Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Should I bite the bullet?

F

Fall3n13

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 14, 2009
29
2
So I had an Early 2011 15" MBP. I thought to myself I want to get back into PC gaming so I sold my MBP and picked up a 17" Gaming Laptop. Now the thing is powerful as hell and plays everything I wanted but in the end, I miss my Mac too much, i miss OSX and the amazing build quality. I'm considering buying another 15" MBP, maybe retina, and try to sell this laptop on Craigslist and take the hit.

How crazy am I and should I take the hit?
 
Fall3n13 said:
So I had an Early 2011 15" MBP. I thought to myself I want to get back into PC gaming so I sold my MBP and picked up a 17" Gaming Laptop. Now the thing is powerful as hell and plays everything I wanted but in the end, I miss my Mac too much, i miss OSX and the amazing build quality. I'm considering buying another 15" MBP, maybe retina, and try to sell this laptop on Craigslist and take the hit.

How crazy am I and should I take the hit?
Click to expand...

Why not, it sounds like you got money to waste.
 
sounds like you miss the right things to be headed back to mac world.

PC lifer here, looking at first mac shortly and im looking forward to that same stuff.

if you're worried about games though, get the uMBP with the 1gig gt650 so you dont have to worry about pixels getting in the way of gaming performance.
 
Fall3n13 said:
So I had an Early 2011 15" MBP. I thought to myself I want to get back into PC gaming so I sold my MBP and picked up a 17" Gaming Laptop. Now the thing is powerful as hell and plays everything I wanted but in the end, I miss my Mac too much, i miss OSX and the amazing build quality. I'm considering buying another 15" MBP, maybe retina, and try to sell this laptop on Craigslist and take the hit.

How crazy am I and should I take the hit?
Click to expand...

Depends on whose definition of crazy you rely upon. As a Mac fan I say go for it if you can afford it. The question then becomes what will you do when the gaming urge surfaces again?
 
Wirelessly posted

Fortimir said:
ryane67 said:
if you're worried about games though, get the uMBP with the 1gig gt650
Click to expand...

Okay, why are there so many acronyms for the MacBook Pro? I've now seen, in addition to MBP, cMBP, uMBP. I've been informed cMBP means "classic"... What is "uMBP"?
Click to expand...

I think the uMBP means unibody MBP.

I think we should all adopt either using MBP or rMBP.

Just because the rMBP came out doesn't mean we now need to create a new acronym for the legacy pro models
 
CosmoPilot said:
I think we should all adopt either using MBP or rMBP.

Just because the rMBP came out doesn't mean we now need to create a new acronym for the legacy pro models
Click to expand...

Yep. Apple still makes them, and even just updated them. MBP and rMBP/MBPr... really it should actually be MBPr since the actual name is (MacBook Pro w/ Retina).

But whatever. I don't care as long as there are just two. Ha. While we're on the topic, don't you think MacBook Pro with Retina Display such a very "un-Apple" name? It's long and bland.
 
I honestly thought I was going to have more time to game. But being in the military and just moving onto my new assignment I hate carrying my laptop. All I use it for is mostly to browse the web, and download movies to put into my iPad. Occasionally I can play BF3 or Diablo 3
 
Fall3n13 said:
I honestly thought I was going to have more time to game. But being in the military and just moving onto my new assignment I hate carrying my laptop. All I use it for is mostly to browse the web, and download movies to put into my iPad. Occasionally I can play BF3 or Diablo 3
Click to expand...

You're gonna get a retina MacBook just to do those things? Wow you do have money to waste.
 
mobilehaathi said:
Sell the "gaming" laptop, buy a MBP/rMBP/MBA, then build yourself a gaming rig.

This assumes you have some cash to burn, which it sounds like you do.
Click to expand...

brand said:
Why not, it sounds like you got money to waste.
Click to expand...

Fall3n13 said:
I honestly thought I was going to have more time to game. But being in the military and just moving onto my new assignment I hate carrying my laptop. All I use it for is mostly to browse the web, and download movies to put into my iPad. Occasionally I can play BF3 or Diablo 3
Click to expand...

From what I've read the average guy in the military doesn't have much cash to burn. They are mostly underpaid just like teachers, peace officers, and firefighters.
 
I don't have cash to burn. You are correct. In the military our salaries isn't much. I do have some money saved and that's why I'm considering it. And I didn't say I was getting a retina, I said I was considering it. I most likely wouldnt get it because i would end up stretching myself trying to get it. Honestly I just like the 15" for the extra real estate. In reality I could probably be fine with a 13" MBP or even a 13" MBA.
 
Fall3n13 said:
I don't have cash to burn. You are correct. In the military our salaries isn't much. I do have some money saved and that's why I'm considering it. And I didn't say I was getting a retina, I said I was considering it. I most likely wouldnt get it because i would end up stretching myself trying to get it. Honestly I just like the 15" for the extra real estate. In reality I could probably be fine with a 13" MBP or even a 13" MBA.
Click to expand...

Stick with the 15" MBP. The refurbs are a good deal and carry a full one year warranty just like a new one. You can get a late 2011 for $1359 which is less than $200 more than a new 13" MBP.

Just my opinion. BTW, thanks for your service to our country.
 
Just out of curiosity, which gaming laptop do you have and what are its specs?

Chances are, the rMBP will be pretty darn close since both its processor and GPU are cutting edge. Its 650m is actually better than a 660m because of its extremely high clock speed. Why not have the best of both worlds and run 2 OS' on your Mac. OS X for when you want to work/browse, and windows when you want to game.
 
Fall3n13 said:
I don't have cash to burn. You are correct. In the military our salaries isn't much. I do have some money saved and that's why I'm considering it. And I didn't say I was getting a retina, I said I was considering it. I most likely wouldnt get it because i would end up stretching myself trying to get it. Honestly I just like the 15" for the extra real estate. In reality I could probably be fine with a 13" MBP or even a 13" MBA.
Click to expand...

Regardless of whether you get the original 15" or the retina one, they will both be able to run BF3 and Diablo 3. The quad core processors are an upgrade over the 13", plus the the 13"s don't have GPUs. The retina has the same hardware specs as the classic 15". Only real difference is the hard drives, skinnyness, lack of CD drive, and the screens. For your needs, get the classic so you can rip those DVDs for your iPad, and save some $ over the retina.

As for whether or not you should "bite the bullet": Only you can decide if that's the right financial choice for you.
 
Panini said:
Just out of curiosity, which gaming laptop do you have and what are its specs?

Chances are, the rMBP will be pretty darn close since both its processor and GPU are cutting edge. Its 650m is actually better than a 660m because of its extremely high clock speed. Why not have the best of both worlds and run 2 OS' on your Mac. OS X for when you want to work/browse, and windows when you want to game.
Click to expand...

I picked up an MSI GT70

Intel Core i7-3610QM Processor
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
17.3" Full HD Anti-reflective Display (16:9, 1920 x 1080)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX670M discrete graphics with 3GB GDDR5 VRAM
12GB DDR3 1600MHz system memory
750GB HDD + 320GB HDD
Full-color programmable backlit keyboard by SteelSeries
Killer Game Networking
Dynaudio Premium Sound Speakers with THX TruStudio PRO
DVD Multi-drive
 
Panini said:
Just out of curiosity, which gaming laptop do you have and what are its specs?

Chances are, the rMBP will be pretty darn close since both its processor and GPU are cutting edge. Its 650m is actually better than a 660m because of its extremely high clock speed. Why not have the best of both worlds and run 2 OS' on your Mac. OS X for when you want to work/browse, and windows when you want to game.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say the GPU is cutting edge.
 
Last edited:
stevelam said:
I wouldn't say the GPU is cutting edge.
Click to expand...

Considering the size of the rMBP, and the fact that its better than whats in an Alienware m14x, a dedicated gaming laptop which is bigger than the MBP, it must be somewhat "cutting edge" to fit that much power in such a thin chassis.

Ofcourse the definition of "cutting edge" will vary by each individual ;)

It wont be quite as good as the 670m in the OP's Windows Machine, but at the same time you wont be playing games at anywhere near that resolution on the machine itself. The jaggies are far less obvious and intrusive playing at 1440 x 900 on such a small screen, add on a bit of AA and it still looks good.

You could always do what I plan to, and only game with an external monitor attached which the rMBP is in clamshell mode.
 
Well i was able to sell the laptop for about $1000 and an 11" mba i had gotten as a trade for an ipad a while back for $800. I got the High end cMBP for $2089 tax free at the Naval Exchange on base and dropped in 16GB Corsair Vengeance RAM and a Seagate Momentus XT 750GB Hybrid Drive. My god this thing is now a screamer with this combo.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back