MBP running Windows 7

mikeh501

mikeh501

mikeh501

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Im thinking about getting a 13" MBP with i7 and 8gb of RAM etc. Trouble is, i need it to run Windows 7 the vast majority of the time. Im not interested in running it virtualised etc.

Im looking for advice on hardware compatibility.
* Does the track pad work well under Win7?
* Can you run dual monitors?
* Will it work with an external projector?
* Are there known issues with apple drivers?
* Ive heard battery life is affected using Win7, true?
* Anything else i should be aware of making the experience sub-optimal?
 
If you're dead set on running Windows 7 the 'vast majority' of the time, don't buy an Apple product?
 
mikeh501 said:
Im thinking about getting a 13" MBP with i7 and 8gb of RAM etc. Trouble is, i need it to run Windows 7 the vast majority of the time. Im not interested in running it virtualised etc.

Im looking for advice on hardware compatibility.
* Does the track pad work well under Win7?
* Can you run dual monitors?
* Will it work with an external projector?
* Are there known issues with apple drivers?
* Ive heard battery life is affected using Win7, true?
* Anything else i should be aware of making the experience sub-optimal?
Click to expand...

* Yes - apple drivers are excellent
* Not that I know - possibly through thunderbolt however (but then you have to use two daisy chained 28" apple monitors)
* Yes
* Not that I know of
* Yes - I found this when boot camping - went back to OSX full time
* Pass
 
You'll be wasting a lot of money for a pretty looking laptop if you are going to be running W7 a majority of the time.
 
mikeh501 said:
Im thinking about getting a 13" MBP with i7 and 8gb of RAM etc. Trouble is, i need it to run Windows 7 the vast majority of the time. Im not interested in running it virtualised etc.

Im looking for advice on hardware compatibility.
* Does the track pad work well under Win7?
* Can you run dual monitors?
* Will it work with an external projector?
* Are there known issues with apple drivers?
* Ive heard battery life is affected using Win7, true?
* Anything else i should be aware of making the experience sub-optimal?
Click to expand...

Ran Windows 7 for a bit on my 13" MBP early 2011 model.

- Track pad works well, not as smooth as it does under OS X but it's pretty good.
- Dunno, haven't done this
- You should be able to, thunderbolt port isn't different from DVI if it's used as a display output. (Not 100% sure on this)
- Apart from power management, I haven't really experienced any driver related issue.
- Yeah, it's about an hour shorter or so, MacBook gets quite hot when you're doing stuff but it's like that under OS X.
- None that I know of, if you can get by with slightly shorter battery life, you're good to go.

But really, if you're going to be using Windows 7 vast majority of the time, get something that isn't a Mac product, but it runs it well, and at the end of day, it's your money.
 
I get 6 hours under OSX, about 3 hours under Windows and it runs a lot hotter. Definitely affected for me.

If for the vast majority of time its under windows I agree with Tummy and say get a windows laptop. Unless there is a specific requirement for OSX such as Xcode etc
 
1. Trackpad is still the best, even under Windows. Not as good as it is under OSX, but still the best.
2. If by that you mean can you run two extra monitors from the laptop, then only if they're thunderbolt monitors so they can be daisy chained from one another. The only thunderbolt monitors available are Apple's 27" IPS thunderbolt displays, which cost £899 each (£760 with student discount).
3. Yes.
4. No.
5. They can make power management better under OSX than they can in Windows, so you won't get as good battery life as you would under OSX. Afaik Apple do some of their own undervolting and specific power management stuff to the hardware under OSX that they don't want to make available under Windows because they don't want it being reverse engineered. So it runs hotter and more power hungry under Windows, something other OEMs compensate with larger batteries and more cooling, but as Apple assume you buy their laptops primarily for OSX, then they don't.

Though, I can only echo what is said above. Much of the premium that Apple computers have on top of them is justified by the fact it runs OSX. You can get cheaper and faster laptops with the same money that will run Windows better (because of the faster hardware).

You're missing out on the styling, the great aluminum casing and the trackpad, but I suppose it's up to you to decide what is more important to you.
 
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I have a mbp 13", it's nice to have the option of to use windows for a few things.

Advantages of windows seems to be the software availability, there is sooooo much stuff that just won't work on mac os. Gaming performance is all around better, especially with the ability to use stuff like throttlestop, msi afterburner etc.

Disadvantages - windows is extremely ugly compared to mac os, and although you will have access to your steam games or w/e, you will be longing to get back to mac os. I can confirm battery life is significantly cut. Sometimes my keyboard shortcut keys stop working, along wiht hte backlight. I have had it blue screen on me twice since install (3 days ago). General instability.

Hope this helps
 
Tummy said:
If you're dead set on running Windows 7 the 'vast majority' of the time, don't buy an Apple product?
Click to expand...

wozza2k said:
You'll be wasting a lot of money for a pretty looking laptop if you are going to be running W7 a majority of the time.
Click to expand...


Ignore these fools.

Whilst we all have our opinions on operating systems (I for one prefer OSX), there is just as much a reason to buy a MBP for Windows.

The quality of the laptop is unmatched and doesn't really cost much more than say the Dell equivalent.
 
QwaF said:
2. If by that you mean can you run two extra monitors from the laptop, then only if they're thunderbolt monitors so they can be daisy chained from one another. The only thunderbolt monitors available are Apple's 27" IPS thunderbolt displays, which cost £899 each (£760 with student discount).
Click to expand...

Daisy chaining thunderbolt displays does not work under windows.
 
Thanks for the replies all. To add a little more detail, the laptop is going to be used for business. I can get by default a dell e6420 with i7 quad, 8gb and ssd in the 14" chassis. It will be a good machine just it looks bloody awful toy town rubbish! It needs to run windows because our software (were a sw company) is windows based etc. I'd love to get a mbp 13" with i7 etc but think I may just run into too many compromises running windows... That's my fear anyhow.

Also I've already got a 17" c2d MacBook pro at home but it's not the current model (2008 per unibody) so I'm well aware of osx.

So for those who don't think it's a good idea, what would you get? I need monstrous power in a high quality well designed and cool sub 14" chassis.... Or maybe I just the dell, god forbid
 
Tummy said:
If you're dead set on running Windows 7 the 'vast majority' of the time, don't buy an Apple product?
Click to expand...

Why?

It's just a laptop, like any other.

EDIT: And as for your question. The only one I can think of* is the Sony Vaio Z series, unless you want to put up with either toy town plastic casing.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/29/sony-vaio-z-review-2011/
*Unfortunately there isn't much choice in the 13" laptop range.

EDIT 2: How about the XPS 14z - although it has a worse resolution (IMO) and is slower than the MBP...
 
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Amp34 said:
Why?

It's just a laptop, like any other.

EDIT: And as for your question. The only one I can think of* is the Sony Vaio Z series, unless you want to put up with either toy town plastic casing.

*Unfortunately there isn't much choice in the 13" laptop range.
Click to expand...

I just looked at the prices! Lol. Could buy the mbp and the dell pretty much for the same price
 
Yeah... That is it's only problem. :P

Makes you wonder why people think Apple laptops are expensive!

EDIT: Oh, try and spec it up to it's max as well, makes a Mac Pro look cheap...! ;)
 
mikeh501 said:
So for those who don't think it's a good idea, what would you get? I need monstrous power in a high quality well designed and cool sub 14" chassis.... Or maybe I just the dell, god forbid
Click to expand...

Lenovo's ThinkPad range comes to mind, especially that 14" T series model.

Configured with i7 processor, 8GB of RAM and 1600x900 resolution upgrade, comes out just over £100 more vs base 13" MacBook Pro.
 
MikeHiow said:
Ignore these fools.

Whilst we all have our opinions on operating systems (I for one prefer OSX), there is just as much a reason to buy a MBP for Windows.

The quality of the laptop is unmatched and doesn't really cost much more than say the Dell equivalent.
Click to expand...

Yes the build quality is better than most, but sadly the system isn't optimised to run Windows. One of the key factors will be battery life
 
If you just want to run Windows business software, then run OS X and a virtual instance of windows. Performance will be pretty good, especially if you have a decent amount of memory.
 
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