13inch MacBook Pro or gaming laptop?

**Keva** · 9th August 2009

Hey.. I'm in the market in for a new laptop soon and I was looking for some advice.. I fell in love with the MacBooks ever since I saw them.. their so sexy! But bloody pricey compared to other 13 inch machines.. I only really need a laptop for the odd web session but wanted to get into video making, image editing and website building..

The other choice is a gaming laptop (Asus G51 or maybe novatech's gaming laptops..) again this was gonna be used for the above purposes but also for taking to LAN partys etc..

I already have a gaming rig at home so this is why I was edging towards the MacBook but my rig is not very portable.. Would the 9400 thats in the MacBook be ok for some games?

Price wise.. Their about the same but I dont want to go getting a machine that I will regret buying a year or so's time as its alot of money

**Sanj[UK]** · 9th August 2009

If you want gaming then dont bother with a macbook..the 9400 gpu is a pile of wank (Note: Theres a diff GPU in the 15" and 17" which would be better for you gaming wise + Providing you use Bootcamp..so you got dual boot between OSX and Windows)

Also for the second part of your query '' I dont want to go getting a machine that I will regret buying a year or so's time as its alot of money' You WONT ever regret buying a mac

**hjf288** · 9th August 2009

The new macbooks are having problems with their hard-drives and graphics failures, id steer clear for now until they get it sorted.

Was going to buy one myself but it put me off

**stu99** · 9th August 2009

I've got a new 13" MBP myself and love it, undoubtedly the best laptop I've ever had.

As above some of the bigger screen ones have a second GPU which is handy for intensive stuff but if you aren't desperate sure of needing a gaming machine then go for the Mac. For me a gaming machine should be a desktop or a console.

Mine is a 2.53 core 2 duo with 4gb RAM, 3gb L2 Cache and 256mb nvidia shared video. It comes with a 5400 rpm drive which is about the only limiting factor but a 500gb 7200 rpm is cheaper to buy yourself than have them fit it for you.

Video editing is awesome on the MBP, if you can get into an Apple store ask for a demo, they won't be pushy as they aren't on commission and they are passionate about the product.

**Mickey** · 9th August 2009

The new alienware lappy looks awesume. If i had the money i would buy one of them as this would replace my lappy and gaming rig

**blaggard** · 9th August 2009

The hard drive failures were two years ago and I'm unaware of any GPU isuues. If you want to be gaming then not a Macbook, everything else? Macbook.

**Sanj[UK]** · 9th August 2009

Originally Posted by Mickey

The new alienware lappy looks awesume. If i had the money i would buy one of them as this would replace my lappy and gaming rig

I knew a guy at uni that spent his whole student loan (�4.5k) on an alienware laptop The machine was a not so portable beast..fuck me it was massive, the pictures on the alienware website are SOOOO deceiving

**blaggard** · 9th August 2009

Lets face it, it's just a Dell!! Asus are far better than Dell if you decide on a Windows machine.

**GTI** · 9th August 2009

Originally Posted by stu99

I've got a new 13" MBP myself and love it, undoubtedly the best laptop I've ever had.

As above some of the bigger screen ones have a second GPU which is handy for intensive stuff but if you aren't desperate sure of needing a gaming machine then go for the Mac. For me a gaming machine should be a desktop or a console.

Mine is a 2.53 core 2 duo with 4gb RAM, 3gb L2 Cache and 256mb nvidia shared video. It comes with a 5400 rpm drive which is about the only limiting factor but a 500gb 7200 rpm is cheaper to buy yourself than have them fit it for you.

Video editing is awesome on the MBP, if you can get into an Apple store ask for a demo, they won't be pushy as they aren't on commission and they are passionate about the product.

Ditto, although I have the marginally slower 2.26 Ghz MBP 13". Absolutely beautiful machine and its fantastic for on the fly video editing and everything else I throw at it. Admittedly I'm not a gamer, but having looked on Youtube a lot of people have reported success running GTA, Ghostbusters etc.. with respectable fram rates.

The way I see it, you will love the look, feel, build quality and 7hr battery life of the MBP 13" and when it comes time to sell it you will get back a significant chunk of your money. I paid �710 on Ebay for a brand new, sealed mid-June 2009 MBP 13" (�899 RRP), and I could probably get back at least �500 of that in a years time. There is no way a Dell, Asus etc.. would offer that level of depreciation.

All the reviews point to the 13" MBP as being the best bang for buck Macbook out there, more power and features than the previous Unibody machines for less money. It was a no brainer as far I was concerned but YMMV.

**Greyfox** · 9th August 2009

If you want gamign dont bother with a mac or a gaming laptop either as its just not worth it for the money you pay. Gaming laptops are expensive as hell, dont have the best specs (for obvious reasons) and have little to no upgrade ability for the future. If you want gaming build your own pc rig, much cheaper but you will still be able to get a much betetr machine. If not and you want portability (ive only read thread title) id get a mac and not nbother abotu the gaming.