02-14-2006, 01:28 AM

I've decided to purchase the Macbook pro, however, I am skeptical of this because I'm not a professional, just a college student who needs a powerful mac laptop and the powerbooks don't do it for me. Is apple going to release just a regular macbook for general use? Or does the "pro" even matter? Should I wait for them to release another version of the macbook, or go ahead and buy this one because all the ones released after will essentially be the same thing minus the professional look.

Also, as a gamer, mac's switching to intel will cause problems with playing the sims 2, etc. They've said they'll release patches for games so that they'll be intel compatible, but does anyone know when? And if released, will these games even play well on the macbook pro? I'm assuming they will, since it's a beast.

I'm thinking of buying the Macbook Pro, and watching what people say about it as my order prepares for the next month--can you cancel an order if you decide you don't want the computer?

Thanks,

Caitie

02-14-2006, 04:20 AM

Originally Posted by caitie

I've decided to purchase the Macbook pro, however, I am skeptical of this because I'm not a professional, just a college student who needs a powerful mac laptop and the powerbooks don't do it for me. Is apple going to release just a regular macbook for general use? Or does the "pro" even matter? Should I wait for them to release another version of the macbook, or go ahead and buy this one because all the ones released after will essentially be the same thing minus the professional look.

Also, as a gamer, mac's switching to intel will cause problems with playing the sims 2, etc. They've said they'll release patches for games so that they'll be intel compatible, but does anyone know when? And if released, will these games even play well on the macbook pro? I'm assuming they will, since it's a beast.

I'm thinking of buying the Macbook Pro, and watching what people say about it as my order prepares for the next month--can you cancel an order if you decide you don't want the computer?

Thanks,

Caitie

What do you mean when you say the PowerBooks don't do it for you? These laptops are still plenty powerful, but the Core Duo happens to be a brand new technology that was just released a month ago. The G4 still holds up with even the high end Pentium Ms performance-wise for most tasks.

That said, I assume the new MacBook non-Pro will be an iBook with a Core Solo. Of course, another possibility is that they wait until Merom comes out and put that in the new MacBook Pros while leaving Core Duos for the MacBooks. I would say go for the pro if you want a "powerful" mac notebook; it's not like the new MacBooks will be a whole lot more powerful than the current PowerBooks. In addition, the pro will be more suited to gaming, which seems to be something of a priority for you.

I know World of Warcraft is already universal with its 1.9.3 patch. As for the other games, I really don't know. Go to EA's website or ask their customer support about that kind of thing. if the demo Blizzard showed of WoW running on the Intel iMac at Macworld is any indication (and it should since the MacBook Pro has near identical hardware), gaming performance will be amazing on the MacBook Pros. WoW was running at 100 fps and slowed down to somewhere between 40 and 60 fps in Ironforge, the most heavily populated Alliance city in the game. These things will be beasts.

All this taken into account, I think you should put off getting the MacBook Pro until its second revision, when any kinks should be worked out. I believe the policy is you can cancel your order so long as it has not gone past the "Processing order" step or something like that. basically you have to cancel it before they start preparing it for shipment.

02-14-2006, 04:47 AM

... I;m lookin' forward an iBook with Due Core. It will the better variant for me.

02-24-2006, 07:19 PM

When Apple hosts its special event on the 28th, they will probably let out a MacBook (not pro) which replace the iBook. It will be a widescreen 13.3".

02-24-2006, 07:27 PM

13.3 inch screen is a good guess, but just to let you know since you could be holding out on buying until then if that suits you, is that 13.3 inch although all over the internet as a rumor is just that, we don't know anything about the release.

02-26-2006, 03:44 PM

Originally Posted by Discerptor

What do you mean when you say the PowerBooks don't do it for you? These laptops are still plenty powerful, but the Core Duo happens to be a brand new technology that was just released a month ago. The G4 still holds up with even the high end Pentium Ms performance-wise for most tasks.

really the g4 was a really crappy proc
the pentium m blows it away

02-26-2006, 03:50 PM

I have a powerbook g4 and it does do everything faster then all laptops I have put it against. It really is not an outdated technology, its still going strong and I believe it could have kept growing if they did not switch.

02-26-2006, 04:08 PM

Originally Posted by Echo_

really the g4 was a really crappy proc
the pentium m blows it away

The G4 is a "crappy processor" just like the Pentium III was a "crappy processor." The only thing "crappy" about it is that it is now outdated by a newer and faster processor, and it's still perfectly good for an everyday user without intense processor needs.

As for the original poster, please say a little more about "Powerbooks don't do it for me." You are aware that the Macbook Pro is, for all intents and purposes, a Powerbook with a faster chip in it? If the Powerbook doesn't "do it for you," then the MacBook Pro won't either.

The MacBook Pro is designed for the customer who, in the past, would have gone for a Powerbook but is open and receptive to a machine with more power on high-end applications. If you don't plan to intensively use Adobe Photoshop, iMovie, etc., then you should be looking at the iBook or waiting to see what the new non-professional cousin of the MacBook Pro will look like when it's released sometime in the next few months.

There's no telling exactly when that non-professional MacBook Pro cousin will be out, and there's no telling what it will look like. But it will certainly be cheaper than the MacBook Pro and it may be all you need.

As for when games like The Sims 2 will catch up to Universal Binary, who knows. The honest answer is that you're taking a risk--nobody can be sure when the transition will be complete. If you are a serious gamer--meaning that you enjoy picking up the latest and greatest PC games--you should probably re-think joining the Mac folks. I'm a Powerbook user myself and have never looked back, but Macs are just not gaming machines (not even the MacBook Pro.)