shopping for school... and games

Post by **D.A.R.K.[CotC]** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 7:12 am

Most macbook users I know use it specifically to run Windows XP and Vista through Bootcamp, VMware Fusion, and Parallel. It works just about the same as actually having a PC with just windows on it, though it will feel different in some aspects.

Ender[CotC] · Post by **Ender[CotC]** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 8:58 am

So are you saying that it would work for me to get a Macbook and I'd still be able to play games and such?

I know what you're talking about with the whole "windows-through-boot-camp" thing. A friend of mine in California did that... but so that he could play MS on it.... not css... or something.

Mind you, I don't know how the whole "windows-through-boot-camp" things works technically, but I know of it's ability to exist.

Post by **Neophyte** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 9:12 am

Ender[CotC] wrote:So are you saying that it would work for me to get a Macbook and I'd still be able to play games and such?

I know what you're talking about with the whole "windows-through-boot-camp" thing. A friend of mine in California did that... but so that he could play MS on it.... not css... or something.

Mind you, I don't know how the whole "windows-through-boot-camp" things works technically, but I know of it's ability to exist.

Ender, now that Mac's are on similar parts as a PC, Windows XP now runs fine on a Mac if you first split your hard drive with Bootcamp and reserve some of it's space for Windows XP. You may want the largest possible drive here. And reserve half of it to Windows XP. The Mac will be able to see the Windows XP half of the drive but it's not true the other way around. Keep in mind that Macbook's (Vanilla) aren't known for their gaming prowess, so the Intel integrated graphic card capabilities might be well under the options that may be available to you through a PC laptop. Which is probably why your friend can't play CS:S - not enough oomph in the GPU department.

You might check with your wallet and see if it's large enough to swing a top-of-the-line Macbook Pro with the Nvidia 8600M GPU. That just might meet your needs.

Ender[CotC] · Post by **Ender[CotC]** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 12:33 pm

Alright, thanks.

I was already looking at the Macbook Pro, as the name "Pro" in the title of the computer pretty much automaticaly makes it better than a plain "Macbook". It does look more powerful, in both amount of things it can do and damage done by price, and it's up there in the order of preference.

I was confused though by the "(Vanilla)" thing. A quick google search reveled nothing comprehendable to me, so I'm assuming that this is a certain version of the Macbook?

This is the sort of thing I'm looking at right now:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 9877238686

Thoughts?

Post by **Neophyte** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 10:43 pm

Apple has three MacBook's and three MacBook Pro's.

(Scroll down a little on this page for names and spec's: www.apple.com)

I'm calling the ones without "Pro" in the name the plain vanilla ones. The one you linked to BestBuy is the top of the line, so you're ok.

Ender[CotC] · Post by **Ender[CotC]** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 8:57 am

Thanks Neo.
I saw those ones and I wasn't quite sure what the difference was. I dont know if I'll go for the 17 incher though. I was wondering though; the difference in graphics cards for the 15 inch screen ones, what is the difference? I figure one is better than the other, but is it a big difference? one that I should take into account?