Unibody Macbook Questions

[waloshin]

- If you own a Unibody Macbook what is the most graphic/cpu intensive thing you have done with it?

- Do you regret buying your Macbook, do you wish you bought the Pro?

- Do you think this laptop will be compatiable wiith Snow Leopard, or will the 9400m intergraded graphics hold it back?

* What is the Vista score for the MB 2.4ghz, thanks!

Which laptop would be overall better:

Unibody Macbook 2.4ghz or a Dell Studio XPS 1640?

Thanks for your time!

 

[panaphobe]

- If you own a Unibody Macbook what is the most graphic/cpu intensive thing you have done with it?

- Do you regret buying your Macbook, do you wish you bought the Pro?

- Do you think this laptop will be compatiable wiith Snow Leopard, or will the 9400m intergraded graphics hold it back?

Which laptop would be overall better:

Unibody Macbook 2.4ghz or a Dell Studio XPS 1640?

Thanks for your time!

I think the most graphics intensive thing I've done with this MacBook (the 2.4ghz unibody with 4gb RAM) is playing World of Warcraft with the graphics settings maxed out. The fan definitely gets going but it performs like a charm No stuttering or anything. So, with that said, I definitely don't regret not getting the MB Pro. It was definitely something I was debating over, but in the end, I prefer the size of the MacBook over the Pro.

The current MB and/or Pro will definitely be compatible with Snow Leopard. If anything, I have a feeling that these machines will probably run better under Snow Leopard over the current iteration of Leopard. It's supposed to trim down file space and remove the coding that requires Rosetta. Mind you, I'm not a coder or programmer, but I would assume that removing unnecessary code would make the computer run more efficiently

As far as a mac laptop compared to any PC laptop, I'm completely biased and prefer OSX over any version of Windows anyday

 

[nufanec]

Well, I can't speak for the MacBook specifically - I have the unibody pro - but I feel the 9400 performs great. Certainly not going to hold you back in snow leopard at all. Besides for Snow Leopard, a good graphics card will help overall system performance, but having a poorer card is certainly not going to slow down the system. All it would do is give a slightly better performance when it comes to certain calculations (particularly those involving any floating point maths).

On my Pro, I can count on one hand how many times I have turned the 9600 on. For light gaming (WOW, Quake 4, Doom 3, UT 2004) it provides more than adequate performance. For general use (Finder, web browsing, email, word processing, iPhoto, iTunes, etc), you would not notice the difference between a GMA X3100 and a 9600, let alone the 9400.

 

[scienide09]

Most intensive thing I've done on my alu MB is run Windows 7 beta through Parallels. That doesn't help you on the graphics side though. My wife was doing a couple of medium-sized tasks in Illustrator.

No, I bought my MB for reasons that made the MBP unnecessary. Besides, I already have an MBP.

Apple wouldn't be thinking right if they released an OS upgrade that wouldn't play nice with hardware less than a year old. Snow Leopard + any recent MB =

Vista scores can be found with a quick search: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/584510/

Personally, I'd pick the MacBook for portability alone. I use an external monitor for busy tasks.

 

[waloshin]

Is the screen on the Macbook unusable for watching movies / dvd's?

 

[michael.lauden]

Is the screen on the Macbook unusable for watching movies / dvd's?

it definitely isn't. it really is fine. everyone's just over reacting because if you spend twice as much - i.e a MBP or MBA you get a screen that is twice as nice.

i have the UMB 13.3" - and i love it. although i do admit if you are watching a lot of horror films where things are predominately dark it might get annoying when you share your screen.


you'll be fine

 

[acfusion29]

If you own a Unibody Macbook what is the most graphic/cpu intensive thing you have done with it?

Use final cut and photoshop at the same time.

Do you regret buying your Macbook, do you wish you bought the Pro?

Nope.

Do you think this laptop will be compatiable wiith Snow Leopard, or will the 9400m intergraded graphics hold it back?

For ****s sakes...

Unibody Macbook 2.4ghz or a Dell Studio XPS 1640?

MB ftw!

 

[panaphobe]

Is the screen on the Macbook unusable for watching movies / dvd's?

Personally, I *love* the screen. I watch podcasts and movies on it all the time... and, as I posted earlier, playing WoW on it is awesome I realize the concern over the glossy screen, but I think the display on my MacBook is SO much better than on my old PowerBook

 

[sosaysiburke]

i got a 5.2 vista score not to sure how accurate it is but after all the drivers where installed thats the score i got and it does run vista quite nicely . i just bought my macbook a few months ago and being a first time mac buyer i can honestly say i will never buy a pc again inless i have to i love my macbook. my friend has a 2.4 mbp and its okay i do like it but for my use i like the mobility of the 13 inch much better the mbp is much to large for me to be carrying around thats why i got the 13 inch i got a laptop because i want a mobile computer that is also able to do things like games and movies apple gave me exactly what i want and more in my opinion my macbook is by far the best computer i have ever had because it does it does exactly what i wanted mobile but still powerful .

 

[chrislaw]

I personally love everything abt mine except the
screen. The picture quality is wonderful but the reflection kills me

 

[holden15]

I haven't done that much with my MacBook as far as graphics goes but I have noticed it's much better than my older iMac.

There is nothing I regret about getting the MacBook. The only thing I was questioning was screen size but after a few days of using it, it suddenly got bigger. (I got used to it) And, the glossy screen isn't near as bad as what everybody seems to be complaining about. It is the best, (for 13.3") most high resolution, dead-pixel-free screen I have ever used.

Of course it will be compatible with Snow Leopard. For example: I got a very old 2002 PowerBook G4 Titanium from a friend who didn't need it anymore. And I was able to install Leopard on it with no problems. I doubt you wont be able to install Snow Leopard on your 6 month old MacBook.

Sorry, I don't have that piece of crap OS on my lovely MacBook!

MacBook by far!

 

[kp98072]

I had asked the same questions as you did about a month ago! I originally bought the MB for portability and it is a great machine, however within a two week period the screen started to irritate me in that its not as clear as the screen i was looking at on the MBP at the store. Luckily, I was able to return it for the PRO with no restocking fee! I was then scared the pro was going to be too big and not portable. Well, I can tell you, that IS NOT the case at all, the first few days it seemed sorta large, but after that I was blown away by the quality of the screen for viewing TV shows, movies, doing my photos on iphone, hands down worth it in every way!! it really is the perfect compromise between size and performance. It fits well at starbucks, on my lap, on the plane, train. Im very pleased!

 

[sosaysiburke]

after even playing with a 15 inch mbp and only carrying it around a house i cant accept it as "mobile" sure its bigger but 15-17 is a acceptable mobile computer but thats just me and as far as i can see the screen is amazing on the mb while it is at hands reach so i can understand the complaints but they really dont get to me cause i have another monitor for movies and so on . so to me its perfect and i dont personally need a mobile computer to be able to be my main monitor and be less mobile

 

[nabechu]

I run photoshop, final cut pro, and have a bunch of other programs running at the same time and never had any problems.

 

[Ivan P]

I have a UMBP, but I've used the standard UMB as well, and it's a great little machine. The only difference between the high-end MacBook and the low-end MBP is the slight difference in screen size and the fact that the MBP also has the decicated 9600 graphics card (which I have never used anyway).

after even playing with a 15 inch mbp and only carrying it around a house i cant accept it as "mobile" sure its bigger but 15-17 is a acceptable mobile computer but thats just me and as far as i can see the screen is amazing on the mb while it is at hands reach so i can understand the complaints but they really dont get to me cause i have another monitor for movies and so on . so to me its perfect and i dont personally need a mobile computer to be able to be my main monitor and be less mobile

i also like using periods apostrophes and other correctly placed punctuation and grammar do you too or do you like rambling lolz

 

[kp98072]

I have a UMBP, but I've used the standard UMB as well, and it's a great little machine. The only difference between the high-end MacBook and the low-end MBP is the slight difference in screen size and the fact that the MBP also has the decicated 9600 graphics card (which I have never used anyway).



i also like using periods apostrophes and other correctly placed punctuation and grammar do you too or do you like rambling lolz

DUDE!! BE NICE!!!!!

 

[barebackbadger8]

Is the screen on the Macbook unusable for watching movies / dvd's?

no way!

 

[mBox]

I run photoshop, final cut pro, and have a bunch of other programs running at the same time and never had any problems.

Ive been using my 17" uni for Final Cut, After Effects and Maya courses. I instruct a class and have the set-up to mirror along with a LCD Projector. My MBP is set to 1440 (I think) and the Projector to 1024x768. It runs decent with After Effects however at times both FCP and Maya loses staying power. Quick fix is to shut down app and restart. Annoying when your trying to teach a class and have to do that though

 

[ux4all]

Sounds like you are on the fence between Dell and Apple

- If you own a Unibody Macbook what is the most graphic/cpu intensive thing you have done with it?

- Do you regret buying your Macbook, do you wish you bought the Pro?


- Do you think this laptop will be compatiable wiith Snow Leopard, or will the 9400m intergraded graphics hold it back?

Opened SecondLife (sorry) and WoW at the same time. Running in WOW and flying in a busy area (SL) at the same time was the only time I even saw a stutter and that was running on a 7200.3 momentus (Seagate HDD).

For me it wasn't about the MBP v. UMB. It was White MB v. UMB. I ended up avoiding regret by spending more and seeing the long term value. Trackpad, Unibody, DDR3 were the tipping points (all of which are not on the white). It's the same reason I bought a first gen C2D MBP.

I think NOT having the 9400 will hold people back.

 

[LFC.SL]

- Do you think this laptop will be compatiable wiith Snow Leopard, or will the 9400m intergraded graphics hold it back?

May I ask why there is so much apparent concern on internet forums about compatibility with Snow Leopard? Its a sub-species, not an evolution (no pun intended)

I do not regret buying smaller. I sometimes think its too big Less is more; https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=7443487

 

[JamesGorman]

I think the macbook is great. Ive played cod 4 at almost max settings and it dosent stutter to much, its very playable. Besides that, I have no regrets at all on not buying the pro.

 

[gerbilbox]

Is the screen on the Macbook unusable for watching movies / dvd's?

Oh boy...

It really depends individual tolerance of how the MacBook displays blacks and how many people are watching the movies from it. Many people don't really notice that much, and if you're one of these people and you're the only person watching the screen, it's it's fine and perfect for you. You should go to an Apple Store (or other Apple retailer) and check the screen out for yourself.

Other people (like myself) don't tolerate that well to the "glowing" blacks in the MacBook screens. I can actually find it okay if it was just me watching a movie or DVD on a MacBook, but I would rather have a MacBook Pro.

It's harder when there are more people watching the screen 'cause then the vertical viewing angle factor kicks in. On the MacBook, I have to fiddle with the screen angle so that everyone can get a decent picture without poor contrast.

This is strongly individual preference, so you should go to a store to check it out for yourself. I know that it doesn't really answer your question, but it's the damn truth.

 

[johnny13oi]

If you are talking about the unibody 13in Macbook also keep in mind that the Studio XPS 16 can be configured with a 1980 x 1080 screen which is 1080p resolution exactly. The 13in macbook can only be had with a 1280 x 800 screen. This could make a huge impact on which laptop you get. Also note that the 15in Unibody can be had with a 1440 x 900 screen and a 17in Unibody 1920 x 1200. These resolutions have a large impact on productivity. And the Macbook (non-pro) screens have unbelievable backlight bleed and blacks are atrocious.