Macbook Pro or Alienware, Need Smogoner's wisdom!

I don't know why everyone thinks they need a laptop for college. I somehow got by with a desktop that was more powerful and cheaper.
 
I'd advise getting a medium range laptop and a desktop. This coming from someone who uses a Macbook Pro for his main computer. All of the downsides you noted about bootcamp are true -- I uninstalled Windows, actually, since really the only PC games I play are Blizzard games, which have OSX versions. Parallels takes care of shit like Netbattle Supremacy and Pokesav. Neither laptop will likely last you 5 years for gaming.

Gaming is also pretty dependent on having a mouse and full sized keyboard, at least for me. I virtually never play anything on my laptop without my mouse. USB keyboard, and my 22" monitor. Generally if I'm un-wired and in the living room or school or something, I'm either surfing the web, chatting, or being productive and writing a paper or something. The portability of my laptop really doesn't apply to gaming, imo. Gaming on a 13" or 15" screen is a pain in the ass, especially if you're trying to use the laptop's keyboard -- your hands sorta get in the way of your view, not to mention you're gonna end up plugging in anyways, since gaming will completely rape your laptop's battery.

Also keep in mind that you should be able to get at LEAST a 10% student discount(not sure if it varies by school or not, mine's 10%) with a student ID if you buy an Apple laptop. I love my Macbook Pro dearly, but I've found what I wrote above to be true when it comes to practical use.
 
I'm going to be frank with you; MacBooks suck. I'm typing this from a MacBook Pro right now and I have a big, ugly, gash-like crack in the upper right hand corner of my screen. This isn't from my lack of care in handling the laptop - I actually treat and care for my laptop as I treat my Uggs; like human children - it's from the shitty design that the MacBook has. The screen is ridiculously sensitive, and so even applying the slightest small pinch of pressure to it means that you could very well end up with a pretty ugly crack. Also, MacBooks are near impossible to "clean" once they get dirty. By this, I mean when the screen gets smudged or whatever. I don't know if it is anybody else, but my MacBook pro has trouble handling downloads. For instance, Shoddy Battle is ridiculously hit-and-miss on my MacBook. Photos also sometimes have a tough time downloading onto your computer if you're one of those people who like to take their camera and shove all the pictures onto your computer.

I've never even heard of the other computer, and as a two year MacBook-user, I really encourage you to get the other one. MacBooks aren't at all sturdy enough to last you all the way through college, even if you're obsessively careful with yours like I am with mine.

EDIT: no problem :)
 
I'm curious WHY you're getting an Alienware laptop? Are you getting it for the brand name? Because quite frankly, you could get a much better laptop for that price, from Acer, Asus, or even Sony (lol).

And I hate macbooks with a dear passion. Their OS pisses me off for whatever reason, lack of good specs (I'm driven by hardware) and the general design. Makes me want to puke no offense to any macbook owners. I'm just not into macs.
 
if you're already using OSX, why get a Windows comp? Let alone a gaming central comp

There's better laptops for your purposes than the Alienware.
 
I would say, think about how the laptop is going to relate to your Mac Mini. You've already said you prefer OSX over Windows 7 (a sentiment I do not share; personally I find OSX hard to use).

Thus, I reckon if you see the laptop as a replacement for the Mac Mini, get the Macbook. If on the other hand you see the laptop as a partner for the Mini, and intend to continue using the Mini for the tasks it does well, then get the Alienware.

And whichever you get, but especially in the case of the Alienware, remember that there is another way. Try GNU/Linux on it. With a bit of configuration on your part it can do a pretty good OSX impersonation.
 
Tarquin said:
Hmm, this isn't quite what I'd hoped for lol. I had hoped for people to help me deal with this for and against situation but anyway.

I am getting an Alienware if I choose PC because it has one of the highest graphics capacities, dead wrongand I actually just prefer it as a piece of hardware to other PC laptops in the same market There are brands that are just as reliable. Asus for one is I believe one of the most reliable laptop makers in the market irght now. . My Mac Mini handles everyday tasks really nicely despite lower spec so having slightly lower cpu isn't a big deal for the Alienware, especially as it is fully designed to support quad cores should I upgrade. It also has the HD screen standard, much nicer built in speakers, have much more drama and spirit about it and its these kind of things that might persuade me to bypass that I didn't have the Mac OSX (I like it) and I hadn't just gotten an ordinary bulky PC.

Its not a bad choice by any means in the market, only Asus get up to matching its graphics performance in real life tests.
Click to expand...

My Acer has a greater graphics capability than that Alienware. I also got it for around 500 dollars cheaper and has decent speakers. It's resolution is not too great 1366x768, but it's decent enough. Consider the Acer 5740G

And finally, Lenovo is one hell of a brand and makes great laptops. Their T510 is great. But since their graphics card is not that great, then you should go with the Alienware.

Seriously, the only thing Alienware brings is the brand name. You should seriously consider other brands, before you regret limiting your hardware.
 
What's your price range? If it goes from a bit above $1,000 to under $2,000, I'd seriously look into the Asus G-series laptops. Ranging from $1,199 to $1,799 (this one comes with TWO 500GB Hard Drives, for 1TB of storage), they are probably the best deal when it comes to gaming laptops.

Also, you can actually install OSX on a PC, as long as you don't distribute the computer with it on it in any way. I wouldn't recommend that OR Windows personally, however, Linux will play most games/windows apps just fine under Wine.
 
If you are going with the MacBook Pro, remember that Steam for OSX should be out soon and you'll be able to play all the Source games (Half-Life series, Counter-Strike, Team Fortress 2, and Left 4 Dead series) on it. 13" is a better bet than a heavy ass 15" like that Alienware. I'm personally looking to one of the Asus ultralight series as it meets my gaming + school needs better (primary gaming on desktop).

The 13" Pro's battery life will also serve you far better than that Alienware for schoolwork.
 
Shoddy works on mac and that's all that matters gamewise.

I have a macbook now, and it does what it does and is perfect for school work and it can run microsoft office though iwork is neater and is half the price. As far as aesthetics go, I couldn't care about the looks but it is much lighter and the alienware looks 252/252 bold bulky.

As far as my mac, I have a standard macbook and have had it for 2 1/2 years and it works great if my personal anecdote means anything.
 
I spent 1.4k on a new Macbook Pro this summer (13") and it's simply amazing. I've been a windows user all my life and after using OSX for a few months, I decided I'd never go back. Yes, that sounds a bit advertisement-ish but it's true, and I love my mac.

Idk what's wrong with snorlaxe's mac but I've had mine for nearly nine months and nothing is wrong with it at all. It still runs faster than my mom's newer pc, is clean and organized, has no scratches or damage whatsoever, and is sexier than anything else out there. All of this I accredit to good ownership and a well-designed case to keep it in when I bring it around with me.

It is somewhat troublesome when you want to play pc games on it, but some of the bigger titles play on macs as well and more and more games are being made in mac versions.

I <3 my mac.
 
Well when I got a laptop for University I did lots or reasearch. We don't have alien war in NZ (plus never heard of it) so I got a Toshiba with bag and stuff for $1500 (NZD). Personally I think its the graphics card that i really wanted and got a 512 (a 256 Graphics card was minimum for my games). Anyway I used macs at my secondary school and they were fine. For an average university laptop thenI would go for a Mac. If I wanted to play games then I would go for something else.
 
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