Help deciding on a notebook

[chrisedmonds]

Hello I need help deciding on a notebook, I have did months of research and have been ready to buy a couple of times but financal and life issues got in the way but anyways I was wanting help deciding on a notebook.

Heres what I want out of the machine, it will be a desktop replacement. I will use it for college,work,home media,games, and life. So it needs to have good specs. I know on the current Macbook Pro I cant change the video card. But can I change other parts, HDD, ect? Also how does the Pro do with games, say for example could it run Assasssin's Creed, Mass Effect, or dare I say Crysis? And if it does how well. And I know you have to run them with bootcamp. But say a game requires windows Vista, iam I stuck since bootcamp only does XP, or does bootcamp run Vista too?

Also is there any way I can record TV on the Pro, and if so would it be in HD?
Or could I install a TV tuner in it?

And last but not least how does a Pro stack up against a Sony VAIO say there FW or AR models, now I know this is a Mac board but please give me a honest anwser. Or any other notebook, but if I got a PC then I would want a blue ray drive.

Sorry for another question but is there any rumor to Apple allowing us to upgrade the "new macbook Pro" like being able to install a new video card yourself, instead of it being stuck on the motherboard! Also is apple going to a Blue-Ray support soon?

Any anwsers to this questions would be appericated thanks!

 

[nick9191]

Firstly new models of the Macbook/Pro are due out shortly, ie. in a few weeks.

The current Macbook Pro will run any game available (including Crysis), with acceptable or good settings depending on the game.

You can run XP or Vista under bootcamp, however if you decide to run XP, some games in the future may be DX10 only, requiring Vista.

The graphics cards in the next Macbook Pro are expected to be the 9600M GT or an ATI 3 series card.

Have a look at Elgato http://www.elgato.com/elgato/int/mainmenu/home.en.html for Mac compatible TV tuners.

On the current Macbook Pro the hard drive is difficult to change and can void the warranty. This will hopefully be fixed in the next release due shortly.

Blu Ray may be an option in the next Macbook Pro, however bare in mind they reduce battery life significantly.

Video cards are not replaceable on any notebook at present. This is likely a working project.

 

[duffsrp]

How sure are you about the new Mac Book Pro coming out in a few weeks? I'm looking to get a new one but will wait if a new is coming soon.

 

[kousuke18]

The current line of macbook pro's will run all the games you mentioned pretty well at medium to high settings. You can run windows xp and vista on bootcamp so that won't be a problem for you.

My advice to you is to just buy a new computer if you really need it for college, but if you don't require a computer yet, than wait it out and see what Apple has to offer in September sine it's so close. There are a lot of rumors about a complete new design to the macbook/macbook pro line but these are just rumors after all so there may not even be a update at all.

It's funny reading forum posts from october-december 2007 with rumors of about apple releasing a new design for the macbook and macbook pro's but of course that never happened... Just goes to show you that you can't base your purchases entirely on rumors.

 

[chrisedmonds]

Yes I think I will most definitely wait to see what Apple comes out with here in HOPEFULLY in the next few weeks, I can sure fell something abrewing!

 

[duffsrp]

Is there another Macworld Conference coming up soon? Don't they usually do them in October? Would they release a new design without a conference?

 

[alphaod]

Would they release a new design without a conference?

They've been doing updates without a conference since they first introduced the MacBook [Pro]. There is the standard iPod event in September which is expected to include the MB/P

 

[duffsrp]

Thanks. I'll wait and see what they announce.

 

[MowingDevil]

Don't be so fast to believe the rumors.
I've also heard the next upgrade will be just the Air and possibly the MacBook w/ the Pro line being revamped later in the Fall....possibly in January.
It could happen, but last time I was waiting for a revision it never happened...and when the revision did happen it was only a speed bump w/ no major alterations.