Macbook is cheapest option for my specs - but will it work?

I have been looking for a 13 inch laptop for ages, and have realized that a Macbook is actually the cheapest choice for me (XPS M1330 is around $1250 for same specs), the only thing the Dell has is a 120 gb hard drive instead of the Macbooks 80.

I will be using this laptop for college, and for surfing the web, and thats about it! Also using Garageband and iMovie probably, but I hear watching DVD's on MAcbooks is very loud and annoying, but I love to watch DVD's on my laptop, so that might be a problem .

Also, is the file saving system the same as in Windows? Because I really like the way My Documents is set up for saving notes...it helps me keep organized, thanks in advance!

Oh, and the only games I ever really play are The Sims and Rollercoaster Tycoon, can the Macbook handle these?

 

Yes, the macbook can easily handle those games.
Finder is better then Windows explorer in my opinion so you should be happy with that. I haven't heard about this DVD problem though.
Thomas

 

yeah there are mac releases of the tycoon and sims games, but you may need to rebuy them (can't be more than a few dollars)

there is a file structure and some basic organization for saving files and a documents folder, similar to windows.

there are much cheaper 13" laptops, but not much cheaper 13" laptops if the only ones you consider are the dell xps and the macbook...

just the same, os x is really excellent and the hardware is also top notch as far as quality and design go. and its pretty powerful (but not for 3d graphics- the two games you mentioned aren't that intensive though) so i would totally go for the macbook.

good luck!

 

Well you will quickly find that 80GB is nowhere near enough space for iMovie. Get the biggest drive possible for that, since iMovie projects can quickly consume gigabytes upon gigabytes of space. Other than that the MacBook should be good for you.

 

the macbooks do have terrible intel video cards and poor speakers but that would be the only issue, also you can run windows on the macbook.

 

You forgot that while the DELL XPS M1330 features a dedicated NVidia GeForce 8400m GS 128MB graphics card, the Apple MacBook only features an Intel GMA X3100 integrated graphics solution.

While gaming will be a little weak on the DELL XPS M1330, it'll provide a little more enjoyment than what the MacBook can provide.

Also, isn't the DELL XPS M1330 thinner than the MacBook and generally more sexy?

If you're not really that interested in a Mac product one way or the other, I'd go with the DELL XPS M1330. If you're looking forward to a Mac environment, than by all means go for the MacBook.

The Sims should work just fine on the MacBook since that's an older game and the X3100 should be capable enough to process it. Roller Coaster Tycoon should also be fine, since it's not graphically intensive.

The saving system is similar to Windows, yes. There might be occasional changes though, especially if you use iTunes to organize your music and movies, as it'll place them in the Music/iTunes folder in it's own folders and file names, unless you tell it not to otherwise.

 

I have been looking at the Macbook, Sony SZ, XPS M1330, and X61 Thinkpad.

Well to make the M1330 a 2.0 Processor, you have to add around 150 bucks, then for the card, another 100 bucks, already bringing the total price to 1350. Otherwise the Dell has just the X3100 as well, and a 1.5Ghz processor.

And is it possible to get XP on the M1330?

And also, would users here suggest Leopard or Tiger to use on a Macbook?

 

I don't believe they are offering XP on any of the XPS lines. As for which OS X, go with Leopard. It seems very usable, unlike Vista.

 

Did somebody just use the words "Dell" and "sexy" in the same sentence?

Anywho, I'm considering a MacBook as of late. I'm 'bout like you: all I do is use the Internet, do papers and such, and now that I can put XP on one, I'll have it for when I need to do VB or C++ programming for classes.

However...I'm a WoW addict. So I'm still on the fence as to whether it'd be worthwhile to try and play WoW on it.

I also play Lord of the Rings Online, however, I've come to the conclusion that the only way to play that game decently is on a modern close-to-if-not-top-of-the-line desktop PC. So I'm not gonna be too worried about it, especially since I have the lifetime membership and don't have to worry about a monthly fee.

So, my question is: can the MacBook play WoW well (at least at defaults with native resolution), in either OS X or XP?

 

It might be, if they got rid of the Dell logo on it .

There are several members who play WoW on a MacBook here (and on a GMA 950, not the new X3100), so with the new X3100, I think its not going to be too bad.

 

http://www.barefeats.com/mbook2.html

Benchmarks show that the MacBook seems to be perfectly playable in WoW at native rez and medium quality settings, which is pretty respectable although the WoW engine is very lenient. I wouldn't be surprised in OS X 10.5.1 added newer drivers for the GMA X3100 too, given that 10.4.11 had new drivers for my X1600, so performance now is probably a bit better.

 

WoW should be fine on the X3100, but a dedicated card would make it run a lot smoother, especially in big crowded areas.

Leopard seems to have some bugs in it, like random freezing and crashes, when do you think a patch or something will be released to fix all of the new OS's bugs?

 

They've already released 10.5.1 the first update.So, as you can see they are working to get it stable & fix the bugs. Here is a thread posted by myself in another forum that talks about the update.

 

As Thomas said, there already is one patch out, 10.5.1, that fixes some of the issues. And I wouldn't worry about it too much. If its a major bug, then it'll be addressed pretty quickly, I'm sure.

 

i may be super lame but i think one of the coolest things on the macbook is the magnetic latch so thats a plus... like i said maybe im WAY to easily amused but the macbook is the only laptop to have it

 

Hehe, I like it too, but I don't think its the coolest thing on the MacBook .

The MBP really should adopt this, if possible. The latch doesn't look nice.

 

one of the coolest haha but yeah the mbp needs it

 

Well, I do not think that macbook is the cheapest for your configuration. Actually it is way too expensive for its configuration. Why not get a thinkpad T61, it is only $800 or something like that. It is 14 inch widescreen and weights even less than macbook. Notice that macbook is only 13.3 inch and it is 5.4 pounds, the thinkpad T61 is 14 inch widescreen, and it weights 5.1 pounds. Though the OS of leopard is much better than xp, the video card is thinkpad is much better than macbook.
I am using a Mac G5 17 inch desktop, I just want to give you my objective opinion.

 

I guess that leads back to speculation if a long awaited MBP redesign will happen this Macworld.

What I'd be interested to know is whether the GMA X3100 qualifies for those new EA games since they specifically said that the GMA 950 wasn't supported. I can see BF2142 having graphics performance issues, but I would think C&C3 would be more CPU limited than GPU, especially since the PC requirements indicate it scales back to DX8 SM1.1 generation GPUs.

 

Any new system is capable of running Windows XP, especially since Microsoft quietly introduced a "Downgrade" option for Vista users to go back to XP.

Say what you all want, but I still think the design of the M1330 is sexy. Except for that battery hanging out the back, that's just ignorant.

On another note, I'd recommend Leopard. It functions well and a lot of programs have been updated to officially support it.

 

Well, if I got the XPS M1330, I would get the 6 and 9 cell battery, one for when connected to the outlet, and the 9 cell for when I take it with me somewhere.

I think I would stick with XP, unless I like Vista...

And I will also look into the Thinkpad, but I have one now and I hate it...it's currently sitting in my room, broken.

 

What about the Thinkpad is broken? I still have my old laptop, a DELL Inspiron 8600c that broke in June when the hard disk failed. I could have replaced it, but the NVidia GeForce 5200 64MB AGP 4x graphics card was severely dated and the chassis was literally breaking apart at the seams.

Edit: Really, due to the chassis damage, it was broken even before the hard drive failed. *laughs* But the duct tape did hold it together well.