Help zpq! Laptop buying time!

zpqrei

Theme Changer Extraordinaire
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Oct 19, 2008
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Alright maggots, It's help-zpq-time!

I'm planning on buying a Macbook for college, a Macbook Pro to be exact, but alas, for I am stuck between what to buy. I've looked at the 13'' Macbook Pro (with the 2.56Ghz processor and the nVidia 9400M) and the 15'' Macbook Pro (with the 2.56Ghz processor and the nVidia 9600M). My options are as follows:

  • Get the 13'' Macbook Pro and a 16GB iPod Touch.
  • Get the 15'' Macbook Pro.
Okay. Here lies my dilemma in choosing which one to buy. I want to be able to play TF2, and L4D on it. Whilst I've seen both running on the Macbook 13'' on youtube (links at the bottom) I'm still not certain it'd be enough graphical power. And even then, am I willing to take a performance hit to get an iPod Touch?

Basicly, if anyone has a 13'' Macbook Pro, I'd love you very much if you could give me any performance benchmarks. I know they are availible widely on the internet, but call me crazy, I'd rather hear from someone I trust and know, rather than a random internet-monkey, before I put down £1000 on a laptop.

(If anyone tells me not to get a Mac and to get a PC I will personally shoot you. This IS NOT becoming a Mac vs PC thread)

Youtube links!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVXrIEegofg"]YouTube- 13 Inch Macbook pro Running Left 4 Dead[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUUa_qW3rj8"]YouTube- Team Fortress 2 on a Macbook Pro 13"[/ame]
 
Feb 18, 2009
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I would go for the 15", but hey, its not my money. I want to do the same (buy a macbook, get Hammer and TF2 running on it etc.) but I has no monies to do so:facepalm:.
The way I see it, do you need the ipod? (have you already got some means of listening to music on the go) do you need the extra 2 inches? (I know we would do with and extra 2 inches if you catch my drift, but do you NEED it on a laptop?) or do you want to save the money for something you may want on the future?
And then I don't think anyone can help there, its up to you then which option you really need/want.
 

Psy

The Imp Queen
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Apr 9, 2008
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This is what I have. It's great for what you need but don't expect fantastic framerates in L4D or TF2.
 

The Gentlemanne

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Jun 18, 2009
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zpqrei

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I have a 13" standard macbook that struggles running tf2 and l4d but my mate has a 15 or 17" Macbook pro and he gets pretty smooth results. Though obviously not better than a pc for gaming.

Do you have the 9400M and 4GB of RAM?

Why is the iPod Touch necessary along with the 13''?

It isn't. I've been meaning to get one anyway, and I have a set budget, so I can either afford 13'' and an iPod Touch, or a 15''. I think I'll get the 13''.
 

Flame

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Jul 19, 2009
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i have the macbook pro with the 8600 in it. used to run tf2 nicely but i that was the model from 2 summers ago.

if youre looking to game on it, get the one with the bigger screen. Also make sure you buy a cooling pad cuz those mofos get hot to the point of skin burns.

make sure your processor is about 2.66 ghz and you have 4 or more gigs of ram. idk what the new macbooks are like but they run windows flawlessly.
 

Nutomic

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Feb 7, 2009
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make sure your processor is about 2.66 ghz and you have 4 or more gigs of ram. idk what the new macbooks are like but they run windows flawlessly.

I have no idea why people buy macs and install windows on them :facepalm:

You pay like two times as much, and still have to buy windows. But sure, apple is that great, and its totally worth the money D:

/flamepost
 

Delusibeta

L3: Member
Mar 21, 2009
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While I may not have ever used a Mac, I do know where to get a couple of benchmarks.
According to this, you should get around 23 FPS on L4D1 on high settings with a Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 2.1GHz, GeForce 9400M, 2GB RAM Macbook, while according to this, you should get around 76 FPS on L4D1 on high settings with an Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 2.8GHz, GeForce 9600M GT, 4Gb Macbook Pro.

While neither benchmark matches your models, I would be inclined to shell out for the 15 incher.
 
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Spammish

L3: Member
Jan 2, 2010
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Do you have the 9400M and 4GB of RAM?



It isn't. I've been meaning to get one anyway, and I have a set budget, so I can either afford 13'' and an iPod Touch, or a 15''. I think I'll get the 13''.

I'm running the 2.1 Ghz one with 4GB of RAM and the built in GMA X3100, it's one of the previous generation.