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Metalface Mark

Metalface Mark

Metalface Mark

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Joined
26 Dec 2005
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16,138
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Paisley
Purchased a new aluminium macbook today after city link managed to lose the dell i bought off the MM.

Unfortunatey i ran into a problem using bootcamp and ive had to reinstall.

It got me thinking though, is there any real benefit to bootcamp for what ill use it for? Its for browsing, email, a bit of Warcraft, music and thats it.

I have to say though, the screen is fantastic on it, so vibrant and the laptop feels great, after my dell 1730xps i had, its light as a butterfly.
 
World of Warcraft comes with Windows and Mac binaries, can be played natively in Mac OS X.

Plus congrats on your Mac, quality product.
 
Yeh I knew about WOW, i couldnt really see any reason to stick windows on it, ive spent the night trying to get to grips with everything. I do love the battery life, its what a laptop should be, after using dells for years and having about a 2 hour maximum, this has been going strong over 4 hours now.

Really impressed and loving the trackpad gestures.
 
If i was to upgrade the hard drive, is it sata or ide? (im guessing sata). Whats involved in doing this, can i just drop in a 500gb sata one or are there particulars one that have to be used?
 
Don't bother with Windows as you don't need it for the uses you have listed. If you do I'd go VMware Fusion anyway....

Upgrading the hard disk on the old WhiteBook was easy as pie and I should think that it will be for the new one. Pop over to ifixit.com and have a look how its done.
 
On the new ones the HDD is easy to upgrade, but the RAM is harder than on the older ones (I think upgrading the RAM could void the warrenty...) since you have to remove the entire back panel.

As for the RAM it entirely depends what you do. I don't get paging with the 2GB in my CD MacBook unless i'm doing a lot in iPhoto or iMovie.

20090205-nmfd9rb2wpukuicrdgqb99s8yp.jpg


It's only worth upgrading the RAM if that value (in activity monitor) changes from zero under "standard" use.
 
Fillado said:
On the new ones the HDD is easy to upgrade, but the RAM is harder than on the older ones (I think upgrading the RAM could void the warrenty...) since you have to remove the entire back panel.
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He has a new MacBook (Unibody) and upgrading RAM on them is a piece of cake as it has been on the MacBooks for a while.

It's just the Mini that needs the case taking part (and thus voiding the warranty). Even the imac is dead easy to bung more RAM in.
 
Congrats man! I just got my brand new 2.4Ghz MAcBook delivered to me today! I love it. I did have a 2.0ghz model but I had a bluetooth problem and I demanded that they replace it, and they did. Congratulations again on yours! And you don't need windows for anything you want to do.

Jon
 
Definitely get hold of VMWare Fusion, if you're not just using it for simple tasks there are always instances where you'll need Windows. In the last couple of weeks alone for me I needed windows for unetbootin, mkv2vob, Nokia firmware updater and the Netgear router restore tool. VMWare Fusion works really well now I have 4gb in my Macbook, I found it struggled a bit with 2gb once I started doing a lot. Now I can happily stream or transcode PS3 films while using OSX and not even notice it.
 
Fillado said:
20090205-nmfd9rb2wpukuicrdgqb99s8yp.jpg


It's only worth upgrading the RAM if that value (in activity monitor) changes from zero under "standard" use.
Click to expand...

Damnit, I'd better get some more memory. 10Gb ain't enough ;)

memory-20090205-200807.png


Welcome to the fold, Metalface :)
 
Thanks for the hints, im just going to stick with osx, im starting to feel my way around, i still have my media centre pc and my wife has a netbook if windows is really needed for anything at home.

I was hoping it played WOW well but i was surprised just how well it handles it, 50-60 fps with most detail on, just takes a while to get used to playing it on a 13.3" screen!
 
Wicksta said:
there are always instances where you'll need Windows.
Click to expand...

Checks MacBook for Windows. Nope no Windows. Checks list of tasks MacBook is used for. Comes up with complex list.

Why do you need Windows if you do anything more than simple tasks?

I've had my MacBook for a year and a half and not once have I though: "Oh darn I need Windows to do that"

Hell even Transport Tycoon and Railroad Tycoon work in OS X so even my light gaming needs are taken care of.

Sure there are some situations where Windows is needed (for software that must run on Windows - bleh) and that's why i recommend VMware Fusion - but only if you really need Windows.

OS X has plenty of software for doing complex tasks. Take Aperture, better than LightRoom in my opinion and not available for Windows!

Metalface Mark said:
I was hoping it played WOW well but i was surprised just how well it handles it, 50-60 fps with most detail on, just takes a while to get used to playing it on a 13.3" screen!
Click to expand...

I used to play WoW on my MacBook with its Intel 950GMA and the screen size was the least of my worries. Sure WoW ran but the frame rate wasn't good! :D
 
The post above demonstrates one of the other downsides of owning a Mac I'm afraid MM, but you kind of get used to it. Just be careful not to hurt some other Apple owner's very sensitive feelings and remember although it's just owning a computer to you, it's like a religion to some people and sharing any positives on other operating systems can is like forcing a Muslim to eat pork. :)

As Macs become more popular the problem has certainly diluted though, the move to Intel processors was a great help.
 
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For *personal* use I can't really think of much between Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Generally requirements for another OS (usually Windows) comes from interacting with others. For example Office documents with white (on a black background) equations that default to black in EVERYTHING (ie. OpenOffice, Office Mac 2004/2008, QuickOffice) bar the Windows version of Office.

Each OS will always have apps that do a specific task better than the others, either by design or by someone writing that app just for that OS. For example apt-get on Linux - that is a GOD of a program, Handbrake on Mac OS X (haven't a clue on any other DVD rippers that are as easy to use. Yes you can get it on Windows, but it won't rip CSS protected DVDs) and Office on Windows.

At the end of the day, use what you want, on what hardware you want (anyone is kidding themselves if they now think a Mac is more than a shiny PC). It's all down to choice (although I would say splitting your OS-life across 3 OSs would be a little crazy :p ) :)
 
Wicksta said:
The post above demonstrates one of the other downsides of owning a Mac...
Click to expand...

Will_3rd said:
Too true the zealot speak is a bit much at times.
Click to expand...

What? :confused: Trust me, whilst I'm a big Apple fan I'm no blind zealot.

My post was pointing out you don't need Windows to do complex tasks. I didn't say you can do everything without Windows, nor did I slate Windows. After all I use it everyday. ;)

Oh well if you want to tar me as a zealot then so be it. :(
 
Im a few days in now, and really loving the mac, as a laptop its fantastic, its light, its got really long battery life, i can control everything with one hand and laze back comfortably.

The only downside is im regretting now not going for a macbook pro and 15.4" one, im finding 13.3 a wee bit small to play wow on, although it does run great.
 
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