Almost a switcher...

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Hey all, glad to be a part of the forums. If all goes well, I should have my brand new Mac in a couple of weeks.

I've been debating with myself whether to get the 2.2Ghz or the 2.4Ghz MBP for the past week, and finally decided on the 2.2Ghz. But I just have couple of things bothering me though that I hoped you guys could answer for me.

First, should I purchase the AppleCare Protection Plan? From what I've been reading, the quality of the MBPs have been iffy lately. I know Apple has great customer service but if possible, I would like to save that money to go towards other things.

Second, can I purchase an OEM version of Windows Vista Home Premium and run it in Bootcamp, and have it activate and stuff properly? I know Microsoft recently changed their EULA for Vista saying they won't allow "virtualization" unless you're running Business or Ultimate. Also, how is the performance of Windows thru Bootcamp? Since it's not being virtualized, I would imagine that it would be the same as running a normal Wintel PC. Are there any problems with drivers or compatibility?

Thanks guys and I'll be looking forward to your responses.
 
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hi i will probably be getting my macbook in a couple of weeks too i can't stop thinking about it !

i suggest you do get the apple protection plan but after the free protection expires as i have also heard their customer service is good and their repaires and things. Also bootcamp well im not too sure as i don't have my macbook yet but you divide your HD into parts eg say if you had a 150GB HD you could do half and half so it would be 75GB mac and 75GB vista but you could do 149GB mac and 1GB vista its up to you

hope i helped

BOO TO PCS !! im using one now though :( MACS ROCK <33
 
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Also bootcamp well im not too sure as i don't have my macbook yet but you divide your HD into parts eg say if you had a 150GB HD you could do half and half so it would be 75GB mac and 75GB vista but you could do 149GB mac and 1GB vista its up to you

maybe i wasn't clear enough it's up to you how you divide your hardrive between vista and mac :D
 
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maybe i wasn't clear enough it's up to you how you divide your hardrive between vista and mac :D

I know you're new to the forums, but you should know by now that when you have something to add to your post, you use the edit feature. You've been double posting constantly around here and you seriously need to stop.
 
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I know you're new to the forums, but you should know by now that when you have something to add to your post, you use the edit feature. You've been double posting constantly around here and you seriously need to stop.
Indeed, no one likes a double poster.

hi i will probably be getting my macbook in a couple of weeks too i can't stop thinking about it !

i suggest you do get the apple protection plan but after the free protection expires as i have also heard their customer service is good and their repaires and things. Also bootcamp well im not too sure as i don't have my macbook yet but you divide your HD into parts eg say if you had a 150GB HD you could do half and half so it would be 75GB mac and 75GB vista but you could do 149GB mac and 1GB vista its up to you

hope i helped

BOO TO PCS !! im using one now though :( MACS ROCK <33
I know how Bootcamp works but what I need to know is if I can use an OEM version of Vista or XP instead of a retail version. Besides, Vista needs way more than 1GB to install. :Smirk:

Also, if anyone else has an opinion on the AppleCare Protection Plan, please tell me. I know that Apple will repair your product after the warranty expires... for a hefty fee that is.
 
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If you don't have the money right off of the bat, I siguest that you buy it a little later. 1. It extends the warranty out another 3 years, so if ANYTHING gets mucked up, they will fix it for free. I have heard stories where people took in there laptops to the mac store, and the cost to fix it was going to be >1000, but since they had the Apple Care Plan, they got it fixed for free. 2. You can also buy the plan up to a year after your MBP was purchased. Since I did not have the money for it the day that I bought my MB, I used my next paycheck to take care of it.

Regarding the Vista question, I am pretty sure that only apply to when you are wanting to virtualize, but since you are going to actually be running vista on the machine, I don't foresee this being a major problem.

Good luck on your purchase, I hope that I helped.

-Xander
 
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That's what I was thinking of doing. If I buy the APP at the end of the yearlong warranty, it should extend the total warranty to nearly 4 years if I'm not mistaken.

Thanks for the answer to my Vista question. I just didn't want my Mac to be registered with funky hardware when I activate it.

(Don't forget your name! ;))
 
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Get Apple Care, regardless.

As for Vista and Bootcamp... 2 things. Consider getting XP rather than Vista and run it in Parallels - no restrictions. XP will be fully supported for at least 3 more years, probably longer. The only advantage Vista gives you is on DX10 games, which the MacBook Pro won't be able to play anyway as it doesn't have the hardware.

Incidentally, the VM running Parallels is as fast as bootcamp (within 2-3%) in almost all cases, except DX games.
 
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I thought the MBP does have the hardware. I"m a bit confused. I could be wrong, but isn't all you need is a specific graphics card to run DX10 games? All 8XXX NVIDIA GeForce support DirectX I believe, though I could be wrong, and the new MBPs have the 8600 GeForce cards, so shouldn't DirectX 10 be supported? I'm confused!
 
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I thought the MBP does have the hardware. I"m a bit confused. I could be wrong, but isn't all you need is a specific graphics card to run DX10 games? All 8XXX NVIDIA GeForce support DirectX I believe, though I could be wrong, and the new MBPs have the 8600 GeForce cards, so shouldn't DirectX 10 be supported? I'm confused!

I sort of get what you're saying but I'm still pretty sure that DirectX 10 is not supported.
 
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The 8600GT in the SR MBPs have DX10 hardware support. Vista is needed to take advantage of DX10 though as XP only supports up to DX9.
 
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1. If you can afford it at the time, get the AppleCare protection plan - just incase something happens after the first year ;) If you can't, buy it somewhere down the track (but within the first year) - it's worth it.
2. You will have no problems activating your copy of vista, the only problem is that you MUST buy OEM editions with a FULL system, so you must buy it with your Mac. You can not buy it later or from a different retailer. So that leaves out buying it from the apple online store, sorry.
 
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2. You will have no problems activating your copy of vista, the only problem is that you MUST buy OEM editions with a FULL system, so you must buy it with your Mac. You can not buy it later or from a different retailer. So that leaves out buying it from the apple online store, sorry.
You can buy OEM versions of Windows from Newegg and similar sites. The only difference between OEM and retail versions is that once OEM versions are activated on a certain system, it's stuck to that system. You can't transfer the license as you can with retail versions. From what I've been seeing in this thread, it seems that OEM versions should work fine under Bootcamp, but I'll probably purchase the retail version in case Vista on my MBP is garbage.
 
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You can buy OEM versions of Windows from Newegg and similar sites. The only difference between OEM and retail versions is that once OEM versions are activated on a certain system, it's stuck to that system. You can't transfer the license as you can with retail versions. From what I've been seeing in this thread, it seems that OEM versions should work fine under Bootcamp, but I'll probably purchase the retail version in case Vista on my MBP is garbage.

A quick google search for 'Windows OEM Licence' came up with these:
Link 1 Link 2 (Microsoft Website)

And, yes, you CAN buy it from newegg, and no one will stop you, but it is intended for system builders so it will be technically illegal for you to install it (but it's microsoft so who really cares, right? ;) ).

But if you intend to transfer it (incase you prefer xp or some such alternative on your mbp) just buy the retail version for the little extra cash...
 
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Illegality never stopped me before... heh heh heh...(I'm kidding I'm kidding).

I think my basic A+ cert covers the system builder part anyway. If Microsoft had the ability to tell whether or not I was rightfully using an OEM license, there would be a lawsuit a comin'. :)
 
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The 8600GT in the SR MBPs have DX10 hardware support. Vista is needed to take advantage of DX10 though as XP only supports up to DX9.

Yes, the 8600GT supports DX10, just like the FX5200 supported DX9...

With only 32 pipelines, 128-bit memory; completely lacking in pixel throughput, the 8600GT is pretty weak in terms of DX10 capability. In fact it struggles to keep up with the X1600, in many benchmarks actually falls short, in DX9 and OpenGL... so it's hardly going to run DX10 great.

Honestly, I am not trying to put a downer on your new machine, I'd give my left nad to have one, but don't let anyone con you into thinking you'll be playing DX10 games under Vista at anything near a decent frame rate - you'll be disappointed.
 
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Yes, the 8600GT supports DX10, just like the FX5200 supported DX9...

With only 32 pipelines, 128-bit memory; completely lacking in pixel throughput, the 8600GT is pretty weak in terms of DX10 capability. In fact it struggles to keep up with the X1600, in many benchmarks actually falls short, in DX9 and OpenGL... so it's hardly going to run DX10 great.

Honestly, I am not trying to put a downer on your new machine, I'd give my left nad to have one, but don't let anyone con you into thinking you'll be playing DX10 games under Vista at anything near a decent frame rate - you'll be disappointed.

I think people are often thinking of the MBPs having great graphical capability. When, really,they only have great graphical capability as far as Macs go.
 
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I think people are often thinking of the MBPs having great graphical capability. When, really,they only have great graphical capability as far as Macs go.

It's a decent GPU, for HD movies for example you'll get 1080p rock solid and it can decode Blu-Ray without even getting warm - not to mention any Mac game, Intel optimised, will run and look as good as is possible. However, running the Crytek engine at 60fps in Vista? No chance. T
 
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It's a decent GPU, for HD movies for example you'll get 1080p rock solid and it can decode Blu-Ray without even getting warm - not to mention any Mac game, Intel optimised, will run and look as good as is possible. However, running the Crytek engine at 60fps in Vista? No chance. T
Crysis has no chance of running on any mobile platform decently. I doubt even the 8700GT will be able to run Crysis at a decent framerate at high settings. I don't really care for gaming on my PC that much. I have consoles for that. The things that are MOST important to me just happened to be mentioned in your post, decoding 1080p and Blu-Ray movies so the 8600GT is more than enough for me.

I was actually hoping to play some of my Blu-Rays through Bootcamp/Windows on my MBP. The 2.2Ghz model should have a sufficient amount of power to play that back... I hope.
 
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I was actually hoping to play some of my Blu-Rays through Bootcamp/Windows on my MBP. The 2.2Ghz model should have a sufficient amount of power to play that back... I hope.

Fair enough; I sometimes wrongly assume that people go for boot-camp/Vista to play DX10 games.
 

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