Delfire Posted January 29, 2007 Share Posted January 29, 2007 (edited) So here's the deal, I've been running OSX x86/Windows Xp/*Insert Popular Linux Distro Here* for more than half a year now and I love the triple/quad booting very much. Recently the laptop broke down on me and my extended warranty gave me the option of either a sucky replacement or gift card over $1,000 to...Circuit City . I decided to take the card to have the option of choice. I also found out that Apple is testing out selling its macbooks through Circuit City (online store I think) . But now a huge conundrum now faces me (See title of topic). All the major stores out there were preloading laptops/desktops with Vista this week, so I'm most likely going to end up with Vista if I buy a "PC" laptop next week. So since I value the members of InsanelyMac so much, I would appreciate it very much if some constructive input (or alternatives) is given. Please keep the fanboyism (Windows or Apple) down a notch . OPTION 1. I could buy a vista-loaded laptop (HP, Sony, or etc). I'll use it for a while, if I don't like vista...which is probably going to happen, then I'll reinstall everything and triple boot Xp, OSX (ALMOST seamlessly), and perhaps a Linux distro (Ubuntu/SUSE/Gentoo). Pros of this option being able to play a few games (Better gpu probably), still be able to boot OSX (almost), and obviously TRUE windows support. OPTION 2. Get a black Macbook. Use it for a while, and then PERHAPS dual-boot with Xp with bootcamp (I'm not a big fan of virtualization-Parallels). Pros of OPTION 2 obviously being true apple hardware support with OSX, a VERY nice looking/functioning laptop, still be able to boot Windows XP (almost). In this option, I could barely run any games with the low-end gpu of macbooks, IT IS SO MUCH MORE UNNECESSARILY EXPENSIVE FOR THE HARDWARE THAT IT'S SELLING (Forgive me for the caps)...But I still can't decide! OSX x86 is holding me back from buying a macbook and encouraging me at the same time, a paradox indeed. So I need someone to help me by telling me something that perhaps I don't know or didn't realize. Telling me that a Mac don't get any virus or spyware is no help to me - I have not gotten any of those on my UBER-clean XP machine for way more than a year now. Thank you guys so much . Edited January 29, 2007 by Delfire Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
asap18 Posted January 29, 2007 Share Posted January 29, 2007 i recommend you go for the low end macbook pro if you want to play games at all. Most PC laptops at the macbooks price range still come with an intergrated gpu. Anyway who cares about vista? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/#findComment-287799 Share on other sites More sharing options...
erbic Posted January 29, 2007 Share Posted January 29, 2007 Why did you put the same topic in Buying Recommendations, Windows Discussion, and Apple Computers and Hardware? Regardless, I'd go for the MB/MBP. It runs OSX natively(what a concept!), does Vista quite nicely, and overall is a very good computer. I've never regretted buying mine. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/#findComment-287824 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delfire Posted January 29, 2007 Author Share Posted January 29, 2007 (edited) Thank you guys for the responses, much appreciated. And ErBic, I don't really like multiple-topic posting but I had to get some feedback quickly, hope you understand. Edited January 29, 2007 by Delfire Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/#findComment-288133 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartboy919 Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 Considering my great experience with my Macbook, I would go with a MB, but if you actually want use it at a decent speed, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, GET MORE THAN 512 MB OF RAM. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/#findComment-288783 Share on other sites More sharing options...
marliwahoo Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 macbook macbook macbook Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/#findComment-288893 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delfire Posted January 30, 2007 Author Share Posted January 30, 2007 but if you actually want use it at a decent speed, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, GET MORE THAN 512 MB OF RAM. Yeah I heard about that you can notice a significant boost from 512 to 1G in Mac's than other pc laptops. Don't worry, I'm getting the Black Macbook and then adding another 1G SoDimm I already have. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/#findComment-289196 Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSMatt Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 If you do get the MacBook, don't use Vista with it. MacBooks have TPMs and Intel Core 2 Duos, and I don't trust that Microsoft dropped NGSCB. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/#findComment-289310 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbz Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 If you do get the MacBook, don't use Vista with it. MacBooks have TPMs and Intel Core 2 Duos, and I don't trust that Microsoft dropped NGSCB. I don't get how that should impact his decision... could you maybe point out what you mean? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/#findComment-289509 Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwhsh8r Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 What os do you use most, if you are in windows most of the time, or linux, go with the vista loaded pc... if you run osx mainly, then go for the macbook (witch will be more expensive) but it comes down to personal preferance, also, look at the compatability for osx86 and if its flawless or near, then go with the pc.... emm.... i would think what os you use most, check the compatability for that, compare price/performance, does the pc or the mac have better hardware? and weagh it all down to personal preferance, and the good thing about having the vista pc if your a windows user is you will have a legit copy of vista that comes with it so no fussing with the warez/crack {censored}... and you can always switch to xp until vista is ready for you then go back without spending a dime, please let me know if this helped and if youd like a more personal to me or more help from me opinion then just go ahead and post and ill try and help you out as much as possible, and ether way ENJOY THE NEW LAPTOP! Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/#findComment-289533 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delfire Posted January 31, 2007 Author Share Posted January 31, 2007 What os do you use most, if you are in windows most of the time, or linux, go with the vista loaded pc... if you run osx mainly, then go for the macbook (which will be more expensive) but it comes down to personal preference. Exactly what I needed hear to fully realize my situation. When I first showed my friends my triple-booting laptop, most of them thought it was ridiculous because they believed that no one can use 3 operating systems...well I showed them . Right now, I mainly use Windows for watching movies(Media Player Classic+Codecs & VLC)/torrenting random useless things/playing games --- I'm used to it, and my OSX x86 for web browsing/work-typing related (I'm SOOOO much more productive when I use the Apple os, it's quite strange), and finally linux because I get a kick out of tweaking & customizing and getting what I want. So the bottom line is, I'm either going to make a decision this/next week OR I'm going to wait for leopard (heard bootcamp by then will no longer be free though). Thank you all for the prompt responses. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/#findComment-289803 Share on other sites More sharing options...
U.C. Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 Hmmm, narrow down your decision to a few laptops and compare them with a MacBook. MB wont do games, but looks much better. For a 1000$, a laptop with a integrated X1600 is nearly impossible. Add a bit more and you might get a Laptop with a integrated X1600. But for that price you will also get a MBP refurbished. But for that, you might have to sell your 1000$ coupon and buy a refurbished MBP from Apple. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/#findComment-289849 Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertsf Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 Look at it this way, the Macbook is a great Laptop, I'm not a Mac Fanboy and I would buy a Macbook over any Dell, HP, Sony, Gateway, in a heartbeat. Besides if you want to use Vista, on it with Bootcamp or linux you can. Plus OS X will be blazing fast, you can even do Video or 3D. About the earlier post about TPM, and Microsft, and not trusting it call it {censored}, the guy is paranoid. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/#findComment-290595 Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSMatt Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 (edited) I don't get how that should impact his decision... could you maybe point out what you mean? I suspect that Microsoft is going to try and sneak the Next Generation Secure Computing Base into a future Vista service pack, or even in some other routine update, like they did for WGA. I don't trust Microsoft and related companies not to abuse that kind of power, so I would not recommend that anyone use Vista with "Trusted" Computing. About the earlier post about TPM, and Microsft, and not trusting it call it {censored}, the guy is paranoid. Perhaps, but I sure as hell am not letting that happen on my computer. If my last-year's-model ASUS (which I ordered on purpose to avoid the chance of a TPM) doesn't get shipped from Newegg because of my lousy debit card's maximum spending limit, and I have to actually buy one from a store, I'm running PC Wizard on all the show models to check for TPMs. Edited February 1, 2007 by CSMatt Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/#findComment-290751 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheND Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 I actually *just* got a HP Pavillion dv6000 from Circuit City, only $700 after rebates but had bloated HP/Vista pre-installed and running perfectly with the dual-core 1.73Ghz and 1Gig of RAM. The i945 chipset and gfx card work excellent with OS X and the Broadcom wireless is recognized as an Airport card. Only problem is the Audio... which hopefully will be fixed as soon as I have time to research and tinker. So... my 2 cents: Go with a PC and you'll get much more bang for ur buck The Nd Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/#findComment-294109 Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandmanfvrga Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 You say you use Media Player and VLC to do movies on Windows? VLC is on Mac and you can do all the videos you want on a mac, so that use of Windows is a moot point. If you want to do this stuff, then just get a MBP (since you want to game) and dual boot to XP for the games and do all else on OSX. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/#findComment-294543 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markandeya Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 If you don't play games definitely buy a macbook. I have one :pirate2: Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/#findComment-298309 Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwhsh8r Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 Exactly what I needed hear to fully realize my situation.I use Windows for playing games glad to hear that helped, and if your gonna do games, Definately not a macbook, unless you can put up with integrated graphics with a maximum of 80mb of memory :pirate2: so youd have to sacrifice that if you wanted a macbook (and no you cant just swap out laptop gpus like desktop ones, even though some now have pcie....) oh, and taht guy whos ranting about tpm, dont laugh him off, in the new tpm it DOESNT TRUST YOU! so you cant decide. so avoid it, my amd chipsets dont have it Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/#findComment-298326 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anemir Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 I actually made the mistake of buying a vista laptop. Regret it horribly since I recently got an iMac and feel pretty stupid buying Vista. If you're smart buy a macbook. Of course, you can always buy my laptop from me, so I can buy the macbook Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/#findComment-320174 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embio Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 personally I would buy the Macbook, but not for gaming. Even if the GMA950 might use 225MB of RAM and not the 80MB as previously advertised: http://www.macbookfan.eu/2006/06/23/macboo...224mb-possible/ Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/#findComment-320272 Share on other sites More sharing options...
!insanely Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 (edited) I personally recommend vista laptop, but if you need mac in your work or life, you should select mac. Edited March 16, 2007 by !insanely Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/#findComment-325134 Share on other sites More sharing options...
elviejo Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 Get the macbook, vista is to green now, to many problems with networking and with a lot of programs, plus, soon, you can have leopard. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/#findComment-325477 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Executor252 Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 I'd say save some more money and get a Macbook Pro. I have a "now obsolete" Yonah based MBP and I love it to death. I worry about it a little structurally (although to be fair, thats only when compared to my bulletproof Acer and IBM latops I've used in the past-- it's much better built than say, a Dell or Toshiba notebook), but just enough to make me "careful" with it-- there's no need for serious paranoia or anything. The thing is fast. Very fast. Apps that run natively on an x86 cpu run blazingly fast. There are some slowdowns using PPC native apps (Photoshop, an older version of MS Office: Mac) but nothing that would impede on its ability to be a nice notes / light photoshopping machine. Game performance under OS X sucks despite the 256mb X1600. WoW was running at ~20-30 FPS in many places (at 1440x900, no AA), which is pretty pathetic. Under Windows XP with proper video drivers, WoW gets 35-60FPS pretty much all the time, and thats with 2 or 4x AA as well. This brings me to another point... Dual-boot with XP and Vista x86 works great. Vista actually includes drivers for almost all the itegrated components. Wifi, LAN, GPU worked on first-boot. Some of the more "specific" Windows drivers from the XP driver CD dont work too well under Vista. I couldn't get the brightness and eject key-mappers to work, for example. You'll want to use an external mouse as well. Unless you're a hardcore gamer, I would get a Macbook or MBP. Slim, quality machines. In fact, just get a Macbook or MBP. If you're a hardcore gamer, you probably have a desktop as well anyway. Laptops just weren't meant to be high-performance gaming platforms... Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/#findComment-327081 Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlbrown23 Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Just picked up a MacBook myself - buy it! I'm not sure about the gaming aspect, but I've done a lot of traveling with laptops and I already have the feel that this is a great machine to haul around with you. I've got an IBM X40 for work that I also love, but for the most part I don't like how Wintel laptops are put together. Look at it this way - if you have a Mac, you can always get Boot Camp or Parallels and install Vista(of course OSx86 works flawlessly on my X40, but it's hard to say what the future of OSX compatability will be for the hacked version). My guess is if you are EVEN HERE, you know deep down inside you'd rather have a Mac.... Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/#findComment-329930 Share on other sites More sharing options...
glassJAw Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Macbook. I had a laptop with Vista and it sucks. Long load times, hard drive thrashing after you play a game because of caching. I had 2 gigs of ram too. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/40299-should-i-buy-a-vista-laptop-or-a-macbook/#findComment-330026 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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