Mac Book Pro ? Really?

[Carrotious]

Hi Yall,

 

I really need to get my head round this one. I need a new laptop to replace a 17in P4 Pavilion. Obviously i started looking at HP Dell top of range etc.

 

I noticed on this sight that people are saying the Mac book pro is a great option.

 

I have nothing against the idea but i know very little about it. I have no reason that i can think of to ever use the mac os. I only want to use 3D Max, Vray, Rhino Sketchup etc.

 

I know th Mac pro can run windows, can it run Vista (32 / 64) xp (32/64)

 

I'm confused.

 

 

Thanks

 

Giles

[cerpnjak]

Hi there,

I've got a Macbook Pro and have installed Bootcamp on it. Now it works fine, however there is a problem. When using the PC side of the laptop the screen flickers and has lines running through it, it only seems to be on specific colours but it is really annoying and I have no idea how to fix it. The mac side is fine. If it wasn't for that it'd be perfect. My boss has a Macbook Pro with Bootcamp installed and his is fine. If I were you I'd do some more research in to before you commit, they are so darn exspensive and now I've got this screen problem. Like I said it all works fine just annoying flicker.

[Carrotious]

ok, as i said I have no need to run mac OS. it's really a pure PC situation. it just seemed that people were suggesting it as such, ie the best PC laptop available...

[AJLynn]

It would depend on how you define "best". It doesn't have the most power per dollar and there are some annoyances like the keyboard being a bit different and the one-button trackpad (they have ways around both issues but they're not seamless) but it's great hardware, great design, and does run OSX (I originally got mine for Windows but now I'm running OSX full time).

[Carrotious]

ok i think i'm getting the idea. it's more expensive in a cahs for power ratio than say a dell m6300, but it's a viable option and the components and build can't be argued with...

still can't say i'm going to go there though...

[BrianKitts]

IMO you just can't beat it in power versus size, it's slim sleek, and powerful. The one button track pad annoyed me a bit but you get used to using two fingers on the touch pad to simulate a right click. And then just like AJ, I ended up using it as an apple so much, that then it doesn't even matter cause you get used to using the option keys. Additionally it will recognize a two button mouse so if you use one then keypad doesn't even matter. (side note ...I really like the apple bluetooth mighty mouse...) Which is also nice.... built in bluetooth, so if you get the right wireless mouse, you don't need to waste a USB port on your mouse.

 

As for the the key configuration this guy works great for resetting your keypad to what you would want. (also great for turning the eject key into a PrintScreen button.

http://www.olofsson.info/index.html?inputremapper.html

 

 

I saw a comment about vista, which I wouldn't recommend (actually I've just heard it's not recommended) for bootcamp. Heck its causing enough problems on PCs, do you really want it that bad to try and make it work on your system that you will rely on for your income? I would prefer to have a solid XP machine that can be relied on.

 

And my last bit of advice would be to check out the refurbished section of apple's online store. I'm a huge fan of refurbished equipment since not only do you get a price break, but the amount of testing to re-release a refurbished product is more intensive than a product built of new components, shipped to the end user and assumed to be in working condition.

 

I picked mine up (15" glossy widescreen, 2.3ghz coreDuo, 2G of Ram, and 120GB HD, for right around 1800 USD

 

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/9824001/wo/rZ4qMK9bQtOZ2vG93bE2DG3Etpi/2.0.0.28.9.5.7.1.1.1.1