Laptop time

[Funkmasterr]

So I've decided I'm going to sell my desktop and buy a laptop when I get to Japan, and I'm having trouble deciding which route to go. I was looking at the Alienware laptops on Dells site, and for $2500 you can get a pretty damn sweet laptop. Mobility isn't a huge concern to me, but I would like to be able to use it on the plane or while sitting at the couch without having the weight crushing my legs and the heat searing my skin off, which I'm concerned with on a laptop with the specs the Alienware has.

I'm also very fucking sick of the dumb Windows problems I seem to get the shit luck on, like the video driver issue I had with this desktop that I posted about here, that got to the point where I was getting blue screens and crashing, until a new driver was available and now it's better (mostly). Basically, this shit made me decide to look into Macs... Well, that and the friend of mine I'm going to Japan with knows his shit and swears by them too. So I start looking at the options available on a Macbook, I didn't really have the sticker shock issue being as I'd just put together a 2800 dollar Alienware build, but one thing that jumped out at me right away is the highest available HD option is 500 GB 5400 rpm.. I was kind of hoping for more, but I guess it's nothing I couldn't solve with a external or two.

Basically I want to know performance wise (not just from a tech spec standpoint), am I going to have issues running games like Final Fantasy 14, Crysis 2, etc on a Macbook? Are games typically developed for both OS's nowadays? I stopped paying attention to that years ago. Any other input you may have is welcome too, and Winnow - I know where you stand already

[Funkmasterr]

After reading a bunch today, I think I'm going to go with a Macbook Pro when the new models come out in the next few months. I know it won't be as good for gaming as some other laptops, but I really want to balance out size/weight and functionality and it seems like the best option. Pretty expensive, but I don't really care.

[Stonie]

Also check out Cyberpower.

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/category/notebook/

[Aabidano]

Well, that and the friend of mine I'm going to Japan with knows his shit and swears by them too.

Beware of any Mac\Apple-anything enthusiast.

See: Winnow

[Boogahz]

Well, that and the friend of mine I'm going to Japan with knows his shit and swears by them too.

Beware of any Mac\Apple-anything enthusiast.

See: Winnow

Better yet, avoid basing your decision on someone that swears for/against anything!

[Funkmasterr]

Would you guys suggest against them? I've never owned one, but it seems like a good choice for what I'm looking for. I'm totally open to suggestions still at this point being as it will be a few months before I buy it either way!

[Winnow]

I'd just like to mention that with your $2,500 price target, you could buy five iPads and use one with each hand, use your toes to control two more , and buy a head mount for the fifth iPad to watch videos on.

I barely use my iMac for anything other than multimedia so can't comment on OSX except that it's not that great if you're a power user. Buying an iMac as a primary PC is something you would do for your clueless daughter in high school that just needs to IM their friends, watch you tube, and write school papers.

The new Apple notebooks are much more powerful than they used to be in comparison to PC notebooks (due to the slow down in top end PC development lately). The latest models releasing shortly should be plenty powerful if you boot into Windows 7 to play games on. The only reason I'd suggest it is if you don't plan to upgrade internals. The hardware quality of Apple's products would be one reason to buy an Apple notebook.

Apple's iPhone and iPad are another story. They're so many levels above the competition it shouldn't even need explaining but I'll probably continue to do so on a weekly basis.

Note: The new App Store for the Mac will most likely bring a flood of new Apps and Games to the OSX platform.

[Aabidano]

The hardware quality of Apple's products would be one reason to buy an Apple notebook

Heard that for years, that said I've never had trouble with the 5(?) laptops I've had.

I don't have an opinion one way or the other about the computers, the users annoy me.

All the Mac users I know are deliriously happy with them, though I really think you could hand most of them a Netbook encrusted in poo and they'd be happy as long as it said Apple on it. The self-intoxicating cloud of smug that surrounds them is my only complaint.

We've an endlessly whinging minority at work who who endlessly complain "whyyyy can' I use my Mac at work! Waaaaaaaahhh!"

Most of them also drive (gas) VWs. And talk about them. If they were VW diesels it'd be another story, they aren't.

OK, I made that last part up.

[Spang]

Would you guys suggest against them? I've never owned one, but it seems like a good choice for what I'm looking for. I'm totally open to suggestions still at this point being as it will be a few months before I buy it either way!

I've been the proud owner of a MacBook Pro for about a month. Do yourself a favor, get one.

[Canelek]

If you decide against the Apple, go ASUS for sure. Excellent customer service, best damn boards and fantastic display. Plus you'll likely not get those crazy AlienWare prices!

[Ashur]

I work in an application development shop and all the really smart technologists have macbooks and love them. They don't ooze smugness. They just hate instability. I tried to get my wife one last time she was due for a new system, but she refused and still makes me support her windows Vista notebook that she got at the time. I think her next complaint or virus gets her an Ubuntu build w/o root.

[Aslanna]

I tried to get my wife one last time she was due for a new system, but she refused and still makes me support her windows Vista notebook that she got at the time. I think her next complaint or virus gets her an Ubuntu build w/o root.

Sounds more like a user issue. Windows has been (mostly) stable since XP!

[Funkmasterr]

I had constant problems with my video card, and based on everything I read it was because of stubbornness/inability to fix something on MS's end. That really was the part that made me bitter enough to start looking into Mac's, something about spending almost 2k on a computer and upgrading to the Ultimate version of Windows and still having stupid fucking issues didn't sit well with me.

[Boogahz]

I tried to get my wife one last time she was due for a new system, but she refused and still makes me support her windows Vista notebook that she got at the time. I think her next complaint or virus gets her an Ubuntu build w/o root.

Sounds more like a user issue. Windows has been (mostly) stable since XP!

Probably cheaper to buy something else each year than try to convince the wife that she is failing at the internet

[Funkmasterr]

I tried to get my wife one last time she was due for a new system, but she refused and still makes me support her windows Vista notebook that she got at the time. I think her next complaint or virus gets her an Ubuntu build w/o root.

Sounds more like a user issue. Windows has been (mostly) stable since XP!

Probably cheaper to buy something else each year than try to convince the wife that she is failing at the internet

Probably considerably less painful (physically and mentally) too!