lots of questions about windows

I'm about to buy a new laptop for school in the fall, and was literally 2 minutes away from getting a Dell e1520, but now I'm wondering about a Macbook Pro, and so held off on the purchase for now.

Basically, I'm looking for a 15.4" laptop for school and gaming. The e1520 fit my needs pretty well, especially with the 8600m gt included. However, I really don't like how big it is. It's 1.67" thick, which compared to my brother's MBP is gigantic. You'll have to forgive the following questions; I've been using Windows ever since I've used a computer, and know absolutely nothing about macs.

Basically, I'm wondering how feasible it is to get a MBP, and use it primarily with Windows. I know that it's possible, I just don't know how efficient it is. I'm currently playing BF2, BF2142, and Oblivion, and I'd like to be able to play next generation, DX 10 games as they come out. The Dell, while big, will let me do this. Will the MBP? Also, how hard is it to set up Windows? Is it something a relatively computer-illiterate person can handle? Can I use Vista, or do I need to use XP?

I know there's a lot of questions, but I'd appreciate any answers you could give me.

Thanks!

 

Just my opinion, and I'm a gen-u-ine Mac fan: unless you're loaded, buying a Mac in order to primarily use Windows just because the MBP looks nice, doesn't make much sense. If, OTOH, you want Windows in order to game, that's a different matter.

My suggestion would be to check into Asus; that's a company which builds some excellent and very good-looking machines. Good luck with the choice.

 

i'd say using windows on a mac is feasible. and most new games require vista. but the thing is, you'd be using a lot of hard drive space, so i'd suggest getting an asus as well. if you have around 2k to spend the Asus G1S is the perfect gaming machine. the only thing is it has a 5400 rpm HD. you can customize this laptop to fit a larger harddrive at www.xoticpc.com and get a 3 year warranty for labor/parts LCD accidental damage protection.

 

It's really unnecessary to spend money on a Mac and run Windows primarily on it. It really should be the other way around. Sounds like you have no interest in really being open to Mac OS X so at this point it's like buying a Dell to run OS X on it, what's the point? You have to remember it is a "Mac" and the keyboard is a Mac keyboard and the trackpad is designed to be used for a Mac. Running Windows is an option to help switchers want to move over to the Mac without replacing all of their Windows apps immediately. It also is a way to have the best of both worlds but it's REALLY a Mac and not a Windows PC.

Sony's Vaio and Asus have some very nice Windows machines.

 

I agree, VAIO and Asus are great alternatives to the MPB. Don't the MBP because its thinner... thats just foolish and at 15" thickness doesn't matter as long as its between 1" & 2"

 

I agree, VAIO and Asus are great alternatives to the MPB. Don't the MBP because its thinner... thats just foolish...

 

i was in the same situation you are in. i just ordered my macbook pro today after looking at dell and sony. i am also a lifelong windows user. although i do game a little bit... i might install windows just to play games sometimes. i plan to use the os x most of the time because i do not want viruses and ive heard so many good things about macs and their reliability. so if you choose to purchase a mbp... feel confident that you are making the right choice - lots of features that make a mbp worth buying

 

basically - the only problems you will face when using a macbook pro primarily as a windows machine are these:

the drivers are still technically in beta. while the graphics card works PERFECTLY and is right where it is supposed to be in performance terms against other 8600m gt's - some other things suffer.

the trackpad is a little wonky in windows. you will get a lot of accidental trackpad input while you are typing - even if a mouse is connected. these things are taken care of in osx.

the battery life in windows is only 3 1/2 hours because the idle downclocking function doesnt work - (or at least thats what i think it is, afaik) - this also makes windows run somewhat hotter than osx.

you can't get rid of osx - you will be giving up a large portion of your hard drive for osx regardless of whether you use it or not. while that wouldn't bother the osx user / casual windows gamer, it would matter for you.

the keyboard is meant for osx. there are some slightly different key layouts, and it doesnt make windows unusable or anything... but no delete, home, or end keys sort of makes you wonder what is going on once you get into xp. these last two problems are not going to be resolved regardless of the stage of the software, you understand.

a lot of those quirks will likely be resolved when boot camp is no longer beta software. windows itself is really stable and great- but i agree with the above posters- i think you actually want a sony.

mac's are really great in osx and provide perfect performance for the occasional swap into windows to play a game, but a power user with a bunch of windows open, applications running, trying to get work done in windows quickly is probably going to be at a loss - especially due to the wonky trackpad and somewhat non-windows friendly keyboard.

the sony is going to be really great for the windows power user and will provide the same performance (assuming it has the same hardware as the mbp).

 

Forget all those suggestions. Judging from the games u listed, and what your wanting to play in the future, you should get yourself a Sager M570RU - it currently comes with a GeForce 7950, or you can wait - or upgrade it with - a GeForce 8700 or 8800 when its available. If you want a gaming machine, Sagers (Clevo, Alienware) are the best bang for your buck. They run about the same price as a MBP, except they're faster at gaming (by a long shot). They are 17" screens but you'll enjoy the extra real-estate for games/movies. It's really not that much bigger then a 15.4."

 

I think that hp is better choice. My personal opinion.

 

AW - best bang for your buck?? LOL

And you suggest the OP forget all other suggestions! Yes, obviously, your knowledge far exceeds that of all the other folks who posted earlier.

 

Oh yeah, make sure you totally ignore all the suggestions before this guy- even though they come from people who own both alienware laptops AND macbook pros.

This guy is clearly way more qualified to answer a question.

He already said he wanted a thin laptop. He was put off by 1.7"... what makes you think he suddenly wants something even thicker?

Ignorance. No one likes Mr. Pibb anyway. Rootbeer / Cocacola is way better.

oh yeah- and just so this isn't completely a useless rant. you can use either xp or vista with the mbp, should you still choose that route after reading our prior advice.

 

mr pibb is the best soda ever
give me a rep point pibb!!

 

Its true actually, AW 9700 and 9750 are very competetively priced, $2349 gets a good C2D and a 7950GTX. The 9700 is the best value for money by miles, and theyre both 1.5" thick, which is awesome for a 17"er. And you can still get them with XP, which is all you need for gaming on a 7950GTX, I didn't mention them because they're 17" and the OP wants 15.4"

 

Eh, for the same $2349 you can get a better C2D, the same 7950GTX, more RAM and a ton of other stuff that the 9750 doesn't offer from the m570ru AW makes good systems if you put the best of the best on it, simply because no other laptop offers those high-end options as early (not counting the d900c, which I don't consider to be a true laptop ), but if you're simply configuring a mid-level system, you can get the same for less from Sager.

But anyway, back to the topic, I don't think any 15.4" Sony will be able to meet your gaming requirements. Sony might be great for style, but they don't put top-of-the-line specs into their systems, especially their GPUs. I don't think they even have a 15.4" model with the 8600M GT in it.

Definitely try out Asus though.

Another thing I'd suggest: since you have easy access to a Mac (i.e. your brother), and since you said you know nothing about Macs, why not take a day or two and play around on your brother's Mac? Then, reevaluate what you'll be doing on the computer (other than gaming), and see if those *necessary* needs (such as those needs necessary for your job or school) can be better accomplished in OSX than in Windows. Why assume that you'd only ever want to use Windows so soon (esp. since you're considering a MBP) without even trying OSX when you have one available to you so close by?

 

That's a good point about trying out OSX first. Basically, for work/school, all I'll need is Office and the internet, so OSX would probably be fine. It's just that due to my lack of experience with anything but Windows, and those damn mac commercials, I've been driven to hate macs without ever really trying them.

As for the other options mentioned, the Dell fits my needs pretty well (other than the size), due to the discounts Dell is currently giving. I can get a fully configured e1520 for about ~1500-1600. I'd love the sony, but I would rather have the 8600 than the 8400.

 

Yay, someone who agrees with me on the d900, the Mac ads are just pure propaganda and twist the facts, 100000 viruses my ass, AVG anti-vir is free. But try your brothers laptop, the everyday usage on a Mac isn't a lot different than Windows

 

Meh, I kind of agree but meh. I primarily use windows... I've used macs since 1979 and never stopped, so I know the OS but for me, windows runs much faster. There is no notebook like the MBP's, sorry. I tried to find something, there is NOTHING! Especially if you want a 17". Plus, these are damn nice machines. I've got vista installed via bootcamp and XP Pro installed via VMWare in OS X as a virtual and it is pretty cool. I think that JAGUAR will be a HUGE improvement for Intel based macs (OS X still runs better on G5 macs IMO) and that will hopefully get me to use OS X a lot more because I really do like it - it is just slow.

 

Jaguar? You mean Leopard?

Hrm, personally, if OS weren't a factor, if I were looking at 17", size would no longer be a factor in my consideration because I would rarely carry something that big around anyway, so I'd just get a Sager instead...but that's just me.

 

yeah, leopard I cant keep track with all these damn cats! I've had a sager... and a dell... and guess what? They are just plastic junk and dont last.

 

Personally I would recommend Thinkpad T61 or Thinkpad T61p. It's cheaper than MBP but equivalently powerful and well-built. There is one bad thing about Thinkpad, that you must be patient and wait for your lappy to come in several months.

 

Sorry to jump on here, but I was wondering: If I run a macbook as a dual-boot machine, can I access all of my sound, photo, video, and text files from either OS?

 

With parallels yes. with boot camp no.

 

unless your windows partition is fat 32, then you can access your windows files on os x

 

Problem is that only the first XP machines had FAT, after NTFS's teething problems NTFS became the standard, anyone tried ME or 2000 on bootcamp yet?