Windows & Mac!

Okay, so I have always been a Windows user, and always pretty much known the ins and outs of them. Cause I'm a computer nerd! But after purchasing 3 top of the line gaming laptops (I'm a very hardcore gamer, Psy can vouch for that :P) and all of them giving me the blue screen of death from overheating within a measly 30 mins of playing a game, I began to get fed up of the poor production of them.

Seriously, a gaming laptop died after playing 30 mins of sims 2, WoW and it even overheated while watching youtube videos!

When I started using my other half's Macbook, I put Sims 3 on it and found that it handled itself really well when it came to the heating.

I then decided to get a Macbook for college and for gaming purposes. At the moment I only have MacOSX on here, but my intention is to put Windows on it next week to run through bootcamp.

Basically, I want to know peoples opinions on Windows, Mac, and Macbooks with Windows on them!

The debate begins! Keep it nice :P

I used to shun all the UNIX I cried aloud with mirth and merriment smurf MICRO$OFT idiots, but since using Windows Vista I've changed my mind. It truly is the most bloated, over-security-conscious, incompatible piece of crap in the known universe. Downgrade to XP.

It's unlikely you'll be able to play a lot of games on a Mac though.

Yeah, that's why I'm getting windows put on here as a secondary OS. I've heard that it runs games really well through bootcamp cause then it uses it as a native OS rather than if you were using Parallels or VMWare.

The Macbook has quite good specs, especially for gaming, and it handles itself really well compared to the other laptops that I've had that were only windows based. Which is purely why I got a macbook. If I wasn't able to have windows on it, I wouldn't have bothered.

Windows 7 is what I'm gonna have on here, I've heard its more stable than vista I cried aloud with mirth and merriment =p

Out of curiosity, what gaming laptops did you buy? I don't think I'd buy a gaming laptop at all myself. They're not nearly as portable and if they even come close to matching their desktop counterparts in terms of power, they have a 10 minute battery life as a result. Might as well have a desktop for games and a netbook for portability at that point.

I wouldn't go for a Mac myself because even with the recent price drop, they're way over priced for the specs you get (the regular old 13" isn't as bad as the others for that though last time I checked).

Also, unlike Old Manus, my experience with Vista has been fine. It's gotten a lot better since it came out. I also don't tend to notice a system hog of an OS when I have a 3.16 GHz Core 2 Duo and 8GBs of RAM. :p

The first one I bought was an ASUS one I remember that but I can't remember what model it was but this was in 2006, It overheated badly and completely wiped out the whole computer. Cant remember make or model for second one cause I only had that one for about 3 weeks. My latest laptop that I purchased was the MSI GX600-84UK. I purchased that one last year in August, was about 900 - 1000 pounds

It's created with a Turbo button to allow you to overclock the processors so you have a better performance. I didn't use this feature at all. The graphics card was a NVidia GeForce 8400GT M, 3GB Ram. with Crystal Vision screen >.< This one lasted 3 months. I only used it to play WoW at that time but it overheated so badly it constantly gave me blue screen of death every 20 mins of playing it or so. I had to stick to browsing until I sent it in for repair.

MSI's support was appauling, they didn't even notify me when the laptop had been sent back out, so I was unaware that they had sent it, and that the van was out for delivery until about 2 weeks later when I questioned. The laptop had been stolen off the back of the lorry literally 2 streets down from where I lived. :-/ Then it took a few months to get a new one off them cause they kept claiming that it was the couriers fault when they didn't put any insurance on it.

I received my brand new laptop (same specs/model etc just brand new) and the exact same problems happen when I tried to play Sims 3. It was so bad, that when I was browsing one night, the laptop just died...No life whatsoever. So had to send this one back for repair but cba with it as they refused to give me a refund because of already receiving a replacement, so bought a macbook after about 2 months of using my other halfs one. The funny thing is, they still haven't even got to the repairing stage of my laptop on the tracking site. I cried aloud with mirth and merriment

I agree with Vivi in that if you want something for gaming that's gonna be really good, I'd have a desktop specifically for that and then have a laptop for other stuff. Many laptops just aren't suited for gaming -- as mentioned before, overheating and the short battery life are major issues. Heck, I'd just make my own desktop, at that point.

That said, I have the new 15" MacBook Pro. It has a 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4 GBs of memory, and a 320 GB hard drive. Also, backlit keyboard ftw.:heart: Got it all for around three grand. Oh, Apple.

Now. I have both the Sims 3 and WoW on here, running on OSX.5. The battery life isn't terribly horrendous, but it doesn't much matter to me since I always plug in while gaming anyway. Overheating used to be an issue to where I would start seeing changes in graphics, freak out, turn the game off and let it cool for a while. Then I did a little research and found a program called "SMC Fan Control". It's basically my savior. It runs in the background, and you can set up different unique settings for how fast the fans are running depending on what you're doing. It keeps everything in check nicely, from my experience. Also, I have one of those lap fan things that plug into your USB port. That helps quite a bit too, since I like to curl up on my couch and play on my lap or on the cushions. (Yeah, yeah, stupid, I know.)

I haven't had Windows since XP, and I do miss it and plan on dual booting soon, perhaps trying out Windows 7. Too many of my friends have had bad experiences with Vista to where I'm just skipping over it (although with them, I do admit it's probably 98% user errors).

So, For those with attention deficiency disorders, here is a summarized snippet of the general ramblings for you to ponder over -, I like Windows. I like Mac. I like Windows on a Mac. And as long as you can tweak your settings, gaming isn't too bad on a Mac no matter which OS you run.

I really want a Mac for my non-gaming. But now that I think of it, all I play on this computer is WoW, and I seldom even do that. I don't have much of a problem with my Dell laptop though. Honeybee is a sweetie.

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Originally Posted by Rye

I really want a Mac for my non-gaming. But now that I think of it, all I play on this computer is WoW, and I seldom even do that. I don't have much of a problem with my Dell laptop though. Honeybee is a sweetie.

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I love the Mac for the college stuff I'm gonna be doing. It's got really good support for students.

The gaming stuff I do is mostly sims, emulators, pangya and steam applications like half life etc. The only real demanding game is the Sims 3 and that seems to be running full out brilliantly with no problems and that's what I'm looking for, so the Mac has certainly shown it compatibility with it. Now all I need is Windows on here to use the programs that aren't compatible with the MacOSX.

As for having a desktop, I already have one, but its at my parent's house, and unless I can bring it here myself I don't trust sending it here because I don't want to risk it getting stolen I cried aloud with mirth and merriment. Besides, I only ever really used my Desktop for storage or when my laptops were inaccessable.

I travel a lot so my gaming is mainly around that. As long as I have a plug I'm happy. =p

Also, one thing I am extremely pleased with is the Apple Customer Support. Compared to Asus and MSI they are angels =p. I like knowing that if something goes wrong, I will get the service I need.

I say if you enjoy it good for you.

Macs are awesome, and if you run Parallels, nothing in the world is out of your grasp.

seriously you guys, parallels is a sweet piece of software. Opening windows as its own application whereyou can alt+tab from it? ownage.

hehe, I was considering getting parallels but aparantly games don't run that smoothly on it. But for other stuff I've heard its absolutely brill =D

I've used Windows my whole life, so I'm too scared to venture into the unknown Mac OS. I went into an Apple store and tried to use a Mac and I felt like an old man trying to fiddle with some sort of new fangled gadget!

I just don't like using Macs, and I never have. I've always preferred Windows, and I've already preordered Windows 7 when it comes out.

Macs are too expensive, and I'm used to PC so I just stick with that.

I don't know. I kind of hate mac, but I'm stuck with one at the moment.
I'd prefer windows just because it's easier to fix if anything breaks. Well atleast I've been told that (technologically impaired).

In any case, I have an imac that seems to overheat ALOT. And I think the graphics card in it is shot. Took it to the mac store and asked if I could get it replaced or anything like that and they said I'd have to replace the WHOLE motherboard or whatever that's called in a mac.
So yes, if I had a normal windows computer, I would simply have to replace the graphics card and NOT the whole motherboard.
A lot easier to fix and besides those silly mac store people are never really helpful... :|

I don't know about the imac, but a friend of mine has upgraded his Macbook a few times on his own. They're apparantly really easy to upgrade/change parts etc. Unlike some laptops which require you to use specific parts from the manufacturer >.<

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Originally Posted by MsTiffie

I don't know about the imac, but a friend of mine has upgraded his Macbook a few times on his own. They're apparantly really easy to upgrade/change parts etc. Unlike some laptops which require you to use specific parts from the manufacturer >.<

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Upgrading RAM or even a hard drive is one thing, but if they're saying the motherboard would need replacing then it leads me to one of a few conclusions:
A: The graphics card is integrated and replacing it on it's own is pretty much impossible
B: The problem is actually with the motherboard
C: The graphics card is toast but a suitable replacement isn't even available anymore (possible if it's an older model), or
D: The guys at the Mac store have no clue what they're talking about.

D is always an option, but any of the others would mean it's not really a do it yourself job with a Mac, and possibly almost as pricey as buying a new computer outright (I have no idea how much a new iMac motherboard costs, but I'll bet they don't exactly give them away).

Though in all fairness, fixing the same problem in a Windows PC could still be a pain if it's an older computer because specs and standards change pretty fast.

the thing about DIY with macs is that while they're very finicky and you have to put things together in a very tight space due to the engineering, they're also very proliferous and the precise manuals are easy to get ahold of with picture walkthroughs. *shrugs*

I'll totally admit it. I just want a mac because it looks organized, because of the TV advertisements. I'm usually not a sucker for ads, but this one got me. I feel as though if I get a Mac and an iPhone, and use their Johnny Appleseed program, and organize my photos with their programs, my life will become instantly well organized, with clean lines, like an IKEA catalog. :(

What the hell kind of laptops are you buying O_o

Get a desktop is my honest advice.

Mac is the lowest of the low. Worse than Windows, worse than Linux, worse than anything. And while Vista did suck balls at first, after some patching and such, as usual with Windows, it became fairly decent.

I've used Mac OSX, Windows 95 through Vista, and various versions of Linux through the years, and honestly the very best out of all of them is whatever one is best suited for what you want to do.

I would probably be a full-time Linux user if I could play all my games flawlessly on it, but as I can't, I use Windows a lot on my desktop. On my laptop it's Linux basically full time. I use Allie's macbook a decent amount and have never had any problem with the user experience. You just need to know what you're using it for.

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Originally Posted by I'm my own MILF

What the hell kind of laptops are you buying O_o

Get a desktop is my honest advice.

Mac is the lowest of the low. Worse than Windows, worse than Linux, worse than anything. And while Vista did suck balls at first, after some patching and such, as usual with Windows, it became fairly decent.

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There's no point in me getting a desktop as I travel alot, and thats when I mostly play my games, if I'm not at home. When I'm at home I'll mostly play my Xbox360. So desktop is pointless for me.

Besides I'm happy with the Mac, it's proved to be very reliable for me, and right now that's exactly what I need, especially for college.
The last thing I need is to be working my butt off at college then all of a sudden I lose all I'm working on cause of the stupid laptop not being able to cope with simple basics.

I didn't want to be critisised for having a Mac, I just wanted peoples views on windows and mac, or having both at once.

>>> I love Macs, my only complain is the price..

Macs are too expensive, just like most Apple products, but they've got a better operating system than Windows. Windows 7 is decent but I don't think it can touch the BSD base of OSX as a true multi-user operating system. Apple takes a "you don't f with it and we'll take care of it" kind of approach to their software and hardware, whilst Windows has a "I'll let you f with it but once you break it, it ain't my problem" approach. And Linux has an "I encourage you to use, tinker with and break as much as you can and then, a swarm of reputation-seeking geeks will race to solve your problem first" approach. :p

Linux will always be my primary OS, but I'd take a Mac over Windows any day.

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Originally Posted by rubah

Macs are awesome, and if you run Parallels, nothing in the world is out of your grasp.

seriously you guys, parallels is a sweet piece of software. Opening windows as its own application whereyou can alt+tab from it? ownage.

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Parallels is great unless your primary use of Windows on the Mac is to run secure examtaking software that has to shut off your access to everything else while it runs. Which was the only thing I very used Windows for during my three years of law school. So I had to use bootcamp.

But anyway, as someone who used PCs all my life and got a macbook when they first came out three years ago, the MacOSX has been much better than Windows.

I grew up using Windows, never had a problem with Vista and currently I have a toshiba netbook - cause the macbooks are just too expensive. My first time with a mac OS was on an Mac Pro and it took a little getting used to, but I loved it. I want a mac, one day, and an Iphone, and an Ipod and whatever else they manipulate me into. =(