[Dimitris]

I am looking for a laptop to replace my old Dell laptop that keeps getting too hot and shuts down. I am looking for a 15.4" widescreen laptop that will be used in the house for the majority of the time. The programs that I will use are Office, Internet, Photoshop CS3 and Adobe Lightroom so I would like 2GB of RAM. Games are not my thing but if it can play Call of Duty 2 (my favorite game) that will be an extra. What do you guys suggest?

 

[grawk]

Macbook pro? It fits everything you are looking for in a laptop, including running call of duty 2.

 

[GlendaleViper]

Macbook Pro sounds like a winner - just be advised that MS Office for Mac is insanely expensive.

Also, this thread will be moved - there's an official "Gear-Fi" forum now! Cool!

 

[Jigglybootch]

Doesn't the Macbook Pro run pretty hot, though? I mean, not so hot that it shuts itself down, but I was under the impression that those things can get pretty toasty.

 

[Dimitris]

I am afraid the Macbook pro is very expensive for my budget. Is there something else in the $1000-$1200 area?

 

[grawk]

Watch the refurb section, and you can get one in that price range. I only buy apple refurbs.

 

[GlendaleViper]

Standard Macbook then? They are significantly cheaper, and it's my understanding that the "Pro" is a major case of diminishing returns - as in, most won't see a difference except under very heavy work loads...

 

[Jigglybootch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GlendaleViper /img/forum/go_quote.gif Standard Macbook then? They are significantly cheaper, and it's my understanding that the "Pro" is a major case of diminishing returns - as in, most won't see a difference except under very heavy work loads...

It all depends on what kind of work you intend to do. If you don't do anything that requires all the extra power of the pro, a regular Macbook should be sufficient (and will be a hell of a lot cheaper).

 

[Dimitris]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grawk /img/forum/go_quote.gif Watch the refurb section, and you can get one in that price range. I only buy apple refurbs.

Where can i find refurbished macs?

 

[grawk]

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL...ecialdeals/mac

 

[Dimitris]

Thats tempting. I am more interested in the Macbook because $1700 for the Macbook pro is a lot of money for me. Maybe I should stop by an Apple store and play a bit. How easy is it install Windows and programs in the Windows part? Does it work like a partition of the hard drive?

 

[grawk]

Depends on how you do it. You can use bootcamp to make a windows partition, then run it via parallels or by rebooting to windows.

Or you can just use parallels, and windows apps run happily along side mac apps.

 

[Dimitris]

What are some good sites that I could dig into in order to see what the options are? Also if i want to do photoshop work will the Macbook work well with a 21" screen at good resolution? Also since I would like 2GB of Ram how easy is it to upgrade the memory? Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[grawk]

It's super easy to upgrade the memory (and hard drive) on the macbooks. The macbooks work just fine with external monitors, at whatever resolution the monitors support. The exception being you have to go to a macbook pro to be able to drive the 30" dual link dvi monitors.

 

[Konig]

do u guys find ssd worth the price premium?