Windows or MAC?

**Hazza7** · May 7th, 2009, 06:25 PM

hey there guys,

so latly ive been thinking about buying a new computer the last couple ive owned have been a dell and my newest ( about 1 year old) is a custom gaming computer

but what im really looking for now is a laptop

i dont want to spend to much the more i can save the better!

price range AT MAX is like 1200 please keep in mind want to spend as little as possible

but what im gunna be using this laptop for is gaming on occasion(warhammer ect)
and school work

any suggestions on a laptop?

ive never been a apple computer guy but hey we all change sooner or later so who knows

**EXreaction** · May 7th, 2009, 08:25 PM

$1200 budget?

Have you even looked at the price tags on Macs?

What game are you going to play on a Mac? You'll have to buy Windows anyways to play any game.

**Hazza7** · May 7th, 2009, 09:21 PM

well i was thinking of selling my comp then like adding around 1000-1200 bucks to that for the mac games like warhammer or world of wracraft maybe some d3

**cksboy15** · May 7th, 2009, 10:19 PM

I honestly believe that mac's are overpriced compared to the windows base laptops you can get for the same price.

**thats_no_moon** · May 8th, 2009, 09:52 AM

Macs are entirely overpriced; however, I have had my Macbook Pro for a little over 2 years now and I'm quite satisfied with it (disregard the fact I'm building a desktop PC now). If you want something different... I say go for it. Sure you'll get less bang for your buck, but if that's not an issue with you - you'll be more than able to play WoW, Warhammer, etc. at decent settings while staying in your price range. Just my two cents.

**-FMA** · May 10th, 2009, 02:47 PM

If all he wants is something, run Windows and Linux. If a laptop PC is cheaper for his needs and he doesn't really need a Mac, then I don't see the point in getting one.

It's all about preference and what suits your needs. If you're a gamer then you're better off running Windows.

**cksboy15** · May 10th, 2009, 02:54 PM

this should do

Newegg.com - ASUS N50 Series N50Vn-D1 NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo T9550(2.66GHz) 15.4" Wide XGA 4GB Memory DDR2 800 320GB HDD 7200rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce 9650M GT - Laptops / Notebooks

only mac on newegg that fits budget
Newegg.com - Apple MacBook MB881LL/A Intel Core 2 Duo 2.00GHz 13.3" WXGA 2GB DDR2 667 120GB 5400rpm DVD±R/RW NVIDIA GeForce 9400M Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard

performance difference is quite obvious

**Bizkitkid2001** · May 10th, 2009, 03:52 PM

If you live near a Best Buy, these are the two best gaming laptops in your budget. I don't think you will be able to find faster laptops anywhere else at the same prices.

This one if you want a 15" screen

Asus - Laptop with Intel® Centrino® 2 Processor Technology - Brown/Yellow/Black - G50Vt-X5

And this one if you want a 17" screen

Gateway - FX Edition Laptop with Intel® Centrino® 2 Processor Technology - P-7805u

**GroundZero3** · May 11th, 2009, 04:44 AM

Originally Posted by EXreaction

$1200 budget?

Have you even looked at the price tags on Macs?

What game are you going to play on a Mac? You'll have to buy Windows anyways to play any game.

Incorrect, there are applications such as crossover and Fusion that will allow you to game in OSX with no lag at all.

**Nude_Lewd_Man** · May 11th, 2009, 06:29 AM

This is kinda interesting to me, as I'm looking to get a (V cheap) Mac to play with on my domain.....

**GroundZero3** · May 11th, 2009, 06:47 AM

You can buy refurb macs or just look on CL. However macs even used are still expensive as they hold their value unlike pcs

**Nude_Lewd_Man** · May 11th, 2009, 08:00 AM

I only want to play with one enough to see how to help ppl troubleshoot issues with them... I used to have one years ago - when (if memory serves) the 'computer' was built into the keyboard somehow....

Been a while since then, and I often get calls asking to help them with mail and/or accessing data on the server.....

**GroundZero3** · May 11th, 2009, 08:05 AM

There is a way to get OSX running on a regular machine/or a VM. However its not entirely legal but enough searching around on the internet will get you going.

**thephilosophizer** · May 11th, 2009, 08:17 AM

Originally Posted by GroundZero3

You can buy refurb macs or just look on CL. However macs even used are still expensive as they hold their value unlike pcs

A very good point when talking about macs. They really do hold their value value, and are generally built better, in a solid physical way (especially the new aluminum unibody ones), than just about any other laptop out, except maybe toughbooks, and also thinkpads are very sturdy.

Macs are good for mobility, they all get good battery, even the new 17" (which I believe is somewhere in the higher than I can conceive of price range). I have had my 13.3" aluminum mac since october. I love it. But it suits my needs really well, particularly being able to move around really easily (including HD and digitcal optical sound output, mine actually often doubles as an HTPC) and still delivering a high level of work productivity ability.

If you want gaming on a mac you want to go with a macbook pro, the 13.3"s have the 9400m integrated chips, but the 15"s actually have discrete chips (don't remember which off hand).

If gaming is one of your main purposes, I wouldn't recommend a mac unless you also want nice ascetics/battery life/mobility (things you get at a premium). Dollar for dollar, the asus above will give better game performance, but will be more suited for staying on the desk.

Hope that helps.

**GroundZero3** · May 11th, 2009, 08:24 AM

If you go on youtube, you can see how well the 9400m runs games. Ive seen people playing with Crysis on it, its laggy but still kind of playable. COD4 looks like it runs just fine on it

As for the 15 inch, those are the macbook pros which have the "NVIDIA GeForce 9400M and 9600M GT with 256MB or 512MB of GDDR3 memory"

If I get my new job, I was thinking about picking up a macbook. I had the last gen and loved it. The only problem was I used my desktop more at the time so I sold it. Now that I only have a crappy laptop after I moved I'm looking to upgrade to one. I dont game on my laptop (and if I do the macbook can handle DOD:S just fine) all the other games I play on my 360. With my new job Ill be traveling a lot and the weight/thiness of the macbook is exactly what I need

**thephilosophizer** · May 11th, 2009, 08:42 AM

Originally Posted by GroundZero3

If I get my new job, I was thinking about picking up a macbook. I had the last gen and loved it. The only problem was I used my desktop more at the time so I sold it. Now that I only have a crappy laptop after I moved I'm looking to upgrade to one. I dont game on my laptop (and if I do the macbook can handle DOD:S just fine) all the other games I play on my 360. With my new job Ill be traveling a lot and the weight/thiness of the macbook is exactly what I need

Exactly, if the mac fits your than it really is one of the best computers out there. The only game I have run on mine is civilizations IV, just to have something when traveling. I imagine it can handle most any strategy games pretty well (except maybe sup. commander which is a pretty hardware intensive game), but I am hesitant to want to run much for fps' on it beyond like half life 2 or something.
The gaming I do is generally on my desktop, though I did just get an xbox, though I still don't have any games/wireless adapter/or xb live subscription.

**Nude_Lewd_Man** · May 11th, 2009, 09:23 AM

Originally Posted by thephilosophizer

A very good point when talking about macs. They really do hold their value value, and are generally built better, in a solid physical way (especially the new aluminum unibody ones), than just about any other laptop out, except maybe toughbooks, and also thinkpads are very sturdy.

Macs are good for mobility, they all get good battery, even the new 17" (which I believe is somewhere in the higher than I can conceive of price range). I have had my 13.3" aluminum mac since october. I love it. But it suits my needs really well, particularly being able to move around really easily (including HD and digitcal optical sound output, mine actually often doubles as an HTPC) and still delivering a high level of work productivity ability.

If you want gaming on a mac you want to go with a macbook pro, the 13.3"s have the 9400m integrated chips, but the 15"s actually have discrete chips (don't remember which off hand).

If gaming is one of your main purposes, I wouldn't recommend a mac unless you also want nice ascetics/battery life/mobility (things you get at a premium). Dollar for dollar, the asus above will give better game performance, but will be more suited for staying on the desk.

Hope that helps.

The are only two games I ever play on my (M$) computers, and the second isn't even that often:

1) How long can I stay on TechIMO before the other half (or toddler..!!) complains

2) Freecell

Gaming isn't something I'm that bothered about, in case you hadn't noticed from above... Also, I'd be looking at it being a "Desktop" rather than laptop version - it would just stay at home...

**Nude_Lewd_Man** · May 11th, 2009, 09:26 AM

Originally Posted by GroundZero3

There is a way to get OSX running on a regular machine/or a VM. However its not entirely legal but enough searching around on the internet will get you going.

I'd be interested in finding out about having it on a proper box, as I don't really want to slow my (F@H) crunching...

Also, as the majority of my boxes aren't as up-to-date as I would like, they prolly wouldn't play too nicely with having a VM running within it...

**thephilosophizer** · May 11th, 2009, 11:20 AM

Originally Posted by Nude_Lewd_Man

I'd be interested in finding out about having it on a proper box, as I don't really want to slow my (F@H) crunching...

Also, as the majority of my boxes aren't as up-to-date as I would like, they prolly wouldn't play too nicely with having a VM running within it...

Yeah I have heard of the whole "hacintosh" thing, from what I have heard it generally works, but I would be worried about potential driver issues.

Also, powermacs are really expensive, they start at $2500, and you can generally get a much more powerful windows based pc for a lot less (esp. if you build your own).
Putting osx on a non-mac might be worth trying, but it kinda sounds to me that maybe you should be looking at more trying to run linux or something.

**Nude_Lewd_Man** · May 11th, 2009, 12:01 PM

Originally Posted by thephilosophizer

Yeah I have heard of the whole "hacintosh" thing, from what I have heard it generally works, but I would be worried about potential driver issues.

Also, powermacs are really expensive, they start at $2500, and you can generally get a much more powerful windows based pc for a lot less (esp. if you build your own).
Putting osx on a non-mac might be worth trying, but it kinda sounds to me that maybe you should be looking at more trying to run linux or something.

I already have a box put aside that I will be (re-)building as a Linux box, just need to get my ar$e in gear and get round to it...

I've got two lots of installation media for Linux, one is RedHat (an old version - 7??) the other is Ubuntu (from around 6-8 months ago) but whichever way, I want to be able to join it to my domain.....