Windows games on a new Mac

[pyrokat]

So my laptop died recently and I am looking to buy a Mac but I don't know which one. I am a college student who plays games sometimes. Specifically, the CoD series. I have the WaW. I have narrowed it down to the two

a. 2.4 alu Macbook, 250gb, 5400 rpm, 2GB ram

b. 2.4 alu Macbook Pro, 250gb, 5400 rpm, 2GB ram, 256mb gddr3

Which should I get? And I have a couple a questions so bare with me. Please no bashing, you waste my time and yours.

1. Should i just wait until Snow Leopard before I even buy anything?

2. Will 250gb be enough to run WinXP and MacOS? I have less than 30GB of media on my iPod and it is mostly DVDs. I have less than 5GB of pics too.

3. Can the MacBook run WaW well and not die with these specs? Is the screen size an issue?

4. NVIDA older chipsets fried very easily (I know. It fried on my dead laptop after 15 months). Are there any issues with the games frying the video cards? If so, does anyone think Apple will cover the error?

5. Should I get more RAM?

6. Any recommendations for the specs I should get? No 17" please. I commute to school and cannot lug it around like I did with my dead laptop. Please keep in mind that I am a college student and only have less than 10k in the bank.

 

[Kaos Theory]

Well, I would actually say that the best deal you could get would be a refurbished early 2008 MacBook Pro 15" with 2 GB of RAM, a 512MB GPU, and a 250 GB HD (also, they have matte screens). You can snag one of these on Apple.com for $1500, which is one heck of a deal. The performance difference between the newer MacBook Pros and the older models isn't that significant, so I think a saving of around $1000 justifies the refurbished state of the machine.
If you don't mind playing CoD5 at medium-low settings, I would say get the MacBook but bump its RAM up to 4 GB (my system handles all games with only 2 GB of RAM, however); with this configuration, it should be comparable to a MacBook Pro in all areas but graphics processing (it should still be able to play WaW fairly well, though; MacBooks can run CoD4 on moderate settings). No matter what config you choose, I think that AppleCare is essential, even if you have bought a refurb.
And about waiting for Snow Leopard... It will be coming out before Fall, apparently, so unless you want to buy and install it later, then I would wait. Hope this helps!

Oh, and you should have plenty of space for running Bootcamp if you have a 250 GB HD. Remember to save space in your partition for the space that the actual Windows OS takes up (around 30 GB, give or take, or less if it's XP; I don't really know a lot about Windows, though, so it might take up more or less space than I said.)

 

[aznguyen316]

So my laptop died recently and I am looking to buy a Mac but I don't know which one. I am a college student who plays games sometimes. Specifically, the CoD series. I have the WaW. I have narrowed it down to the two

a. 2.4 alu Macbook, 250gb, 5400 rpm, 2GB ram

b. 2.4 alu Macbook Pro, 250gb, 5400 rpm, 2GB ram, 256mb gddr3

Which should I get? And I have a couple a questions so bare with me. Please no bashing, you waste my time and yours.

1. Should i just wait until Snow Leopard before I even buy anything?

2. Will 250gb be enough to run WinXP and MacOS? I have less than 30GB of media on my iPod and it is mostly DVDs. I have less than 5GB of pics too.

3. Can the MacBook run WaW well and not die with these specs? Is the screen size an issue?

4. NVIDA older chipsets fried very easily (I know. It fried on my dead laptop after 15 months). Are there any issues with the games frying the video cards? If so, does anyone think Apple will cover the error?

5. Should I get more RAM?

6. Any recommendations for the specs I should get? No 17" please. I commute to school and cannot lug it around like I did with my dead laptop. Please keep in mind that I am a college student and only have less than 10k in the bank.

If you are serious about debating between MB or MBP then get the pro especially if gaming is a concern. It's more $$ though but if you're actually asking between the two, then you prob know the costs. If size/portability is a matter for you more so than gaming, then the MB is good. I don't know your priorities.

250GB should be fine. It depends on how you are. I like to have a large amount of free space. I partitioned ~ 70gb for boot camp and delete games I don't play a lot and have about 15gb free and have about 100gb free in OSX. I like it that way. So I guess 250 should be okay, but remember games take up A LOT of space. So if you partition 80GB for Bootcamp that leaves you maybe 150GB after format for OSX. I have a lot of media so that wouldn't work out sell well for me.

I did some research and CoD WaW will play acceptably on the MB. I'm looking to get it soon to check out, but I'm not afraid since CoD4 ran fine. the MB won't die =) Screen size is preference. 1280x800 is fine for me, esp since it can't handle any higher res that well if hooked up to lcd

Buy a MB when you're ready, don't worry about waiting b/c we don't know an absolute release date. I'll upgrade to snow leopard def though but all good. Up to you, it's a $130 either now or wait debate.


haven't heard of any issues w/ nvidia's new chipsets

additional ram always kicks ass. I love having 4gb. no worries about random things open.

sorry this got long haha. I'm just typing off the top of my head so pay no mind to how it sounds, just content.

 

[Winni]

Why do you want to buy a Mac when Windows games are your main concern?

The best compromise for you, if you really want to have an Apple machine, would be to buy a MacBook for your computing needs and an Xbox 360 for your gaming needs.

 

[Consultant]

Barefeats have benchmarks. MacBook Pro is better for gaming.

You can always upgrade the HD. Pretty easy.

More RAM yes if you need it.

Comes with 1 year warranty for parts and labor. You can extend it to 3 years with Apple Care.

17" MBP weights the same as 15" PC laptops. Portability is not an issue but for you seems 15" would work fine.

Xbox 360 for your gaming needs.

You do know that games on consoles have auto aim and are slowed down (easier) to compensate the non-accurate console controllers?

 

[Huntn]

Why do you want to buy a Mac when Windows games are your main concern?

The best compromise for you, if you really want to have an Apple machine, would be to buy a MacBook for your computing needs and an Xbox 360 for your gaming needs.

I want my Mac for most things computer related and I travel a lot and want my Windows gaming (which is everything other than World of Warcraft) with me hence my choice of a MBP.

 

[pyrokat]

Why do you want to buy a Mac when Windows games are your main concern?

The best compromise for you, if you really want to have an Apple machine, would be to buy a MacBook for your computing needs and an Xbox 360 for your gaming needs.

If you could read, you would have seen that I play games SOMETIMES. If I wanted an Xbox 360, I would have gotten it already since I am willing to dish out the money for a Mac. I am trying to see if macbook is just >functional with what I want.

 

[aznguyen316]

If you could read, you would have seen that I play games SOMETIMES. If I wanted an Xbox 360, I would have gotten it already since I am willing to dish out the money for a Mac. I am trying to see if macbook is just >functional with what I want.

word, I still like gaming w/ my mac and I own a PS3 and 360. It's just nice to know if the MB is capable of games for other reasons besides JUST GAMING.

 

[Huntn]

Oh, and you should have plenty of space for running Bootcamp if you have a 250 GB HD. Remember to save space in your partition for the space that the actual Windows OS takes up (around 30 GB, give or take, or less if it's XP; I don't really know a lot about Windows, though, so it might take up more or less space than I said.)

And you can always expand hd space with one of those portable drives. I have a 250GB drive formatted in Fat32 so I can use it for both my Mac and Windows environments. In Windows, you can install games to it if you need to conserve space on your internal partition.