Hello,
I'm brand new to this website, so first I'd like to say Hi, and thanks to anyone who helps out. I've been doing alot of research on the Macbook, and the Macbook Pro's in the past couple of months.
I'm looking to purchase one of the two for University. I will be studying Engineering, and possibly using a CAD program in the future. I've done my research, and the most widely used CAD program is AutoCAD, and the system requirements to run it are:
* Intel® processor 3.0 GHz or greater
* Windows XP Professional (SP2)
* 2 GB RAM or greater
* 2 GB of disk space available, not including installation
* 1280x1024 32-bit color video display adapter (true color)
* 128 MB or greater, OpenGL®-capable workstation class graphics card.
(I plan on using BootCamp to have this program work). Now the enhanced of AutoCAD, which brings drawings to a third dimension and apparantly much more, requires:
* Intel® Pentium® 4, Xeon™, or AMD Athlon™, 2GHz or better processor
* 3.5+ GB free hard drive space (for installation)
* 1+ GB RAM
* 128+ MB DirectX or OpenGL Capable graphics card
Now, these are all recommended requirements, and I obviously designed to suit better performance.
Finally, here comes the question. I cannot decide if I would like to purchase the Mid-Level Macbook, or the Entry-Level Macbook Pro.
I have no doubt in my mind that the Macbook Pro will run these programs flawlessly, I've seen it done. My question is, will the Mid-Level Macbook run these programs at a "good" performance. I've done alot of reading on the Intel GMA 950 Card which runs inside the Macbook. I'm just not sure if it will meet my requirements, if anyone else would like to take a look at what I've read, take the following link:
http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/gma950/
Any suggestions or help is appreciated. (PS, I'm not worried about the Macbook having a smaller screen, I'm connecting it to a Cinema Display when I'm working on drawings).
I've gone to stores like Bestbuy, Futureshop, Compusmart and they all are telling me Macbook Pro, everytime I ask will these programs even run on the Macbook, I get a "I don't know, I've never tried it"
I'm brand new to this website, so first I'd like to say Hi, and thanks to anyone who helps out. I've been doing alot of research on the Macbook, and the Macbook Pro's in the past couple of months.
I'm looking to purchase one of the two for University. I will be studying Engineering, and possibly using a CAD program in the future. I've done my research, and the most widely used CAD program is AutoCAD, and the system requirements to run it are:
* Intel® processor 3.0 GHz or greater
* Windows XP Professional (SP2)
* 2 GB RAM or greater
* 2 GB of disk space available, not including installation
* 1280x1024 32-bit color video display adapter (true color)
* 128 MB or greater, OpenGL®-capable workstation class graphics card.
(I plan on using BootCamp to have this program work). Now the enhanced of AutoCAD, which brings drawings to a third dimension and apparantly much more, requires:
* Intel® Pentium® 4, Xeon™, or AMD Athlon™, 2GHz or better processor
* 3.5+ GB free hard drive space (for installation)
* 1+ GB RAM
* 128+ MB DirectX or OpenGL Capable graphics card
Now, these are all recommended requirements, and I obviously designed to suit better performance.
Finally, here comes the question. I cannot decide if I would like to purchase the Mid-Level Macbook, or the Entry-Level Macbook Pro.
I have no doubt in my mind that the Macbook Pro will run these programs flawlessly, I've seen it done. My question is, will the Mid-Level Macbook run these programs at a "good" performance. I've done alot of reading on the Intel GMA 950 Card which runs inside the Macbook. I'm just not sure if it will meet my requirements, if anyone else would like to take a look at what I've read, take the following link:
http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/gma950/
Any suggestions or help is appreciated. (PS, I'm not worried about the Macbook having a smaller screen, I'm connecting it to a Cinema Display when I'm working on drawings).
I've gone to stores like Bestbuy, Futureshop, Compusmart and they all are telling me Macbook Pro, everytime I ask will these programs even run on the Macbook, I get a "I don't know, I've never tried it"