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Thinking About Buying A New MacBook

C

Canmacuser

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 19, 2009
3
0
Hello, first time posting here.

I am thinking of buying a new MacBook. I am looking at the 13.3" model with the 2.4ghz processor. I already have an older model Mac laptop(powerbook g4 12") and use it for my everyday computer. However, I want a new one and I want to be able to play games on it as well and that is why I am looking at the new Macbook. I am not looking for anything blazingly fast for gaming, just something that will be good enough for when I am on the road. The only game I am play at the moment is Star Wars Galaxies.

I have another laptop running Windows at the moment and was wondering how the Mac would compare to it. I have a LG P300 laptop with Intel Core2Duo T8300@2.4ghz, 2 gb memory and a NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS video card running Windows Vista Home Premium. It plays the above mentioned game really well. Will the Mac be anywhere close in perfomance, or will I lose quite a bit?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 
Thanks for the info. The Mac seems like it should do ok for what I need.

Another question then. How would the MacBook compare to my current dekstop computer. The specs are: Intel Pentium 4 HT 2.8ghz, 1.5gb memory and a Radeon X1600 512mb AGP video card on Windows XP. I know it is difficult to compare desktops and laptops, but my current laptop runs faster than this desktop.

I do plan on using Bootcamp for my game and am leaning to using Windows XP as it seems to run faster than Vista according to most of the reading I have done.
 
Canmacuser said:
Thanks for the info. The Mac seems like it should do ok for what I need.

Another question then. How would the MacBook compare to my current dekstop computer. The specs are: Intel Pentium 4 HT 2.8ghz, 1.5gb memory and a Radeon X1600 512mb AGP video card on Windows XP. I know it is difficult to compare desktops and laptops, but my current laptop runs faster than this desktop.

I do plan on using Bootcamp for my game and am leaning to using Windows XP as it seems to run faster than Vista according to most of the reading I have done.
Click to expand...

Well, the desktop is a single core, previous architecture CPU. In terms of CPU, the MB, and the HP both, will blow the desktop away. As far as GFX, just take a look around for 3dMark scores, and compare away.
 
Canmacuser said:
Thanks for the info. The Mac seems like it should do ok for what I need.

Another question then. How would the MacBook compare to my current dekstop computer. The specs are: Intel Pentium 4 HT 2.8ghz, 1.5gb memory and a Radeon X1600 512mb AGP video card on Windows XP. I know it is difficult to compare desktops and laptops, but my current laptop runs faster than this desktop.

I do plan on using Bootcamp for my game and am leaning to using Windows XP as it seems to run faster than Vista according to most of the reading I have done.
Click to expand...

If I were you I would use XP thats what I put on mine, though the only downside is no DX10
 
The MacBook graphics card will be slower than your LG graphics card.

Otherwise, this is an excellent computer.
 
I really appreciate the info. I am heavily leaning towards buying one now and am sure I would be quite happy with it. If I do get one, I will be upgrading the ram to 4gb for sure and maybe the hd to 320gb. There is a refurbished one that I am really interested in as well. It only comes with a 250gb hd and 2 gbs of memory, but I can add the 4 gb after. Is it easy to install new memory into the MacBook? Is it that big of a deal to have the 250gb drive instead of the 320gb? Storage isn't a big concern for me as I probably wouldn't use much over 50gb total with both OS's installed and all my games/apps. Would there be a performance difference? The refurbished one I am looking at is this one: http://store.apple.com/ca/product/FB467LL/A?mco=MjE0NDk5Mw

Anyways, thanks again for all the helpful info.
 
Canmacuser said:
I really appreciate the info. I am heavily leaning towards buying one now and am sure I would be quite happy with it. If I do get one, I will be upgrading the ram to 4gb for sure and maybe the hd to 320gb. There is a refurbished one that I am really interested in as well. It only comes with a 250gb hd and 2 gbs of memory, but I can add the 4 gb after. Is it easy to install new memory into the MacBook? Is it that big of a deal to have the 250gb drive instead of the 320gb? Storage isn't a big concern for me as I probably wouldn't use much over 50gb total with both OS's installed and all my games/apps. Would there be a performance difference? The refurbished one I am looking at is this one: http://store.apple.com/ca/product/FB467LL/A?mco=MjE0NDk5Mw

Anyways, thanks again for all the helpful info.
Click to expand...

Excellent choice; you could always spend like $50-$100 to get a 320GB-500GB HDD upgrade. Installation is a cakewalk.

RAM is easy to install; requires removing the bottom cover, but Apple provides the instructions; also you pretty much only do it once, so it's not a big deal.
 
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