What the Macbook is Good For

I'm in the market for a new PC. I haven't fully decided if it's going to be a desktop or a good ol lappy. However, if my decision is going to be a laptop, then I will most certainly get a fully loaded Black Macbook. However, I wanted to make sure that the Macbook can do what I need to do. I'm going to be doing school work and whatnot, and I also want to dabble in photo and video editing. I will also be listening to music and watching movies on it, and probably using it as my main DVD player when hooked up to my HDTV. Also, I would like to do some gaming on it. Now, I know the Macbook isin't meant for gaming, but the games I want to play are graphically demanding. Can anyone tell me if these games will run on the Macbook? I would like them to run quite fluidly, with little to no slow down.

-Halo
-Counter Strike 1.6
-NeverWinter Nights 1 and all expansions
-Empire Earth 1 & 2
-Unreal Tournament 2004
-Call of Duty 1
-Morrowind and Expansions
-All Civilizations
-Age of Empires III
-Red Orchestra
-Dungeon Siege
-Guild Wars

And these are some of the games I would like to try, but am hesitant at the power they need:

-Half Life 2 & Half Life Source
-Dark Messiah of Might and Magic
-Heroes of Might and Magic 5
-Possibly Halo 2 (yeah, I know, I'm dreaming)
-Possible Two Worlds (again, intensly dreaming)

Now, this Macbook will be fully loaded. Also, how much RAM can the Macbook hold? I'm going to order it with 2 GBs, but will probably upgrade in the future.
That's it for now, thanks for any help in advance.

 

You'll probably be disappointed gaming on a Macbook. The graphics card isn't meant for gaming at all. Can you afford the 15'' Macbook Pro? It'll be much better for gaming and should handle modern games just fine.

Macbook supports up to 3GB of RAM, even though Apple says it only supports 2GB.

 

If you want to game that much than a MacBook isn't for you. A MacBook Pro would be much more accomodate your gaming needs. Some of those older games, (Civilizations, Dungeon Siege, Halo, etc will be able to run, but you better have 2 GBs of RAM (since the GMA950 siphons system RAM), and be ok with running games at much lower detail levels.

As for games on your wishlist, keep dreaming, the GMA 950 isn't Hardware T&L capable, basically eliminating all new game releases.

 

Mmm, okay. So I shouldn't expect Halo to look good, or any other game for that matter. Oh well. I just really like the Macbook. The Pro is okay. I need to head to my local Apple store and study the Pro, and make some final decisions.

 

The regular macbook is completely capable of handling photo and video editing. However, like the others mentioned, it will not run those games. The 15" 2.2GHz MacBook Pro with a 128MB dedicated Nvidia GeForce 8600m GT will suit you fine. You will also be spending money on a copy of Windows XP if you plan to game, so be sure to have your wallet handy.

Think about whether or not your willing to pay upwards of $2300-$2500 (for the Mac, Windows disc, and warrenty if you choose). There are cheaper PC laptops for your needs. Although, if you do go with the MacBook Pro/MacBook, every dollar will be well spent.

 

The macbook will be hurtin if you try to run AoE3 on it. I play AoE a lot on the notebook (overclocked, too) listed in my sig and I am still not where I want to be with the graphic settings for it. I also used to try and play AoE3 on my E1505 with a C2D 2.0ghz and a Geforce 7300. That wasnt even close to being able to play it at decent settings. Just my two cents!

Josh

 

Yikes. Oh well, I really wanted a Macbook because I have never been an Apple user, and the OS looks amazing. But, seeing as I would like to do some light or moderate gaming, guess I'll go for the Optiplex I had planned out with an 8800GTS. Thanks all!

 

I wouldnt get discouraged that easy. So what if the macbook wasn't exactly what you were looking for in a 13.3" lappy. I don't think there are any 13.3"ers out there with the GPU necessary to do what you want (new XPS maybe). Why are you not interested in the MBP?

Josh

 

The macbook pro refresh is an incredible machine, and the fragrance of leopard coming is intoxicating.

But if you are really looking for a smaller 13.3 machine, they may just not hold the power you need, a macbook pro would probably suit your needs.

Although you should compare the OS's first to make sure you are getting what you need.

But don't be too discouraged from the notebook scene.

 

the xps 13.3" is coming out pretty soon.. If you can wait till the end of this month, you'll get to find more about it...

 

I highly doubt they can fit a 8600GT or similar GPU in that small chasis without having heat issues. I'm betting it's going to be a Nvidia Go card, which isn't great for gaming either.

 

??? The 8600gt IS an nVidia Go card...

 

Well, the Macbook Pro is a pretty desireably machine, with great specs and power. I just wish it looked more like the Macbook. I like the Macbooks style better. I thought the Macbook could do light gaming? I guess I could let up on some games, but I think I've seen videos where the Macbook has successfully played games like Counter-Strike 1.6 (not Source), Halo, Morrowind, and even Half-life 2! Anywho, I'm still considering either the Black Macbook, the Pro, or a desktop.

 

the macbook is designed only for blogging from starbucks

 

I've seen Macbook's run HL2 and CS:S on Youtube, its too bad a lot of people left flamer comments.

 

i have a question! i'm new to the whole osX thing... i'd say that i'm pretty capable when it comes to windows but i don't know anything about osx and haven't been interested in it... until now.

i'm looking into buying the new 15 inch mbp but... what is the whole dual boot thing? what does native mean? what is boot camp? is it easy to do? i have an extra copy of windows xp.... but i don't want to do anything really out of the way to do things that are only able to be on on windows.

 

If your not limiting yourself to just Macs you could look into the Sony Vaio SZ series.