Macbook pro for the sake of running windows7 on it?

If you're just going to run windows on it, you're paying over the odds for the hardware - unless you really really want the unibody shell.

Seems a bit ludicrous though, if you'll pardon my saying.

 

Unless it's changed, the drivers Apple gives you don't have the same battery life, the keyboard might not work properly, and same with the trackpad. Also, you'll need to keep a small OS X partition for system firmware updates.

Just get the HP Envy... it costs less, has better specs, and runs Windows 7 naively.

 

I can't see any reason why not, technically. Make sure you buy a 64bit version of 7 though

 

Gosh, kids at my school do this, makes me sick!

 

I run SC II on my 17" - runs fine on medium/high settings, in OS X, the graphics update did wonders

 

I get 25-35 FPS, if you buy the 15" you will be getting lots better FPS then I do, simply because you have about 2/3 the amount of pixels I do.

and I read you can OverClock the GPU from windows, herd some getting an extra 8-12 FPS

 

Not so according to Some ......OOPS soz peeps in Windows on Bootcamp DUH *facepalm*

Cheers

 

Oh I'm so persuasive aren't I? jk jk
I'll be here to help out

 

If you have been using Windows 7 at all, it's not that big of a leap to learn OSX. I'd been using Windows or shall we say DOS since 1985. Loved my Commodore 64 too. Switched over to Mac a few years ago and wish I had done it earlier. Nothing against Windows 7 (I do like it), but prefer OSX. I think you'll come to the same conclusion.

And with programs like Office for Mac (new 2011 version in particular), I think you'll find less and less need to use the Bootcamp partition and just stay in OSX.

 

My answer:

IF your goal is to actually use OSX and you just want the ability to boot Windows for the one-off games, then yes you can, and yes it might be worth it.

If your goal is just to get the look and feel of the MacBook, I submit that you might just save money and time and get the i7 HP Envy. It's $1600 on outlet at Best Buy right now, virtually identical visual form factor, comparable battery life, and will be more compatible with Windows.

It's up to what your real objective is though. I would never buy the Envy myself, because even though with me it's the hardware, I actually USE Snow Leopard to get things done when possible. Windows is the exception when there are one-off things that Snow Leopard can't do.

 

Yeah dude almost everything about your post has changed:

-on my 13" mbp windows battery life is about 4.5 hours.
-keyboard works properly. C = windows button, holding function enables Del, Home, End, PgUp, PgDn
-trackpad works properly. tap two fingers to right click, two fingers down and click is also right click, double tap drag is an option, tap to click is an option.
-you do not need an osx partition to run win7, but you're right you need a osx partition or separate hard drive to update firmware.

 

SOME people like to use ubuntu with their mac.

 

grab the pitch forks
it's clobberin' time

 

Sorry, but windows is a mess on the 13" MBP compared to a PC designed to run it.

Battery life is dismal...I get 3 hours tops if I'm doing anything other than just browsing or typing.
Keyboard is flakey and virtually all of the fn+function key combinations are sketchy. Brightness and volume control for example only work when they feel like it.
Trackpad is nasty in windows...it works, but dragging is horrible and sensitivity is not nearly as good as in OSX. Also, anything that requires holding a mouse button and moving the mouse simultaneously is virtually impossible.

Bottom line, windows works on a macbook, but it works much better on a dedicated PC.

 

Apple's support for Boot Camp and Windows is a joke. They clearly don't want to properly support it. Don't know why they bothered in the first place.

 

I guess it didn't change much, huh?

And they only came out with bootcamp because tinkerers were finding ways to install Windows anyway. This allowed Apple to receive credit for something that would have happened, no matter what, and stop people from digging into their EFI internals, in one fell swoop.

 

The interesting part is now with Windows 7 x64 you don't really need the Apple OS on the computer at all to install it. It will boot and install with EFI (64). Drivers would still be the biggest achilles heel.

 

I recently moved to a MBP recently because i wanted a high end machine that was portable and with good battery life. Prior to this i have always used Windows PC and hated mac's, I purchased the MBP with the intention of using bootcamp with Win 7, because i have all my programs that i have purchased on Windows.....

I no longer use bootcamp, not because its buggy but because i prefer OS X, it does pain me to say it and i feel a little like i have cheated on Microsoft lol.

I never thought i would make the switch but i am glad i did. I use Paralells to run Office 2010 but i will get Office 2011 when it is released so i can run it native.

I did notice and read about bootcamp running hotter than normal, most of the time it sits on a griffin stand so it didn't effect me too much

 

Almost the exact opposite is true for me I use OSX out of necessity due to how poorly windows 7 runs on my MBP. Even though I could accomplish more and get things done quicker in windows, I still find myself using OSX since it's my only viable option. Interesting to find someone who's moved from W7 to OSX, I know a lot of my classmates have done the exact opposite