First time Macbook purchase, could use some advice

[devsfan1830]

Long time windows desktop user, gaming mostly. A few months back I bought a used 2009 white macbook off a friend to dabble in app development. I enjoyed using the macbook so much I am looking to make a jump to a macbook pro after selling off an HP Envy I was displeased with because although billed as a light gaming pc, it would heat up so badly with anything i tried it would throttle the cpu back to an unusable state. Knowing that a likely update was coming, I've been holding off. Now this new retina mbp has my mind spinning, I just dont know which to get.

What I am looking for is basically a computer that will act as an on the road system, something I use when travelling and also some home app development. I'd like to play a few games like Diablo 3 and SWTOR without the computer overheating and locking up (The ENVY did this with games set on very lowest settings. It heated up to 90C VERY easily.) I would also like it to handle the occasional Handbrake video conversion too. My biggest dillema is SSD vs HDD. I am still very wary about SSDs as lifespans can be all over the map. Considering what Im shelling out, Id like the system I buy to last at least 3-4 years. With a normal HDD, if it dies I can easily buy a replacement if Apple wont cover it. The SSD setup they use makes this incredibly expensive if not impossible to do. My other issue is the retina display, is it REALLY worth it for my intended use? I think I am so caught up in the hype that I could really use an outside opinion. Should the perks of a retina display make me overlook my concerns about SSDs and vice versa? I just dont know. I'm hoping you experienced users can give me some advice. Also worth mentioning is that I would also sync my itunes library with my desktop, but storage isnt an issue really there. I would only mirror music apps and podcasts, and that runs about 100GB. So i need something that would confortably afford me some room for games and future expansion without costing me a fortunes. I know it seems like Ive made a case for the vanilla MBP, and I probably have unless you guys can make a case for the retina versions. Thanks, and sorry for the lengthy post.

 

[devsfan1830]

Bump, this post got BURIED (I think I picked the wrong time to post)and I really could use some advice. Thanks.

 

[cathyy]

Long time windows desktop user, gaming mostly. A few months back I bought a used 2009 white macbook off a friend to dabble in app development. I enjoyed using the macbook so much I am looking to make a jump to a macbook pro after selling off an HP Envy I was displeased with because although billed as a light gaming pc, it would heat up so badly with anything i tried it would throttle the cpu back to an unusable state. Knowing that a likely update was coming, I've been holding off. Now this new retina mbp has my mind spinning, I just dont know which to get.

What I am looking for is basically a computer that will act as an on the road system, something I use when travelling and also some home app development. I'd like to play a few games like Diablo 3 and SWTOR without the computer overheating and locking up (The ENVY did this with games set on very lowest settings. It heated up to 90C VERY easily.) I would also like it to handle the occasional Handbrake video conversion too. My biggest dillema is SSD vs HDD. I am still very wary about SSDs as lifespans can be all over the map. Considering what Im shelling out, Id like the system I buy to last at least 3-4 years. With a normal HDD, if it dies I can easily buy a replacement if Apple wont cover it. The SSD setup they use makes this incredibly expensive if not impossible to do. My other issue is the retina display, is it REALLY worth it for my intended use? I think I am so caught up in the hype that I could really use an outside opinion. Should the perks of a retina display make me overlook my concerns about SSDs and vice versa? I just dont know. I'm hoping you experienced users can give me some advice. Also worth mentioning is that I would also sync my itunes library with my desktop, but storage isnt an issue really there. I would only mirror music apps and podcasts, and that runs about 100GB. So i need something that would confortably afford me some room for games and future expansion without costing me a fortunes. I know it seems like Ive made a case for the vanilla MBP, and I probably have unless you guys can make a case for the retina versions. Thanks, and sorry for the lengthy post.

Well let me just say that from another long time Mac owner who runs Windows and plays games, the CPU & GPU specs of the latest MBP are absolutely amazing.

The biggest problem here is the Retina screen. As a gamer, you should know that the higher resolution you run, the lower your FPS gets. 2880x1800 is far too high to be able to play the game at an enjoyable frame rate. Playing in any resolution other than that will cause the game to look blurry and even worse. As such, I'd think it's better to avoid the retina display model.

Unfortunately the retina display model is also the one that's thinner and lighter which would be ideal for a road warrior like yourself.

My advise is to wait a few days until we get more reviews on how good the Retina model is for gaming. If they are bad, then I'd advise you to go for the model with the older design.

 

[devsfan1830]

Well let me just say that from another long time Mac owner who runs Windows and plays games, the CPU & GPU specs of the latest MBP are absolutely amazing.

The biggest problem here is the Retina screen. As a gamer, you should know that the higher resolution you run, the lower your FPS gets. 2880x1800 is far too high to be able to play the game at an enjoyable frame rate. Playing in any resolution other than that will cause the game to look blurry and even worse. As such, I'd think it's better to avoid the retina display model.

Unfortunately the retina display model is also the one that's thinner and lighter which would be ideal for a road warrior like yourself.

My advise is to wait a few days until we get more reviews on how good the Retina model is for gaming. If they are bad, then I'd advise you to go for the model with the older design.

Thanks for the input. What you said about the resolution/FPS relationship is opne of my primary concerns. Sure the apps will look great but its gonna be a beast to drive that level of detail. Plus, what is uncertain is how that high resolution of a display will be supported in windows under bootcamp. I don't think windows 7 will support that high of a resolution by default, and i dont windows wont be able to scale as elegantly as OSX if it does. So that remains to be seen. That combined with my apprehension toward SSDs make the regular MBP my likely candidate.

And I wouldn't exactly count myself as a "road warrior". The road use would be trips to see family every 2-3 months. I like to do light gaming in the times where we're not doing anything, otherwise the laptop would be hooked up to an external 1080p monitor at home when I need to use it at home. I have a beast of a self built Ivy Bridge windows desktop for my heavy games and video trans coding needs. That said I guess the 2.6GHz 15" regular MBP is right up my alley. Maybe spring for the hi-res display and 1TB drive so I can partition it with decent Win 7 room and still keep enough for OSX. Still holding off till probably August to let any 1st production run issue arise and get ironed out, and see if review turn up any anomalies.