Seriously considering MBP

School is fastly approaching and I need to purchase a laptop. I am very much considering a MBP, hp 8510p/T61p. The MBP overall however wins hands down, including price (2299 + free nano with student discount) for 2.4ghz. The only thing holding me back from making the purchase is of course OSX. I have worked with windows all my life, and do not know how practical osx will be. So I have a few questions for you mbp people.

1. Can I game just as well with a MBP? I know the hardware is great, but will I be able to get the same performance out of games, if so how?

2. Can i upload all my PC data onto the MBP? ex: mp3s, WMAs, GIFs/JPEGS and various video files that play on my windows media player.

3. Are there any good dvd shrinking programs out there (currently use dvd shrink to back up my dvd movies).

4. Are my emulators/roms compatible with osx?

5. Is there an equally as good/ easy to use version of windows movie maker on osx?

6. Can I use AIM?

7. does OSx recognize USB devices such as my cybershot? And is it as easy to upload pictures?

8. How is the OSX version of microsoft office?

9. Lastly, what do you like about the MBP over other pcs, and what do you miss about windows?

Thank you in advanced for answering my long list of questions.

 

1. If you're willing to install Windows, with Boot Camp, a MBP works fine as a gaming machine.

2. Yes. Windows Media Player is a no-no, though. Microsoft stopped supporting it ages ago. I believe iTunes can convert your WMA files to MP3, though. And there is Flip-4-Mac, a third party app. for using Windows Media Files

3. Yes, Handbrake.

4. Can't answer that one, but again if you're willing to Boot Camp Windows, yes.

5. Better. iMovie kills Windows Movie Maker.

6. Yes

7. Yes. iPhoto is excellent. I don't know about your specific camera, but I'd bet a Cybershot is covered.

8. Terrible. I use mostly Open Office and Google Docs and Spreadsheets.

9. Couldn't tell you. I don't currently use a MBP. Most of your questions are general "switcher" questions.

 

You could install Microsoft Windows on the MBP using Boot Camp. You'd need a copy of Windows XP (with service pack 2) though. After that you could do stuff you normally did in Windows.

Here's the answers to your questions though:
1: Can't say for sure until I get mine, but yes.
2: Yes, easiest way is to make a data DVD in Windows with all that stuff, then in Mac OSX read them back in.
3: Can't comment on questionable software here in these forums. Don't ask, cause the moderators can ban you.
4: See #3.
5: iDVD, and I think iMovie allow you to create movies. These are a part of the iLife suite that comes with Macs.
6: Yes
7: Yes
8: There is NeoOffice, which is free. Also, there's iWork (the iWork 2008 version has an Excel equivalent application called Numbers).
9: Because you can load Windows on an MBP now, the question is nullified.

 

1) If you dual boot to Windows using Boot Camp, you will get gaming scores similar to that of a PC with the same configuration.

2) WMAs won't play on iTunes, but there are third party apps for that. Other than the Microsoft-created file systems (such as WMV, which can be played in Quicktime with the Flip4Mac add-on), all files work on the Mac: .doc, .jpg, .mp3, etc.

3) Yes. I can't recommend any particular one though.

4) Can't answer that, sorry!

5) Yes. iMovie is much better than Windows Movie Maker. And iMovie actually just got upgraded in iLife '08, and is even better than before now.

6) Yes, there is AIM for Mac, and iChat supports AIM as well. Lots of third party IM clients as well, such as Adium or even - shivers - MSN Messenger for Mac .

7) Its very simple to upload pictures. Just connect your camera (or USB drive, or whatever) and open iPhoto and click Import Photos. As well, all USB drives work with OS X.

8) The OS X version of Office is the same as Office on PC. The current version is 2004, which is the equivalent of Office 2003, and the next version will be released next year, known as Office 2008, the equivalent of Office 2007. Microsoft dropped VB support in Office 2008, though.

9) The MacBook Pro has an unrivaled design . Also, the thinness and (lack of) weight of the MBP is also a plus. And features like the LED screen and the webcam and the magnetic power cord is also great.

Personally the only thing I miss from Windows is gaming. Other than that everything I need is on the Mac. You can consider dual-booting into Windows for tasks that you may need that are Windows specific (some architectural software, Office 2007, etc.). There are several ways to do that and the sticky on this forum will tell you more about that.

 

1-Base on the benchmarks, MBP games just as well as any PC. I did discover that my MBP runs hotter when running in XP than OSX though, so be-warned. You do need to install Windows in order to really play any PC games. There are some mac games out there but they are limited.
2-Windows media player can be install on Mac. Most files that can be played in windows should be able to play in Mac and you should be able to find compatible software out ther. (I would suggest keep a backup of all files and test them in MAC before you decided to move everything to mac. If you do install Windows with boot camp, you don't really have to worry about ompatibility.)

3-should be but not sure as I don't do this. Like NO2. if you use boot camp, no need to worry as you can run all those program under windows.

4-not sure (but like No3, boot camp)

5-Yes, mac has idvd

6-ansewrd

8-There are office for MAC. in fact windows is about to release a new version 2008 at the end of the year/beginning of 2008. iWork also is a nice program as it comes with program for typing Pages (liek Word), making tables Numbers (like Excel), and presentation Keynote (like powerpoint). Take a look at over the apple's site.

9-I like MAC's but there are a few things that I do miss on my PC.
1-the right click key, I use that so often and i miss that on my mac (so I use external mouse most of the time).
2-lack of connectivity, most pc has more connection than MBP, liek s-vide, more usb, media cards, esata, etc.
3-I am still learning the MAC, but I would say they are easy to learn. There are a few things that I got so used in windows, like a few combo keystrokes, and tweaks, which are missing in MACS, but generally i like my macs and given to the fact that I can use windows makes it a great buy in my opinion.

 

Is the 8510p out yet? I know the w is...and there are delays with the T61P i hear. anyway..moving on...

Arguably better than either the T61p and the 8510p. You'll be able to game as well as a PC with the same specs - if that's what you're asking (in boot camp).

Yes.

No clue.

A few old ones. You'll likely want to run emulators through Boot Camp (for the more demanding ones) or virtualization will work for some of the older consoles.

iLife 08 just came out. iMovie and iDVD are vastly better than movie maker in the opinions of many.

Sure. iChat and Adium work with AIM.

Yes generally. No clue about your cybershot personally, so someone else can answer that particular question.

Not out yet (2008). It's not as good in some respects (no Access, OneNote, no VBA, etc.).

EDIt: psh..in the time it took me to write this....5 people responded with the exact same info you guys are fast heh

 

Come on, Sam. You and I both know that Office for Mac is no where near as good as Office for Windows. It's called Office, but it doesn't work, or look, like Office.

I don't what the next version will be like, but I cannot vouch for the current one, and that's before even mentioning that it's not Universal and runs dog slow.

 

Its pretty close to Office for Windows. It doesn't look like Office because Microsoft tried for a Mac look, but the features are the same and compatibility between Office Mac and Office Windows is good.

Yeaps, Office is still slow because its not Universal, but its still use-able, in my opinion.

 

There is "Universal" binaries, and then there's the other kind of binary (that I can't remember what its name was) that I'm seeing for applications written for the Mac OSX. Whats the difference?

 

It's passable, but Microsoft has really left Mac users out to dry on this one.

On the bright side, though, there are a lot of nice Office-type suites available for Mac. I know, the world pretty much runs on Office, but it's not the only thing out there.

 

Another binary? I don't know of any other binary other than the Universal Binary...unless you're talking about the Finder logo that's always beside Universal binary apps. That just means it runs on Mac .

If that's bad, MSN Messenger for Mac is worse . I don't know what's wrong with it. Every time I quit it it tells me that it closed expectedly. Now when I search for it its not even installed anymore!

 

Apple used, what they called, Rosetta technology to make non Universal applications run on the intel architecture. It's essentially a pretty good emulator.

 

I think he's talking about Rosetta.

You know what, in all my years using a Mac, I've never tried MSN messenger. I'm not a big IMer, though.

 

Shouldn't VMWare Fusion or Parallels with Office 2K7 for Windows work well enough on the new SR MBPs? I mean, these are powerful boxes. Now, 4GB of RAM might be needed, I don't know, but at least on Windows side, 2GB is plenty for VMWare Workstation/Ace with a single VM running XP SP2 with Office.

 

Right you are, and that's exactly what a lot of people do.

 

Yes, the Macs run Office 2007 via VMware/Parallels just fine. 2 GB is best, even more is better, of course.

 

It works okay, but it's a huge processor and RAM drain...

Definitely a doable workaround though.

 

Quick question - I know that Mac OS X Tiger can only recognized 3 GB of RAM. If I'm using Parallels or VMware and have 4 GB total, and assign 2 GB to both OS's, can it make use of all 4 GB then? I would assume so, just want to make sure.

 

Thank you everyone for your responses. I have just a few more questions about bootcamp.

1. Is it easy to get, and install?

3. how many of you use bootcamp? Does it eat up a lot of harddrive space?

2. Are there any cons to bootcamp besides having to toggle back and forth? ex: slows down the computer, less stable/more bugs than regular windows xp, windows doesnt run as smooth as pc with equal specs, etc?

3. is there a vista bootcamp, and is it as reliable as the xp counterpart?

4. Is bootcamp windows as practical as running windows on a pc? because i would definitely be utilizing MS office/gaming on it (to take advantage of that sweet GPU).

anyways, thanks everyone for your quick responses. Apple really made in my opinion one of the best laptops out right now.

 

1. Right now it's in free Beta. You just hop on Apple's website and download it. In the future, it will be included with Leopard.

2. I tried it. Yes, it does eat up a lot of hard drive space, but really it depends on how much you plan on loading up in XP.

3. Not sure how supported Vista is. I've never tried it, though, I know people are using it. I think that Vista Basic is, or is going to be, excluded.

4. No cons that I'm aware of. It's pretty-much XP. Although I have heard there may be some funky video driver issues.

5. Sure, I guess, but if you're going to be using Windows as your primary OS, it doesn't make much sense to go with a Mac. There really is no advantage to the hardware over a PC, other looks. If you're going to mainly use OSX, it's worth it.

 

Boot Camp works fine with Vista. It's just the 64-bit driver support that's a bit flaky for now.


But it's not something I'd feel comfortable using as my main OS on a MBP by any means. Little inconveniences here and there add up.

 

This should be asked in the sticky thread. But anyways,

1) Yes, the Boot Camp download is free (the final version, in October, will cost $29 US for Tiger users and is free in Leopard) and instructions are simple.

2) I don't use Boot Camp. Nor do I use Parallels/VMware Fusion. It eats up as much hard drive space as you want it to. You choose how much GB you want to partition to Windows in the Boot Camp setup. Minimum 5 GB for Windows, and if you want the majority of the partition to go to Windows you have to keep at least 5 GB for Mac OS X.

3 (you wrote it as 2, though )) Well, the driver support is not fantastic yet. Driver support will be finalized in October. For now Boot Camp is pretty good.

4) Boot Camp works in Vista as well. Its the same install.

5) Running Windows in Boot Camp is the same as running Windows on a PC. All resources are diverted to running the OS that you currently use (so if you use Windows, Mac OS X is inactive, using no resources; and vice versa), so you get the same power as a PC of equivalent specs.

 

Thanks again everyone for the thorough quick replies. I must say it is pretty tempting to make the plunge. It truly is the best of both worlds...with excellent hardware/looks to back it up. i can purchase vista ultimate for 16 bucks at my university and just install it for gaming and office. You all think this is a decent idea?

 

Considering Boot Camp is free until October, and you can get Vista for $16, I'd say its a good idea, even if you just plan to try it out for fun .

 

Sounds like a plan.

Vista Ultimate for 16 bucks? Two please.

 

yeah no kidding can you buy more than one? you could make some serious cash.

 

haha...yeah my university will soon offer vista for about 16 bucks...pretty damn awesome. Its currently selling XP pro/office right now but I already took advantage of that a while ago. It will be hard to get two copies of vista ultimate because they scan your ID once you buy it...but i'll keep you guys posted if I can get more than one.

The only real question now is....is glossy or matte better?
both are great...what have you all opted for?

 

glossy. personal preference. check it out in the store and keep in mind that there is some funked out lighting in the apple store.

 

The 2 drawbacks that I have got with bootcamp. 1-the system runs hotter in Windows than macs. 2-there's no right click as that key is used quite often under Windows (there's a workaround with this by installing a third party program) but I found that using an USB mouse would be easiest way.

Since MAC designed the laptop and all the ahrdware are set, the driver all come from mac so it's not as upgradable as others but generally speaking they do work fine.

I haven't tried Vista yet, mmmh, 16, care to buy one for me . I am dying to move to Vista .

 

Agreed. I didn't think I'd like glossy better. Now that I'm used to it, I can't imagine going back to a matte screen. I think the glare is a bit over-blown by matte enthusiasts.

 

It does run hotter under Vista - but the fans come on more often too...
I'm not sure that's a Boot Camp problem though - it could simply be that Vista just...runs hotter? Dunno.

Right-click is support as far as it's supported in OSX - that is to say, the key+button combo works, and the 2-finger touch + button works. However, tap-click doesn't work in Windows at all, so of course the 2-finger tap won't work for rightclick either (i.e. 2 of the 3 methods work). Mouse is still easier by far though.

 

It's a Vista thing. Vista just constantly hogs lots of resources and keeps the CPU busy. My desktop is an Athlon64 3000+ with 1 GB of RAM, and I've been running Vista for the last 2 months. Vista alone keeps 1/2 of my RAM in use at all times, and the CPU usage will go to 100% when ding simple things like opening a browser window. Poor computer is a mess now.

 

I think it's time to get new hardware, or turn off Aero. Your hardware is a bit long in the tooth for Aero.

Vista may be a hog, but saying it takes 100% of the CPU to open a browser Window is about 65% too high. It's not the OS, it's the hardware you're trying to run it on.

 

how long does it take 100% ultilization for? if it just spikes for a split second that might be normal (or close to normal).

maybe you should try 1) adding 1 GB of ram and 2) reformatting to get rid of any spyware / adware you might not know about that could be loading when you open a browser window...

 

Yea, Vista, for all its supposed problems, runs normal programs incredibly fast - especially web browsers.

 

Using his example, my machine spikes at 35% on the CPU opening a browser window.

I'm guessing there's some exaggeration in the original comment.

 

Maybe its improved from the beta stages, and maybe it was the fact that I was on a Pentium M-based notebook, but the CPU usage at idle was like 25% and opening anything used to spike the CPU up to 75% or more...

On older computers, Vista is really very taxing; the effect isn't really noticeable on newer machines though.