Help a girl out

[twylight]

'seems' pricey?

I'm breaking the bank even considering a MacBook Pro...But I'll probably get it anyway.

And yes, I mean components.

I don't suppose there is any way to buy a Mac for cheaper >.<

 

[twylight]

And, just to confuse things a bit more, there are ways to put Mac on a PC.

I hate you.

 

[aptget]

13 inch isnt bad. Id want a 13 inch monitor. I dont understand these 19 inch laptops, the whole point of a laptop is to be portable.

The base MacBook Pro is good, if you can afford it.

I love how they are charging 750 dollars for an extra 2 gigs of RAM.

 

[wiegeabo]

I don't suppose there is any way to buy a Mac for cheaper >.<

Not if you need a laptop. If you don't, go with a MacMini.

But you said you needed a laptop that can run Windows. So the cheapest you can get is a MacBook. And if you don't go refurbished, it's $1174 (cheapest with upgrade to 1GB ram).


And I mentioned the warranty seems pricey because it does, until you break it down. It's about $100 a year, for a full, covers-everything warranty. Not bad at all. It's just a lot to pay up front. I wish they gave us the option to buy it a year at a time.

 

[twylight]

Well, this is more of a 'desktop replacement' I don't have room for a desktop and I'm to mobile for one anyway. So 15" would be nice.

The thing that keeps killing me is the upgrade to more RAM.

 

[aptget]

The Pro comes with 1GB.

 

[twylight]

I'm a horder...I need more...

Or will 1GB be able to handle my games on Windows?

 

[aptget]

Depends.
GW and similar games, yes
Games like Oblivion, FEAR, etc are better w/ 2

 

[jaguarr]

And, just to confuse things a bit more, there are ways to put Mac on a PC.

But it's difficult to install and configure and runs like ass on a PC and doesn't give you all the features or performance of running on Mac hardware.

And I never buy RAM from a computer manufacturer. They ALL overcharge. By it third-party and have it installed if you can't do it yourself.

jag

 

[twylight]

...you can do that? O.O

How much does that normally run and do you really want to do that on a Mac?

 

[jaguarr]

Do what? Install your own RAM? I can, but I'm a geek. But you could buy the RAM third-party from someplace like newegg.com or crucial.com and then have it installed at a CompUSA or another computer shop if you're not comfortable doing it yourself.

jag

 

[twylight]

awww....jag! I didn't know you were that much of a geek. ^_^

That's so cute ^_^

Okay stupid question....can a Mac only be linked to a Mac Monitor?

 

[jaguarr]

A Mac can be connected to pretty much any monitor, really. A moot question if you have an iMac, though.

jag

 

[wiegeabo]

awww....jag! I didn't know you were that much of a geek. ^_^

That's so cute ^_^

Okay stupid question....can a Mac only be linked to a Mac Monitor?

Not at all. The Mac Mini, for example, was designed to use any monitor. For a laptop, I believe all you need is the dongle that hooks the MacBook to a monitor. And that comes with the system.

 

[twylight]

So many choices....such a small budget...


Okay, so now I need to know what exactly ya'll would suggest.

I've done an extensive search via the web of the norms for Graphic Design laptop requirements at major colleges. *I swear I need a week away from the computer now*

The norm seems to be a 13" screen, with a duel core 2.0 and 1 Ram and around 80GB HDD.

Now...since this computer shall be the multi-tasker of the century....

System Requirements for Guild Wars

System Requirements for City of Heroes

Now..it also needs to be able to handle Microsoft XP Pro:

XP System Requirements


What do I need?

P.S. if it's under $2,000 I shall love you forever and wish good things on your children.

(Should you have any)

 

[wiegeabo]

On the Apple side, since you'll be happy with a 13" screen, I'd say the middle MacBook is the best choice. But then I looked at the graphics card, and I'm not sure it can do all you want. (I'm also not sure about gaming on a 13" screen.)

The minimum MacBook Pro should do everything you want. And with the student discount it comes to $1799. That should be right around $2000 after taxes.

 

[aptget]

So many choices....such a small budget...


Okay, so now I need to know what exactly ya'll would suggest.

I've done an extensive search via the web of the norms for Graphic Design laptop requirements at major colleges. *I swear I need a week away from the computer now*

The norm seems to be a 13" screen, with a duel core 2.0 and 1 Ram and around 80GB HDD.

Now...since this computer shall be the multi-tasker of the century....

System Requirements for Guild Wars

System Requirements for City of Heroes

Now..it also needs to be able to handle Microsoft XP Pro:

XP System Requirements


What do I need?

P.S. if it's under $2,000 I shall love you forever and wish good things on your children.

(Should you have any)

We already said the goddamn MacBook Pro
What more do you want from us?
City of Heroes and GW both arent CPU or GPU intensive, a low range PC can run those, the Pro is actually overkill at the moment, but you want to have something that can run future games.

 

[wiegeabo]

Calm down. Dropping two grand is a big step. Twy has all the right in the world to go back and forth and make sure it's the right decision.

 

[aptget]

I am calm!

 

[twylight]

I was thinking along the lines of HDD space, Ram, screen size, type of screen etc....

Thank you by the way Wieg.

 

[wiegeabo]

You're welcome.

 

[jaguarr]

I'd say the base model and configuration of MacBook Pro is going to give you what you're after, Twy. $1999 before your educational discount, which should be around $300-$400.

jag

 

[twylight]

Do you swear Jag? No need to add anything else to it by way of hardware?

I'm trusting you two with my future here.

Think of it as finding me a husband...

And Wieg will so pay if he's wrong...

 

[wiegeabo]

Do you swear Jag? No need to add anything else to it by way of hardware?

I'm trusting you two with my future here.

Think of it as finding me a husband...

And Wieg will so pay if he's wrong...

Did I mention how good Dells are?

 

[twylight]

Did I mention how good Dells are?

Poor Jay.