Professor Says Buy a Mac? Should I invest if I'm a PC Gamer?

kndrwllmsn

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May 21, 2010
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Hello, I'm in a bit of a conundrum...I need to buy a new laptop before the start of Fall 2010 classes. My major is Media Arts and Game Design. On one side my professors urge all of the students to invest in Mac Book Pros. On my side I'm a "casual" computer gamer (Guild Wars, Black and White 2, and soon Guild Wars 2)and a Microsoft lover. I'm worried about Macs graphics card...512 undedicated? Does Bootcamp really work well to play games on Macs? Or should I max out a "pc" (i know they now both run on Intel)and be able to run my games, but not have so much ease with my graphics classes? I will be running: CS5, Illustrator, Manga Works...
I guess the main question is do I have to give up ease of gaming for a mac? Or are Macs and "PC's" now comparable computers? Mac or PC...lol
 
Solution
Also, don't listen to clueless people that never used a Macbook pro or don't know how bootcamp works,

The new macbook pros have a nvidia GT330M which is pretty good for mobile gaming.

Now if you run Windows on it using Bootcamp (so it's native, bootcamp is NOT an emulator) you don't loose any power so you'll be fine. That's what I do so I can tell.

All in all, as you said it, MAC and PC are now the same.
They have the exact same hardware (same processors, same graphic cards) which is the reason why you can run Windows natively on a macbook. You wont be giving up gaming.

SO if you can afford it, get the macbook pro 15' with the GT330M.
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Guest

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Forget games, if you need a Mac for your course, you're stuck. Running Windows on Boot Camp isn't going to give you great gaming speeds. Anyway, when you're through paying for the Apple computer (and vastly overpriced programs) you won't be able to eat, let alone buy games.

PS: Nobody is a "Microsoft lover" most detest the company and its products. We just have no choice because it's a monopoly (well, duopoly if you include the similarly vile Apple).
 

Onus

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Jan 27, 2006
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Ask your professors if the course software will run on a PC with Windows. If they say "No," find out what the course software is, then ask here to find out if your professors lied, are idiots, or are Apple shills. If they didn't lie and aren't "mistaken," sorry but you're stuck. If they're wrong however, then you can have your cake and eat it too.

 

holl0w

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Apr 24, 2010
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Hi knd, as the previous poster had said. Ask your professor if your course does requires you to use a Mac (And I know most of them does for some reason which I don't know.) . If yes, I believe there are new Macbook Pro that comes with GT 330M discrete card. This should be able to give you some gaming, don't expect to play games like crysis in high quality though. If you are not required to buy a Mac, by all means go for a pc (Only if you are comfortable about having only you in your class using a window. You know, like being left out of being fans of apple)
Cheers,
Holl0w :)
 

vaerax

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Jan 4, 2010
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In all fairness, as much as I hate macs (and I do hate macs) buying a good mac might not be a horrible investment for you. If you're into Media Arts and Game Design, a lot of professional studios use macs. To help w/ their ridiculous overpricing, I would probably stay away from a laptop and go with a desktop mac. It's not a replacement for a gaming laptop. There is no mac equivalent of gaming hardware. Some games just don't come out on macs, and emulator != native... but school comes first.
 

nabla

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Mar 26, 2010
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Buy a Macbook pro.

I have one, I play games on Windows with Bootcamp and its perfectly fine. It runs like a pc laptop with the same configuration, and the new macbook pros pack decent power for gaming. It is clearly more than needed for a casual gamer.

Also if you're in Media Arts, you just need one.

Anyway get a macbook pro, and I'm not a Apple whore, I spend more time on Windows than on Mac OS on my own macbook!
 

nabla

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Mar 26, 2010
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Also, don't listen to clueless people that never used a Macbook pro or don't know how bootcamp works,

The new macbook pros have a nvidia GT330M which is pretty good for mobile gaming.

Now if you run Windows on it using Bootcamp (so it's native, bootcamp is NOT an emulator) you don't loose any power so you'll be fine. That's what I do so I can tell.

All in all, as you said it, MAC and PC are now the same.
They have the exact same hardware (same processors, same graphic cards) which is the reason why you can run Windows natively on a macbook. You wont be giving up gaming.

SO if you can afford it, get the macbook pro 15' with the GT330M.
 
Solution
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Guest

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Ummm... you can duel boot OS X with Windows on a PC... you'll have to do some questionable things, but I used to tri-boot Ubuntu with OS X and Vista on one machine... Just saying.
 

oblah

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May 20, 2010
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I agree with pyroyuy, Why not just buy a superior pc for half the cost and learn a little something by installing OSX on it. Just google hackintosh and you're on your way.
 

gerryweibob

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May 23, 2010
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running windows on MBP with bootcamp isn't that bad. The gaming experience is pretty much the same as what you expect on a similar PC, but I heard there are downsides such as reduced battery life and heating problems.
But like most ppl have said above, ask your professor if a Mac is really so important.
 
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Hackintosh isn't for the faint-hearted. Frankly, I think it's poor advice to suggest it.

Far better to check with the Prof whether a Mac is essential and, if it is, be prepared to sacrifice games or get a second computer or console.

College courses aren't cheap, these days -- computers are.
 

kndrwllmsn

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May 21, 2010
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Thanks to everyone who replied! I emailed my design professor to get the truth about getting a mac. The answer:
1) He recommends Mac because all the computers in the art labs are Mac Pro towers and if students have Mac laptops themselves they can enjoy the portability of their work from class to home without the worry of data corruption. Which apparently is a very common thing.
2 ) He recommends Mac because though all my design programs are designed for both...for some reason "PC's" don't run them as well at all because of registry corruption.
3) He recommends Mac because alot of the design/gaming companies we will be going into after college use Mac for their concept art departments and he wants students to be used to the OS, the computer itself, and the programs.
-- he did say if I really don't want a mac that right now Sony and HP desktops are extremely popular in the design industry- the only thing is desktops aren't portable!

And knowing from already two years in the Art department my projects on paper take up to 48 logged hours to complete...I realize that once animating rolls around I won't have anytime for games or anything for that matter!
So a Mac Book Pro and learning how to run bookcamp it is! And someday hopefully all this college will pay off and I can afford two kinds of computers...
 

joshd567

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Oct 12, 2010
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All i have to say is for multi media yes a mac might be good but who in there right mind would develop games on a mac. about %70 of the game market belongs to Microsoft between PC games and the Xbox so you would most likely be developing on a PC. Not to mention you can legitimately get every development environment and 3D animation tool you would ever need to develop a game for free through Microsoft and Autodesk as a student.
 

cats_Paw

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Basicly, the only real problem of mac is a locked system. you cant upgrade, and as far as i know you cant update your OS.
This limits yo to the current software mac has.
I dont know how boot camp works, but i do know is that its something extra to factor.
Personally, i always had PCs, and when people said stuff like "Mac is better for editing", i close every single extra service Windows has, and run a editing program on my overclocked quad core with "Highest priority" on the program.

So, all depends really on your knowledge, becouse as someone mentioned, the hardware is the same.