Ready to order uni laptop

Tommy B

Tommy B

Tommy B

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Starting uni in September, and I'd like a nice laptop to replace my current PC which runs slower than Rick Waller uphill. I have got the funds and will place the order as soon as my exams finish (19th).

Macbook Pro (Spec updated this week)
* 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 1440 x 900 resolution
* 2GB memory
* 120GB hard drive1
* 8x double-layer SuperDrive
* NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics with 128MB SDRAM

OR

Sony VGNFZ11Z.CEK

# Intel® Centrino® Duo processor technology with Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T7300 (2.00 GHz and 800 MHz FSB) and Intel® PRO/Wireless 802.11a/b/g
# Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium (English version)
# 200 GB Serial ATA 4200 rpm hard disk drive
# 2 GB DDR2-667 SDRAM (2*1024 MB), maximum 2 GB DDR2-667 SDRAM
# 15.4" WXGA (1280 x 800) Widescreen X-black LCD screen with double lamp technology
# NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GT notebook graphics processing unit with Total Available Graphics Memory of 1023 MB and dedicated Video Memory of 256 MB
# Blu-ray™ Disc Drive (up to 50 GB of storage)

The Sony is attractive because of the Blu-Ray AND the HDMI output means I can connect it to my HD TV and enjoy Blu-Ray movies. However, I am only interested if it will be good enough for games. If it isn't, I'd rather save £300 and get the Macbook Pro instead. I'm not really into games at the moment, but quite a few people say at uni you have too much free time and thus I might start up again, especially during the summer holidays where I'll have sweet all to do. Strangely though, would the Macbook be better for games when running Bootcamp because of the better graphics card?

I'm not looking at any alternatives on the PC side. I love the design and feel of Sony's laptops and for me style is important.

I'd appreciate any suggestions.

Cheers,
 
Last edited:
Get the macbook pro :)

Better CPU, better gfx, better backlighting technology (LED), looks awesome :), has OS X AND XP/Vista (require you owning a full copy of either), higher resolution.

But the Sony has a larger HDD, Blue Ray (depends how useful you really consider this :))
 
Hi Tommy B, the Sony Vaio VGNFZ11Z.CEK looks very tempting with the new Santa Rosa cores, although at £1500 - that's a pretty hefty price! (If you're looking at the same place I am)

The 200GB offers great capacity but at only 4200RPM, might be a problem for some?

Personally, have you checked out the new Samsung R70? The T7100 models are available for it but the T7300 are not quite available yet in the UK. Or for better portability - what about the Samsung Q70 with the 13" display? Both with Santa Rosa cores, but with a lowly GeForce 8400 (like the Vaio you mentioned).

I've recently purchased a Dell Inspiron 6400 but now wish to replace it with something a bit smaller and more slimline. :eek: :(
 
Just exactly how "good" is this Bootcamp thingy?

I frequently play Generals over lan with a mate and we have done for the past few years. Will we get loads of problems with connectivity or does Bootcamp literally run things as stable as a rock? Well, as stable as windows allows :D

Other than that, I'm not 100% confident with Blu-Ray. If I need it in the future I guess I could buy a dedicated player. It's a shame Apple didn't upgrade their drives to HD-DVD though :(
 
The design of the Samsung doesn't really do it for me. It's a shame given in pretty much every other sector of consumer electronics they are the absolute king of design.

I was also looking at the Sony AR Series.

# Intel® Centrino® Duo mobile technology with Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T5600 (2 MB L2 cache, 1.83 GHz and 667 MHz FSB) and Intel® PRO/Wireless 802.11a/b/g
# Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium (English version)
# 160 GB Serial ATA 4200rpm hard disk drive
# 2 GB DDR2-667 SDRAM (2 x 1024 MB), maximum 2 GB DDR2-667 SDRAM
# 17" WXGA+ (1440 x 900) widescreen X-black LCD with double lamp technology
# NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 7600 notebook graphics processing unit with Total Available Graphics Memory of 399 MB and dedicated Video Memory of 128 MB
# DVD±RW/±R DL/RAM drive
# Hybrid TV Tuner & remote control
 
Bootcamp is very good, I use it and for the most part (for a Beta) it is rock solid stable, and runs XP/Vista natively.

I am not sure if they have been updated to include new drives for the 8600GT.

There are still a few bugs in bootcamp, but for playing games it's brilliant, I play the Source engine games on my macbook pro under bootcamp 1.2 and it runs flawlessly :)
 
VaderDSL said:
Bootcamp is very good, I use it and for the most part (for a Beta) it is rock solid stable, and runs XP/Vista natively.

I am not sure if they have been updated to include new drives for the 8600GT.

There are still a few bugs in bootcamp, but for playing games it's brilliant, I play the Source engine games on my macbook pro under bootcamp 1.2 and it runs flawlessly :)
Click to expand...

So can you still play games like HL2, albeit with lower graphics settings?

I take it you use the Mac-OSX for general use? Or is Vista better?

Cheers
 
Tommy B said:
So can you still play games like HL2, albeit with lower graphics settings?

I take it you use the Mac-OSX for general use? Or is Vista better?

Cheers
Click to expand...

Yeah I play HL" and Day of Defeat:Source ... with all gfx set to low and at 1440X900 (no AA/AF) it runs well over 60fps :)

I use XP for gaming and I use OS X for everything else, music, films, and just generally day to day stuff.

It is a bit annoying having to reboot into the different OS' but it's a small price to pay to get the best of both worlds :D
 
Tommy B said:
The design of the Samsung doesn't really do it for me. It's a shame given in pretty much every other sector of consumer electronics they are the absolute king of design.

I was also looking at the Sony AR Series.

# Intel® Centrino® Duo mobile technology with Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T5600 (2 MB L2 cache, 1.83 GHz and 667 MHz FSB) and Intel® PRO/Wireless 802.11a/b/g
# Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium (English version)
# 160 GB Serial ATA 4200rpm hard disk drive
# 2 GB DDR2-667 SDRAM (2 x 1024 MB), maximum 2 GB DDR2-667 SDRAM
# 17" WXGA+ (1440 x 900) widescreen X-black LCD with double lamp technology
# NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 7600 notebook graphics processing unit with Total Available Graphics Memory of 399 MB and dedicated Video Memory of 128 MB
# DVD±RW/±R DL/RAM drive
# Hybrid TV Tuner & remote control
Click to expand...

How much is this spec? The 160GB 4200RPM drive doesn't sound great. What's your budget? Obviously the new T300, T7500 will be the better Core2 with the new 800MHz FSB... nevertheless, won't be too bad for gaming. Although for a 17" screen - I'd appreciate a bigger resolution.
 
It's about £1,300.

Basically, I love the Macbook. The only thing preventing me from automatically ordering one is gaming. I don't actually play any games at the moment, but it would be nice to play some of the upcoming releases even if they're on very low settings. As long as Bootcamp is stable, then this won't be a problem.
 
Once the new operating system is released (Leopard) bootcamp will be implemented into the OS so it will be a fully released feature :)
 
Tommy B said:
It's about £1,300.

Basically, I love the Macbook. The only thing preventing me from automatically ordering one is gaming. I don't actually play any games at the moment, but it would be nice to play some of the upcoming releases even if they're on very low settings. As long as Bootcamp is stable, then this won't be a problem.
Click to expand...

I've no idea about Macbooks. :p All I do know, is that they look pretty on a desk. :cool: For the budget you've stated, you could get a pretty good spec out of a laptop. How about the HP Pavilions? :p

Although, if you're dead set on a Macbook - go for it.
 
Macbook it is then. I can live with games on low graphics settings and perhaps with the 8600M GT (sounds like some awesome BMW :D) I might be able to turn the specs up slightly.

The other thing I'm worried about is getting my iTunes library from my PC and onto the Macbook. I'll need an external HD, the library is about 105gb. I'm worried that I'll lose my playcounts and ratings etc. I might ask the guys in the Apple store if they can help, but I'll be furious if I lose 4 years worth of playcounts/ratings etc

I don't really think there's much point in buying a laptop that's mediocre for gaming. If I wanted to have a hardcore gaming machine I'd buy a desktop.
 
If you're near an apple store they'll fully transfer all your music etc. from your PC into a folder on the OS X desktop, if you happen to get pro care they will move everything across for you, wallpaper, email, music etc. etc. :)

The 8600 and the upgraded CPU will run games at much higher AA/AF/detail :)
 
That's not a problem. I'm buying an external HD as I have about 500gb worth of video editing stuff, films, music etc. I might ask them for help in getting my itunes library imported without losing anything.

Thanks for the advice.

Cheers
 
Is the Mac-OSX superior to Vista?

I take it there's no point in buying Vista to go along with it? Trouble is all my XP CDs are OEM and may not work.
 
Mac OS X and Vista are generally comprable I would imagine, depends what you want out of an OS.

OS X is very very integrated, most of the software from Apple is integrated into each other fairly efficiently :)

I haven't used Vista so can't really comment :)

The XP OEM discs may work :)
 
Tommy B said:
Is the Mac-OSX superior to Vista?

I take it there's no point in buying Vista to go along with it? Trouble is all my XP CDs are OEM and may not work.
Click to expand...

You're basically going to get (most) Mac users saying that OSX is better, and (most) Windows users saying Vista is better. No point asking: Try both and see.

You can get the Educational Upgrade version of Vista Home Premium for £40-ish if you look around (incl. Google Checkout discount). If you're only going to end up using Windows for gaming though, might as well stick with XP, for now at least.
 
What course do you plan on doing? If you plan on doing programming on the laptop, you may have problems with the macbook unless you get XP on it somehow.

This happened with a coursemate of mine who studies computing hehe
 
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