M Y Awan Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 Guys i need your advise... I am about to buy a new laptop mainly for windows Vista (because need to use Visual Studio.net 2005/2008 etc). I also want to have a flavour of Mac OSX leopard. i am very impressed with the two laptops one is Dell XPS 1530 which obviously does not run OSX and Macbook (not pro) which is little expensive but looks cool and the specs are cool too (except integrated VGA card of 144MB max) can someone help me to decide what i should buy? if i buy XPS 1530 would it be possible for me to install hackintosh on it? please let me know your thoughts as its virtually a deadlock for me to decide about what i shoulde choose and what i should leave... cheers and happy christmas Muhammad Younus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddM Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 Well I'm afraid I know very little about OSX86 & Hackintoshes, but I'm pretty sure no-one would encourage the use of a hacked OS X on a production machine (feel free to interject if you think otherwise). I'm an Apple fan, I'll admit, and it would be great to have someone buy a Mac on my recommendation, but I'd feel just as bad if someone made the wrong choice because of that. While I am a huge fan of the majority of Apple products (bar maybe the iPod touch), they are definitely not for everybody. I would consider making a clear list of what you actually want to do with your laptop, and then finding out which platform would be best suited for your purpose. For example, if it's just for every day use; web browsing, chat, etc. A Mac is probably the way to go. Same goes for the majority of multimedia work such as graphic or web design, video editing, mostly rich-media oriented stuff. However you mention that the ability to run Visual Studio is a must-have so obviously, Windows is a necessity. If you don't have much of a "digital" life and don't think you would benefit from the features the Mac platform has over a Windows machine -- then by all means getting a Windows laptop would do it. I would in no way encourage running X86 OS 10 as an every-day thing. By all means play about with it for interest's sake (as I am -- or trying to), but Windows alone will provide everything you need. However, there is one thing to consider. You can run Windows on a Mac. You cannot run Mac on a Windows machine.* If you know exactly what you want from your machine and still cannot decide, I'm sure the community here will be more than glad to offer advice there! * at least not with reasonable stability and support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Y Awan Posted December 16, 2007 Author Share Posted December 16, 2007 Well Mainly i use PC for work that is using ftp client, phpedit, Visual studio c#, asp.net (dont suggest me mono please...) and paint.net unfortunately for me the most of these softwares that i need work only on XP/VISTA. SO therefore XP/VISTA is a must for me. on the other hand, i also wanna use my lappy for storing family pics/video etc and i know no one can beat MAC in this domain. i would probably go with MacBook but the only disadvantage with the macbook is that i am not certain whether Vista runs flawlessly on it or not. as vista would be my main OS and leo would probably be there for fun sake. is there anyone who can confirm that vista runs perfectly over MacBook (i am not asking about MacBook Pro) and what is Base Index Score of the MacBook (with intel core 2 duo 2.2 GHZ, 2GB RAM and 5400RPM Harddisk with an Integrated VGA card of Max 144MB RAM)? and whether this integrated VGA is enough for daily day to day tasks (like paint.net, VS 2008 IE, firefox, thunderbird etc). Speed is very important for me... please please advise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddM Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 Well I can't speak for how well Vista runs, but XP runs pretty sweet on my MacBook. I've tried running some 3D-intensive apps under XP on my MacBook, though, and the integrated video really does flop. It'll run, but poorly. I can only assume that the extra graphic demand with Vista won't help things (although you can always disable Aero). If anyone is wondering, PKR is the app I've been trying to run under XP on my MacBook and it runs like poop. Although that game is horribly coded and requires more power than Crysis just to render a few player models.* * May be an extreme exaggeration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Y Awan Posted December 16, 2007 Author Share Posted December 16, 2007 Oh Gosh probably Macbook is out of question now... Macbook Pro with VGA 256MB is £1600 which is insane and probably out of question too. it seems i have to buy 2 lappies for Leo n Vista... I would probably go with XPS 1530 which is cool too. Thanks Eddm for being so helpful and allowing to analyse the situation (rather than regretting after buying the wrong lappy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLiDE FTW!!1 Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 The X3100 is fine if you're into light gaming (games prior to this year), and it'll handle video apps no problem. I'll say it once and I'll say it again: Vista runs flawlessly (Aero + whistles) on my Macbook -- it runs even faster than Leopard does! (For now, that is) For what you want to do, I'd go for a Macbook with the SuperDrive, max it out with 4GB of after-market ram. You won't be disappointed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Y Awan Posted December 16, 2007 Author Share Posted December 16, 2007 what do you mean by X3100? can you kindly tell me about the base index score for Vista? and what is the lowest factor? yeah i will probably buy Macbook (if it is what i am going to do) with the lowest HDD and rom then buy them separetly from may be ebay or soemthign like that cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seasurfer Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 I believe Vista with Aero will run flawlessly on the latest MacBook. I never tried before, but I am running Vista on my MBP, it runs better than a Dell computer would run it. Since you want to have both, going with the Mac Book will be a good choice. Try to get a bigger HD, so you have dual boot. Windows XP will certainly have no issue with Mac Book, believe me you will like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(MoC) Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 In my opinion; get the newest macbook and spare yourself the trouble of illegal installations and issues getting drivers to run it seamlessly. The MacBook will get you what you want, the Mac and Vista Flavors on one computer. Believe me; it is not worth the hassle to get OSX going on a non OEM machine! Cheers. MoC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddM Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 As stated above, yes the MacBook will do everything you want perfectly. In my opinion they are the best range of notebooks out there. I'm pretty sure of that. However it seems to me you buying an MB/MBP would be more of a case of running Vista on it with OS X on the side which to me, doesn't seem to justify the huge price hike you will get when purchasing any premium-priced Apple product. If you're okay with paying on top of what you would pay for the XPS then by all means get the MB/MBP, you'll love it. Just trying to give a balanced view. PS. Buy a Mac. Haha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X-Ray Mac Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 Well.. I'm going to say what everyone else has.. Go with the Macbook. I run Parallels on mine and it runs smooth. Yes, OS X comes as the default OS, but you can change that. When I put my Parallels in full screen mode, you can't even tell its just running side by side. It is a MUCH bigger hassel to run OS X on a PC than XP or Vista on a Mac.. And yeah Apple's stuff is slightly pricey, but it works. and it works well and for a long period of time. I had the same troubles when I bought my latest computer and I ended up going with the Mac and I'm glad I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special-K Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 Macbook has great resale value if you ever want to sell it. I'd definitely pick that. P.S. X3100 is the integrated video. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DsurioN Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 I am in exactly the same dilemma with the exact same machines, but my pocketbook tells me to go with the Dell. Why? If you only upgrade the video card on the 1530 to a 8600 GT, the same card used in the macbook pro's, leaving all other options at their lowest configuration, you get a laptop with excellent performance for $1,099 US, and better processors power in increments of $50. For $1,099, you get the basic macbook configuration, with an integrated graphics chipset that cannot be upgraded. This to me is already very highly priced for the components the macbook offers. Plus, the screen size is smaller at the same price. On the Dell, you will be able to tinker with osx86 while having fully native and high-performance vista support. As soon as I can afford it, I'm going to configure myself one of these babies and get mac os X installed. It will be the ultimate dream machine Note: I am not a PC fanboy. Windows annoys the hell out of me. I actually own an intel iMac, but I'm still surprised how much Apple overprices its hardware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Y Awan Posted December 18, 2007 Author Share Posted December 18, 2007 The only minus point with Dell XPS is that its 1280X800 where as MBP is 1400X900 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DsurioN Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 Yeah I noticed that. Hmm hopefully they update the model soon, apparently they will after the holiday season with new resolutions and LED backlit displays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddM Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 Perhaps lay off your purchase until after MacWorld in the new year? Perhaps put whatever money you may have procured over the Christmas period towards one of the new/improved MacBooks that are rumoured to be announced at that time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Y Awan Posted December 18, 2007 Author Share Posted December 18, 2007 I guess this is good idea to wait for next two or three months and then buy a new laptop with the possibility of better XPS resolution/Price reduced MBP and Vista+SP1 too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glassJAw Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 The X3100 is fine if you're into light gaming (games prior to this year), and it'll handle video apps no problem. I'll say it once and I'll say it again: Vista runs flawlessly (Aero + whistles) on my Macbook -- it runs even faster than Leopard does! (For now, that is) For what you want to do, I'd go for a Macbook with the SuperDrive, max it out with 4GB of after-market ram. You won't be disappointed! How are you able to use 4 gigs of ram with Vista 32 bit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DsurioN Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Well, you can get up to 1680x1050 in the XPS m1530 now, just so you know (the other option is 1440x900) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khaled_acmilan Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Hi Guy, In my opinion:-Mac Book is very good to you cause you will get all in one you can use leopard and vista at the same time (legally). with features of leopard i say don't leave it and you can use vista and xp with macbook too. you don't need a powerful vga card x3100 is so good to you and enough. Good Luck. Khaled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasric Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 if it was me after reading all the coments i would go for the mac book i know the mac book after reading many reviews runs vista better than a normal laptop or you could get a cheaper laptop and get a mac mini to store all your photos and you would have the best of both worlds and more storage space but it is up 2 u Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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