So I am trying to decide what GHz (2.1 or 2.4), GB (2 or 4) and a hard drive (160 or 250 GB). I like to do a lot of word processing, but am also a huge Sims 2 fan. I have all the expansion packs and a ton of custom content and would dearly love to play it on a mac. (i'm a 1st time mac user.) Also, i can't decide if i want to play Sims 2 with boot camp, since my game is pc version, or invest in Parellel of Vmware. Any pointers?
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Buying macbook...what specs for sims 2?
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Definitely play it in Boot Camp; Parallels and VMware would give much worse graphic performance. As for the specs, it would work with either machine. 
I have 2.16ghz and it works fine, although I suspect it would be even better with 2.4ghz and 4gb of RAM!
I have 2.16ghz and it works fine, although I suspect it would be even better with 2.4ghz and 4gb of RAM! It's not going to run anywhere near as good as it would on a PC that costs several hundred less and has a dedicated GPU.
Believe it or not, the X3100 in the current MacBooks perform worse in a real world situation than the GMA 950. yes I know the benchmarks at "barefeets" or whatever the name of that site is show the X3100 getting a frame or two better than the GMA 950, but every other website in the world shows otherwise in real world situations.
I have a MacBook 2.16GHz with the GMA 950 and an HP with a 2GHz Core 2 Duo (Santa Rosa chipset) and a GeForce 8400M GS.
The HP was nearly $500 less after taxes.
There isn't even a competition. I mostly play Half-Life 2 (all games), UT3, and UT2k4. Half-Life 2 turns into a slide show on the GMA 950 at 800x600 with medium settings where it runs at a solid 60fps at 1280x720p everything maxed on the HP hooked up to my LCD TV. Same goes for UT2k4, and UT3 doesn't even run.
I played The Sims 2 a bit a few months ago and it was the same situation. It's choppy and like a slideshow on the Mac. On the HP its as smooth as butter.
If you want to play games, don't even consider a MacBook or MacBook Pro. Theres much better out there for the money.
Believe it or not, the X3100 in the current MacBooks perform worse in a real world situation than the GMA 950. yes I know the benchmarks at "barefeets" or whatever the name of that site is show the X3100 getting a frame or two better than the GMA 950, but every other website in the world shows otherwise in real world situations.
I have a MacBook 2.16GHz with the GMA 950 and an HP with a 2GHz Core 2 Duo (Santa Rosa chipset) and a GeForce 8400M GS.
The HP was nearly $500 less after taxes.
There isn't even a competition. I mostly play Half-Life 2 (all games), UT3, and UT2k4. Half-Life 2 turns into a slide show on the GMA 950 at 800x600 with medium settings where it runs at a solid 60fps at 1280x720p everything maxed on the HP hooked up to my LCD TV. Same goes for UT2k4, and UT3 doesn't even run.
I played The Sims 2 a bit a few months ago and it was the same situation. It's choppy and like a slideshow on the Mac. On the HP its as smooth as butter.
If you want to play games, don't even consider a MacBook or MacBook Pro. Theres much better out there for the money.
Hey, I had the same question a few days ago, question stealer!!!
Just kidding, I'm buying a Blackbook with only the 250GB and 2G ram, but I do plan on upgrading to the 4 when my bank account fattens up a little. FedEx says that my economic-black-hole is supposed to be arriving on Wednesday, so if I can get bootcamp and etc set up in a decent time, I'll post back and let you know.
FYI: I'm only going to start off with Base and University, then add on Nightlife, Open for Business, Seasons (no pets), and then if I feel motivated (and can afford) to buy the other two, maybe them as well.
Just kidding, I'm buying a Blackbook with only the 250GB and 2G ram, but I do plan on upgrading to the 4 when my bank account fattens up a little. FedEx says that my economic-black-hole is supposed to be arriving on Wednesday, so if I can get bootcamp and etc set up in a decent time, I'll post back and let you know.
FYI: I'm only going to start off with Base and University, then add on Nightlife, Open for Business, Seasons (no pets), and then if I feel motivated (and can afford) to buy the other two, maybe them as well.