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Macgamer1096

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 23, 2003
12
0
How do these new iBooks compare with the Powerbooks? Id mainly use it for gaming but would i be better off getting the higher end PowerbookG4 with 64mb video card instead of the 32mb one STILL in the iBooks?
 
show me a Mac laptop with 64MB vram for $999...

and show me the benchmarks for the other 99% of the software available for OS X that's NOT ALTIVEC OPTIMIZED. Suddenly the need for a G4 is much less. :rolleyes:
 
Originally posted by Flowbee
The real question is... why are you buying a mac notebook to use mainly for gaming?

:confused:
what's wrong with that?
I've seen few benchmarks, and I think you'd be better with Powerbook.
 
I just got a 14" 900 mhz ibook. It plays warcraft III really well; that's about the only game I can speak to. But indeed, why get a laptop if games are your focus? Also keep in mind that you have to go up to a 1 ghz PB before you get 64 VRAM. The 12" and the 15" 867 both have 32, albeit on somewhat better video cards than the ibook. (the Radeon 7500 ain't so bad though, let me tell you:D )
 
Originally posted by QCassidy352
I just got a 14" 900 mhz ibook. It plays warcraft III really well; that's about the only game I can speak to. But indeed, why get a laptop if games are your focus? Also keep in mind that you have to go up to a 1 ghz PB before you get 64 VRAM. The 12" and the 15" 867 both have 32, albeit on somewhat better video cards than the ibook. (the Radeon 7500 ain't so bad though, let me tell you:D )

Huh...I actually saw a few benchmarks somewhere where the iBook with the Radeon 7500 was outperforming the 12" Powerbook with the GeForce 4 in graphics tests.
 
you can get by gaming with 32 mb of vram right now in a mac laptop...but the way games are increasingly sophisticated makes the 64 mb vram card in a laptop the better option in the long run

i don't know of any home based users who are more ram hungry than gamers

my budget, however, ties me to the 32 mb vram option and i would make do with that limitation

but the 64 mb vram option in the tibook, minimally configured, is 2799 which is too much for me:D
 
I have an Ibook 800 and play Jedi Kinghts and Solider of Fortune 2 against my friend who has a new 12 inch powerbook. The difference is nil. If you max out the ram on an ibook you'll be suprised how well it performs. And if I were you I would get the 12 inch, not the 14 inch. Its a waste of size and its sorta fuzzy, enough to notice when playing max payne. Hope that helps
 
"And if I were you I would get the 12 inch, not the 14 inch. Its a waste of size and its sorta fuzzy, enough to notice when playing max payne."

I don't know max payne, but I can tell you that war 3 is razor sharp on the 14.

edit: "a waste of size" is a subjective thing... for me, 14-15" is great since my ibook is not only my notebook but my desktop. I had a 12" ibook before this and my eyes got tired staring at that tiny screen after a while. For me, the 17" PB is when it gets too big, where as the 15" PB or 14" ibook is just the right balance of portability and viewing real estate. But it's really a matter of personal preference.
 
Originally posted by QCassidy352
where as the 15" PB or 14" ibook is just the right balance of portability and viewing real estate.

the 14" iBook doens't have any extra realestate. as i'm sure you know the resolution is the same so you don't get extra real estate with the 14" iBook.
 
I always find it funny when people say that thier eyes will hurt because of the tiny screens, but the resolution is exactly the same. If the 12 inch had like 1400x1200 resolutuion then i would totally agree with you. The only difference is maybe 2 inches of "extra" real estate. The colors and the pixles are the same. But to each his own.
 
Originally posted by RectaAcies
I always find it funny when people say that thier eyes will hurt because of the tiny screens, but the resolution is exactly the same. If the 12 inch had like 1400x1200 resolutuion then i would totally agree with you. The only difference is maybe 2 inches of "extra" real estate. The colors and the pixles are the same. But to each his own.

Same resolution, bigger screen = things look bigger (as each pixel should be bigger).

End result: easier for those with not-so-good eyesight (especially for reading text).
 
hmm...if gaming was your primary want, why even buy a mac in the first place? you can get cheaper, faster systems out there with more games available...but then again, its a mac.
 
Originally posted by mmmdreg
hmm...if gaming was your primary want, why even buy a mac in the first place? you can get cheaper, faster systems out there with more games available...but then again, its a mac.

the good thing about a mac is after you have finished gaming, your computer system is still up and running for serious office tasks and homework

with pcs, music, one minute mpegs, quicktimes, and avis, and particularly gaming will make the windows os become unstable and you can lose some work...i have seen it happen more than once as a pc tech

i know macs have a so-called limited game selection, but there are still tons of mac games out there...how many titles does one really need?

the mac is the perfect all around machine for a person...especially if that person is not a techie or doesn't want to spend their free time troubleshooting a computer
 
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