2.4 Macbook or 2.4 MBP

[kperrone]

Hi everyone, I've had my White 2.4 Macbook for about 6 months now and I'm going out today sometime to buy one of the new ones. I can't decide if I should get the 2.4 Macbook or the 2.4 MBP. I don't care for the extra screen size I just want something that will play World of Warcraft with decent FPS. Right now I get 10-20fps almost everywhere I go on my white 2.4 and it's kind of annoying. I don't mind coughing up the extra $500 for the MBP if the graphics card in it is that much better than the MB. The only other stuff I do that might matter is creating and editting graphics in Photoshop. I plan on swapping out the 4gb of ram i have in my current white 2.4 into the new one which ever i decide to get.

Thanks ahead of time.

 

[prism]

The MBP is a no brainer for what you want to do. The discrete GPU is more than 50% faster than the integrated one and the screen quality is superior on the MBP.

 

[kperrone]

The MBP is a no brainer for what you want to do. The discrete GPU is more than 50% faster than the integrated one and the screen quality is superior on the MBP.

don't the 2.4 macbook and 15" MBP come with the same graphics card though? looks like they both have the 9400M. The 2.8 has the GT i think but the 2.4 seems to have the same one. Maybe I'm reading the apple website wrong.

 

[hogfaninga]

don't the 2.4 macbook and 15" MBP come with the same graphics card though? looks like they both have the 9400M. The 2.8 has the GT i think but the 2.4 seems to have the same one. Maybe I'm reading the apple website wrong.

The new MB Pro has 2 graphic chips. A integrated one like the one on the current MB and a much, much, much better dedicated one. You can switch between them if you want. It is a really cool feature. The screen is much better also on the Pro. If you do a lot of graphic work/stuff like it seems you do, don't get the Macbook. You shouldn't of gotten it in the first place if that was want you wanted to do to begin with. It wasn't built for that.

The Pro is the obvious choice for you.

 

[fleshman03]

The MBP has two graphics cards. A 9400 to use when you are not doing heavy graphical work and a 9600 when you are.

If you don't plan on making your machine a gaming machine or something to do CAD work on, you would be very happy with the top of the line MacBook. (Unless you need the extra two inches.

If they are important to you, I suggest getting an external monitor. (It'll be less money anyway.)

Having actually read your post, I'm going to offer some advice.

Get the Pro if running WoW at high frame rates is really important. (Which it seems to be.)

As for RAM, you could increase it to 4gb, but I don't know if it'll benefit you. The RAM in there (the 2gb) will run at 1066mhz. Your old RAM (4gb) will run at 600mhz. For gaming, the faster RAM is better. For other work the more ram is better. (Word processing and tasks where the computer will not need to load more information on the RAM.)

 

[ogdenous]

I have the 13" Macbook NEW model 2.4ghz and 4Gb RAM. The nvidia 9400 is fine. Extra 4gb is nice if your multitasking while playing. I cannot complain at all about speed. Your previous model macbook used intel video which is no good at all. If you want a boost in speed, extra pixel real estate and ability to play on external monitor at higher rez, get the Macbook Pro NEW model.

 

[anish3232]

Won't be able to swap your old ram. New ram is DDR3 204 pin. Old ram is DDR2 200 pin.

 

[roland.g]

Get a PS3 or an xbox 360 b/c they are gaming consoles. Don't buy an MBP and spend $2k just to play WoW.

 

[arthursiew]

If you plan on doing some hard core gaming on your Mac, then maybe the MacBook Pro is a good choice. The MBP has two graphics card, so if you require the extra juice, firewire and bigger screen, the $500 is probably worth the extra. If you don't really need the second graphics card, the MB will probably be okay, because the performance is really about the same.
You won't be able to switch your RAM since the WhiteBook's RAM is DDR2, while the new ones take DDR3.

 

[kperrone]

Get a PS3 or an xbox 360 b/c they are gaming consoles. Don't buy an MBP and spend $2k just to play WoW.

I already have an Xbox 360

I don't want the laptop to be a gaming machine, the only computer game i play is WoW. So i just need it to run WoW decently. I've seen a video of the 2.4 Macbook running WoW with all settings on high except shadow and it was getting like 20-40 fps so i think i'll just go with that.

 

[kperrone]

went out the bought the 2.4 macbook pro. finished migrating from my white 2.4 and now trying out wow. getting constant 40fps with everything turned up right now

 

[Enigmafan420]

went out the bought the 2.4 macbook pro. finished migrating from my white 2.4 and now trying out wow. getting constant 40fps with everything turned up right now

Congrats-I got mine 2 nights ago but haven't had time to really push the new graphics.

Coming from the Intel GMA-3100 though, I am hoping to see a real difference.

I went with the 2.4 MB, (not PRO)-I read several reviews that show it almost exactly the same performance as the MBP 2.4-with the exception of Quake 3. And, the guy at the Applestore asserted that it runs as fast as the previous MBP with ATI graphics.

The fact that it is much smaller/lighter/easier to lug around is a plus for me too.

I see you changed your mind at the last minute-any reasons why?

 

[kperrone]

I see you changed your mind at the last minute-any reasons why?

Figured I could use the extra Hard drive space and i wanted to be able to run WoW as smoothly as possible. prolly go out tomorrow and buy some 2gb sticks of ram. The guy at the apple store when i bought the MBP said it would cost me $200 to upgrade to 4gb with them, i laughed in his face and said i'd do it myself.

 

[Enigmafan420]

Figured I could use the extra Hard drive space and i wanted to be able to run WoW as smoothly as possible. prolly go out tomorrow and buy some 2gb sticks of ram. The guy at the apple store when i bought the MBP said it would cost me $200 to upgrade to 4gb with them, i laughed in his face and said i'd do it myself.

You will definitely get good frame rates with 4 GB and the MBP.

I bought a 4 gig (2 X 2GB matched set) from www.macsales.com for $130, and then when you get them installed you can send in the OEM RAM for a $30 refund-so not too bad.

I will install HALO this weekend on my MB 2.4-I have been playing it on a mini and it is playable, but does stutter. I am interested to see how the MB will do with it-though I am sure the MBP would plow through it.

PS-I think the MB 2.4 and MBP 2.4 have the same HD size unless you had a larger one installed.