Nvidia drivers. Also is the Asus multi touch

DDR2 vs DDR3 doesn't make that much of a difference, the timings on DDR3 (at least for laptops), are still high up there, so performance wise you really won't see a difference. The con with DDR3 is that it's more expensive if you want to upgrade.

Windows Vista supports 128GB of RAM, even if Snow Leopard supports 2-4TB of RAM, the MacBook can't support more then 4GB.

Also, in general Windows machines are better at gaming. True Apple has some nice drivers but you can tweak a lot more with Windows ones.

 

[Sir Travis D]

"RAM Type: DDR2 SDRAM" - http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MB470LL...erDrive/dp/tech-data/B0013FJBX8/ref=de_a_smtd

You have no idea what you're talking about. 128gb of RAM in a SERVER would cost over $50,000, and most servers don't support that much ram. The Largest mass produced laptop hard drive that is economically affordable is 500gb, and this laptop doesn't even support dual hard drives, so 2TB is out of the question. The laptop can only support 4gb ram, with 2 sticks, so you would need a terabyte stick of ram. That's a bit much, considering the largest server ram stick is 16gb, you would need 62.5 ram slots. Who cares about a "trackpad", this is the same as the macbook air. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0ERgZ9dztk

People think it's such a big deal and so cool to have things like a "glass touchpad" when in reality, they could have got sli graphics cards, double the hard drive and ram, and a quad core processor in their laptop for the same price.

 

[Kill Bill]

"RAM Type: DDR2 SDRAM" - http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MB470LL...erDrive/dp/tech-data/B0013FJBX8/ref=de_a_smtd

You have no idea what you're talking about. 2/4 terabytes of RAM in a laptop would cost over $50,000, and most servers don't support that much ram. The Largest mass produced laptop hard drive that is economically affordable is 500gb, and this laptop doesn't even support dual hard drives, so 2TB is out of the question.

Read it again ROFL

Product Features
Redesigned MacBook with thin, strong aluminum unibody frame and 15-inch LED-backlit glass display
New glass trackpad with 40 percent more tracking area and supports more Multi-Touch gestures
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 250 GB hard drive, 2 GB DDR3 RAM (4 GB max), DVD/CD SuperDrive
Dual NVIDIA graphics (integraed and discrete); Draft-N Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 2.1; Gigabit Ethernet; Mini DisplayPort video output
Preloaded with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard operating system and iLife '08 suite of applications

and BTW the new macbooks support actually 6gb of ram.

 

[Sir Travis D]

Well THAT ISNT A "NEW MACBOOK"

Read the tech specs, not the main page. "RAM Type: DDR2 SDRAM"

Do you need a picture of it?

 

[Kill Bill]

Well THAT ISNT A "NEW MACBOOK"

Read the tech specs, not the main page. "RAM Type: DDR2 SDRAM"

Do you need a picture of it?

Typo anyone?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook_Pro

Unibody-construction MacBook Pro under here this is the new ones and it is the new macbook if it has that design has the 9600m. Are you nieve or something>?

 

[Nums]

Clarification the MacBook Pro Model: MB470LL/A

For true specs check http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MB470LL/A?mco=MTkzOTI0Mg

Sorry about the confusion.

This laptop is meant for college use and some gaming here and there, if I do get this, I plan on getting Vista.

I liked the idea that I could switch from the two graphics cards, one I could use when I'm not in my dorm and need to conserve battery, then the other when I have a power cord and can use as much energy I want. I don't really like the idea of having to down-clock.

Budget is around 2000, which I call "tight" again sorry for any confusion.

 

[Kill Bill]

Clarification the MacBook Pro Model: MB470LL/A

For true specs check http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MB470LL/A?mco=MTkzOTI0Mg

Sorry about the confusion.

This laptop is meant for college use and some gaming here and there, if I do get this, I plan on getting Vista.

I liked the idea that I could switch from the two graphics cards, one I could use when I'm not in my dorm and need to conserve battery, then the other when I have a power cord and can use as much energy I want. I don't really like the idea of having to down-clock.

ATM I use the previous Gen MacBook pro Feb 2008 Edition 17'' and its nice. I run FCS2 + AE and works great. Wont tell how I got those.... Anyway the MacBook Pro is efficent than vista. You can also upgrade the drive easily on it. It's just beside the battery door. Also if you want you can mod the MBP and replace the optical with a 500GB SATA

 

[TrainTrackHack]

This laptop is meant for college use and some gaming here and there, if I do get this, I plan on getting Vista.

In this case, I would recommend a PC unless, of course, you really like the looks of the Mac and/or *need* Mac OSX... IMO the biggest selling points of Macs is the easy-to-use, nice-looking operating system, if you're going to be using Windows anyways it would (in my opinion) be better to save heaps by getting a "PC" (Windows, non-mac, whatever) lappy. Unless, of course, you need the extra gadgets and premium hardware that Macs come with, but AFAIK you can get those on most higher-end PCs anyways (which in nearly all cases are better than Macs in terms of raw horsepower).

 

[Geoff]

This laptop is meant for college use and some gaming here and there, if I do get this, I plan on getting Vista.

Wait... if you are going to use Vista, why are you thinking about buying a MacBook??

 

[just a noob]

what do you want? the mac os+the price for it, or a windows laptop with the same specs for cheaper, if you're going to be doing a lot of video editing i would chose the macbook

 

[Justin]

Wait... if you are going to use Vista, why are you thinking about buying a MacBook??

i think he'll use leopard for whatever work he's doing and dual boot with vista for games. practically almost all mac owners dual boot via bootcamp and so will i with my iMac.

 

[Geoff]

i think he'll use leopard for whatever work he's doing and dual boot with vista for games. practically almost all mac owners dual boot via bootcamp and so will i with my iMac.

If he's using dual boot then that's one thing, it seemed from his post that he wanted to use Vista as the primary OS.