A really tough choice.

Hello,

It's not worth it filling out the faq, since I know basically what I want to get, a macbook/pro. I have a tough choice, because although I'm patiently waiting for montevina, I'm not quite sure that would meet my needs.
The thing is, I'm moving away from PC, as I don't really game any more. I was very impressed by the build quality when I finally saw some macbooks in person at my local Apple store.
I don't really game any more, but what little I do game, the system requirements are very low (save for BF1942 and BF2).
Basically, I can't decide between a current macbook/pro, or montevina macbook. The reason I've been holding out, is because I'd like the slightly better battery life, and definitely the GMA X4500, but I'm concerned about compatibility.
Search here and google yields no answers to my questions, so my choice basically is, get a macbook now, and have a better chance for compatibility with an older game, or go with better integrated graphics with montevina and most likely sacrifice compatibility, or get a much more powerful macbook pro (the nvidia 8/9 series is not compatible with this game for sure), and hope it will function properly with Fusion or Parallels.
I don't want to give up this old game (Klingon Academy), and it works wonderfully with my old desktop with the GMA X3000. All other games I'd consider playing I know will be compatible with either of the three.
I'm very interested in Mac and OSX, and I'm definitely making the move, it's just really tough to decide what will best fit my needs.
Any thoughts?

 

what game are you talking about? compatibility with what?

 

Klingon Academy mostly. Old game from 2000. It runs perfectly on my inspiron e1705 (7900GS under XP, OLD drivers), but it will not run in Vista or with newer hardware/drivers.
That's one game I'd want to play the most.
Other games like Hearts of Iron, Civ3 I know will work fine. The absolute newest game I own is Battlefield 2, and I have no intentions of buying any new games any time soon.

 

then your solution would be to use boot camp, and instead of installing Vista, install XP. that way it'd more than likely be compatible. and i really hope that damned MBP gets updated in july, idk if i can wait until august. all the other companies seem to be upgrading right in july, so i'd hope apple does it too.

 

So do I.
So if I ran XP in bootcamp, I'd have to really get the current macbook. As I understand, the mobile x3100 vs. desktop x3000 are basically the same, so it should work.
Hmm...

 

x3100 for BF2 is definitely pushing it. I'll say get the $1500 mbp

 

Well, I haven't played BF1942 or BF2 in several months, and I could go another several months without them.
It's mainly KA that I still play, with a lot of mods. Ugh... unfortunately I don't have $2k or $3k dollars to sink in a new computer every year. Otherwise it would be no issue for me.

 

Possible Choice 1:
Get the Montevina macbook, there is no reason for it not to be compatible with your game (Klingon Academy) as it isn't some "wow" "amazing" new thing. It is just that everything gets faster and possibly smaller.

Nehalem, however, it might not work on, but Montevina, I would be pretty sure. Plus if its an 8 year old game the X4500HD will be plenty enough to run the game.

Possible Choice 2: Or you could get a 2007 (refurb) Macbook Pro with dedicated graphics and it would be around the price of a current black macbook (albeit a bit slower CPU wise)
Im not really sure about BF2 but if it cant run on an X4500 HD then get an older refurb MBP

P.S. don't buy a mac notebook right now, in about two months there will be new ones, and even if they aren't compatible with your game you'll get todays ones for a lot cheaper.

My best advice, just wait until mid-August, and if you cant then get the refurb MBP

 

That's good advice jvis, thanks. That was my original plan, is to wait till montevina is released. Guess I'll do that then.

 

Why is that?

 

@croe bar

It might not work because it is Intels "next big thing". Everything is supposed to be changed even the architecture itself. with such a big change you might lose some compatibility with older games/software. This in no way implies that it will, as there are few details out there.

My point was that get the Montevina Macbook, because I am not sure if Nehalem will be compatible.

This is just speculation however. I said "it might" not "it will"

 

i'll guess we'll find out how it will work when montevina comes out.

 

What is the difference between the montevina and the santa rosa? I can't remember if I saw a thread about that some where around here.

 

its going to have a faster FSB. from 800mhz to 1066mhz. depending on what apple goes with, but montevina can support DDR3 memory. its also going to have better wireless capabilities, and better integrated video. (which is still not very good anyway, if you plan on playing games, get a dedicated card.)

 

I corrected it for you.

 

haha good call. i work at best buy, and you have no idea how many people come in wanting to play COD4 on the $400 compaq laptop on the end of the aisle. and however many older people that come in wanting to play "games", but really they just mean majjong. it's interesting. the 8600gt on the current MP will play just about anything fine.

whats the latest speculation on new GPU for the MBP?

 

Nobody knows. There's rumors on 9xxx. Whatever that be.

If it's 9600 then it's not much of a boost. Is it?
It's not going to be 9800 I'm 100% sure on that.

 

yea, i'm just forever waiting on montevina. 9600gt would make sense, but i guess we wont know till it happens.

 

Yeah you need a nice thicker machine for that gpu. 1 inch wont cut it. The eat would be unbearable.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone.
I'm still in the same boat of indecisiveness, but I'll just wait and see when montevina is released, and what that means for the macbook/pro refresh.

 

don't expect the 9600 or 3600 that ends up going in the macbook pro to beat out 8800 class gpus.

it was that line of thinking that got everyone disappointed with the 8600 gt.

of course, the 8600 gt was really just meant to replace the x1600 / 7600, which it did. and the fact that 7950 gtx sli's were still considerably faster was. well... it should have been a little more obvious and less heart breaking.

so expect the card that replaces the 8600 to beat the 8600. don't expect it to beat the 8800 SLI's or anything. there are still notebooks designed to balance portability with performance. not everyone wants an m15x. so don't be disappointed. feel good about the fact that you can get a 1" thin laptop with a decent gpu.

or, if that doesn't sit well with you, get the m15x, or a sager-clevo.

 

No thanks, I'm definitely going apple this time around.

 

wish i could say the same.... its between apple and HP's new dv5 series. however the HP weighs more, has no LED display, and no backlit keyboard. however it will have a 9600gt. so we'll see.

 

Well, apparently Apple isn't going to use LED in the macbooks until 2009 IIRC, so I'll be missing that release.

 

You know, I had a thought... since macs seem to retain their value very well, would it be wise/unwise, to just purchase a mac mini, then in a couple or so months, sell it and buy a macbook?
I'd really like to get my feet wet with OSX, and it's really hard to wait for the refresh.
Checking on ebay for instance, mac minis seem to be going for a pretty fair price.
I see one right now, just the base model, 1.83GHz, combo drive, with more than 18 hours left in the auction, and it's already up to $712.95...

 

Nobody?

 

just get a used g4 ibook or powerbook.

they can be had for like $500, and then you can sell it for $500.

 

Can't run windows, and not powerful enough.
Are the refurbs really any good (from the Apple store)? I've heard many say yes, but I've always bought new in the past.

 

It looks like it's going to be August before Montevina GM chipset will be available (intel integrated graphics).
The PM chipset will be released in July, which requires a dedicated card.
I somehow missed that distinction before.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-9953224-64.html

 

you scared me there, so that would mean the macbook wont have the upgrade until august. the macbook pro would get it in july. (hopefully)

 

That is what it's looking like.

 

i'm leaning more and more towards that july release date on the MBP. cause all the companies are releasing new stuff in july. so why would apple wait?

 

That's also the speculation at macrumors.
I too think it will be july. But what do I know? I'm not Apple.

 

Does Apple supply new batteries with refurbs?