484 Questions on Comparing Macs

  • Is the macbook air 11in good for gaming?

    I was thinking about buying the macbook air 11" for mainly gaming. I'm only 13 and this is the cheapest laptop, and alot eaisier to carry (to school or long trips). The games i would get are:
    Minecraft
    Slenderman
    The Walking Dead
    Left 4 Dead
    Steam
    Ect.

    I paid for most of my games and played it on windows XP so if the graphics arent good its fine but as long as its better.
    Would it be better than windows XP?
    Is it ok for gaming?
    Would most of these games work? And which games should i avoid getting?

  • MacBook Air Vs. Macbook Pro?

    Hi, I'm intending to buy a new Mac Book for my hubby. Below are his uses:

    1. Facebook gaming (most flash games)
    2. Online YouTube streaming and live soccer streaming
    3. Office words, excel and PowerPoint

    I'm contemplating between Mac Book Po and Mac book Air. Can someone advise on which I should take and the model? I'm hoping to get a big screen for him, but must be a MacBook...

    Can someone advise please?

    Thanks!

    Jaslyn

  • Macbook Air 13" or Macbook Pro 15"

    I am a high school student and I plan on buying a Macbook Air 13" or Macbook Pro 15". I'm fine in terms of budget. Purpose of having this Macbook is for Photoshop means, video editing means, gaming means and most especially as a requirement for each student in our school, our thesis / research. I love downloading musics and movies and I use social networks and emails a lot. So I would like to be sure before I would buy a Macbook Air 13" or Macbook Pro 15". And I also love going around town and cities along my laptop with me. Cause even in restaurants or coffee shops I do my schoolwork. So which is better for me as a student? Macbook Air 13" or Macbook Pro 15"?

    Best Answer

    The MacBook Air is super portable, so you can take it almost anywhere. But, it doesn't come with as much storage as the MacBook Pro 15", so it couldn't hold as many apps and files as the Pro.
    The MacBook Pro 15" has high-speed graphics, good for playing games. But, it is bigger than the MacBook Air 13", so not as much portability. If you can deal with slower graphics, and only 256 GB of storage, go with the MacBook Air 13". If not, I'd reccomend the MacBook Pro 15".

  • Macbook pro i5 or macbook air i5 for college student

    I need advice for a suitable macbook for college student,Im going to college next year, i usually use my previous laptop (not a mac) for web browsing and make some powerpoint or some slide for presentation, but now, my laptop was broken and im thinking to get a macbook.

    Im thinking to get a macbook air i5 , but then, i was thinking is it good for me?, because for past 1 month i had a photography class, which i should editing some photo with photoshop or other software, and editing a movie and music too, so.. What should i choose, macbook pro i5(maybe upgrade the ssd or ram) OR macbook air i5?

    Best Answer

    MacBook Air for me. It's a "real" compu-tater and the solid state hard drive makes it even faster than the MBP, with a spinning HD. The weight in your packback will be a 5 lb bag of sugar, versus a 2.5 lb envelope of rice cakes, and it will be very noticeable.

    Save money by getting external storage, or even an external optical disc drive and you're golden eggs will be ripe with treasure.

    Lecture hall = small/tiny armrest/desk surface. Smaller is better. It's small, but it packs a wallop. It's aluminum. aluminium.

  • Should i get a new iPad or a Macbook Air for college?

    i am majoring in biology and I have a new iMac which is great but i need a portable platform to take notes on and type papers at my work study along with other things. im going to be working all summer to get the money to get one or the other. im not sure which to get. if i get an iPad i would get a Keyboard case to use with it. but the Macbook air has more memory and can surf the web in full web pages. im torn between the two. can someone please help? maybe a current student or anybody for that matter. thanks in advance!

    Best Answer

    Based on my experience you can use your iPad for viewing ppt slides, Internet research, reviewing assignments and basic note taking. You will be limited when it's time to write essays, submit assignments or use software that may be required for class . Don't get me you can get by with an iPad but your limited even with the wireless keyboard. I say go with MacBook air. That's what I just did. Good luck.

  • Can the high end Mac mini play MineCraft?GTA in max settings?

    can the high end (not the server) Mac mini play MineCraft in 30frames per second or more (in max settings e.g. Far render distance smooth lighting, clouds, graphics: Fancy etc,)?

    If so what about Grand Theft Auto San Andreas/Vice City/III?

    Best Answer

    I bought the 2012 $599 mac mini and upgraded the RAM to 10GB as soon as I took it out of the box and it runs Minecraft at around 30 fps on max settings. So, the short answer is YES.

  • want to buy a laptop

    please show me laptops

  • imac 27 inch i5 vs macbook pro 15 inch i7 for video editing

    I'm doing some heavy video editing and consider upgrading to final cut pro. Need advice on what machine either imac 27 inch i5 or macbook pro 15 inch i7 to run the program. thank you in advance.

    Best Answer

    just from what you're saying I'd have to go with a mcp 15 inch I7 simply because the processors, and as a video editor myself, I like having the ability to edit in different places/on the go, it makes you more mobile and maybe more prone to outside inspiration haha. but having an i7 processor would be a huge advantage simply due to the hyperthreading capabilities (Hyper-Threading (Intel Core i7 only — a technology that allows two threads to run simultaneously on each core. So a quad-core iMac has eight virtual cores, all of which are recognized by Mac OS X. This enables the processor to deliver FASTER PERFORMANCE by spreading tasks more evenly across a greater number of cores.) with the heavy video editing you mentioned, you're going to want to be able to render those files faster. and in my opinion, the i7 should do that for you better than an i5.

    having hyperthreading should help a lot

    - hope that helps :)

  • Mac book pro or Mac book air?

    I am entering high school and I am having the most difficult time deciding what Mac I should get. I want to get the one that is right for me. The Mac book air is significantly lighter which is convenient when I am taking my computer to school but the pro has more memory, a DVD slot and in my opinion is better looking. From the beginning I have wanted the pro but I have been talked out of it many times and I have asked many people what one I should get and most people say the air for it's portability and weight but only one person recommended the pro. So right now I am leaning towards the pro because I have liked it from the beginning but I just wanted to get some more opinions before I made my final decision.

    Best Answer

    If you have not already made your purchase, then my quick thoughts.

    It depends on what you plan to do at school, and to be honest, what you plan to do after. Because of the durability of laptops, think of what you need for a while.

    If you need to complete assignments, (using word processor, spreadsheets, presentations etc, then either will do. If you plan to do graphics/ photo's/ videos/ games, then the pro is definitely the way to go. I have used an 11" air for over a year, and it seems to handle photo editing and graphics quite well (as long as I do not use many layers) but anything more heavy duty, it struggles a little. For games, only the light-weight games in iTunes run very well. Some of the more flashier games also struggle.

    The long term issue is the one I think dictates your choice. If you plan to do more with your laptop in the future, then a pro is the better choice. The portability of the Air is the killer reason I stayed with it.

  • Answer

    Go with the MacBook Pro.
    I purchased the Retina display and it is a great machine!!! Lightning FAST!!! I love the Flash Storage verses the traditional HD.

    But, then I discovered the lack of HD space, lack of CD/DVD drive/burner, no ethernet port connection, etc. I have a ton of photo's and music and need accessible storage with or without an internet connection. I purchased a 1.5 TB external HD to begin storing my photo's and music on; then I started looking at burners. I realized it was going to cost me a lot more to "accessorize" this machine just to use and then carry that "bulk".

    The Retina Display, as nice as it is, is like a fancy MacBook Air... and you need to rely on "Cloud". This didn't work for me : ( However, I think it works great for a lot of people who don't have the same needs as me of HD space, burners, etc.

    I returned the Retina Display machine (within time limit) and exchanged it for the Laptop "work horse"... The 15" MacBook Pro with the 750 hard drive and the faster processor. I love it : ) and I don't regret this decision one bit. I also have the "new" iPad (March) and love it. Found that I needed a computer and couldn't rely solely on the iPad. Probably because of my technology background.

  • 13" MacBook Air Vs. 15" Retina - WebDesigner

    Good day, my situation is that I like the thin ess and lightness of both models, I like the larger screen the 15" provides but I don't like that both models have a screen of same proportions, the retina is essentially a 1440x900 screen (proportion wise), except it has a sharpness that Is barely visible from the average sitting distance.

    Although the upsides of the retina are the 2" larger screen and the 1GB video card and a faster processor (retina benchmark: 10,000 Air: 7,000). Although for WebDesignerGood and photoshop and so on, I am not sure if that processor boost will do me any good, and I don't know if a 1GB vid card would do me any good either.

    Musts that I need in a notebook:
    Flash or solid state drive
    Screen higher res than 1280x800
    256MB vid card or better

    Is there maybe another model that would suit me better? Perhaps an older version. The 15" with 1680x1050 screen 8GB RAM and SSD would be nice, but for that price I may as well get the retina...

    Stuck between a rock and a hard place. I like the idea of saving $600 going for the 13" Air.

    Best Answer

    Hi Nicholas P,
    Personally I'd say you'd be better off with the MacBook Pro as you use Photoshop. The Retina Macbook is definitely a lot more comfortable to use for extended periods of time than the 13" Air. The only reason to get the Air over Retina is if you carry around your Macbook around a lot, say like for school, work, etc.

    The Retina screen also has much more accurate colour and higher contrast ratios than any other MacBooks Apple offers. These might not seem very important but if you compare them side by side you'd definitely pick the Retina.

    However if you went with the Retina you might be better off with the 16GB RAM as the RAM is soldered on to the logic board. And even though I don't use my Retina for many intensive applications I still find I use over 8GB of RAM.

  • Which MacBook Pro should I buy? I'm a film student.

    I would like to edit and use software such as After Effects, Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, Avid, etc.

    Best Answer

    You could buy the latest macbook pro 15" i7 it have the balance of portability and screen estate. 17" in my opinion is too big to be a laptop and 13" might not give you the output you want or enough room for those program tool sets.

  • Should i get a macbook air, pro, or an iMac ?

    i was wondering about what to get my son and i want to get him the best thing possible, so i was wondering what to get him

  • Answer

    If money is not a problem, a Mac Book Pro is the best choice all day long. I have owned Macs ( Apples ) since the early 90s. Actually, I just bought another one 2 weeks ago. What a rocket. The Mac Book Pro is not only a much better choice in all aspects, but it's much more tough physically and durable too. I hope this info helps.

    Enjoy your new mac !!!!!, Victor

  • Would MacBook Pro or MacBook Air be best for high school?

    I'm a 9th grader right now. My parents decided to reward me for getting 2nd place in the National Middle School debate tournament. In high school, chances are I'm probably still going to be on the debate team, so i'm going to need a computer that can do word processing, relatively fast internet (for research), and chances are I'm probably going to have a million tabs open at once so i can get stuff from different sources. Weight shouldn't be too much of a problem. as long as it isn't too heavy (like 5.5 lb+). Battery life could be an issue, because there's no grantee that the room I'm debating in will have a outlet to plug into. So would the MacBook Pro, or the MacBook Air be more suitable?

    Best Answer

    If I was you, I would go for the MacBook Pro. It's got more battery life in it, more storage so you can do more stuff, it's really fast and it has good connectivity but if you are going to use an Ethernet port for the Internet, you'll need an adapter for the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with Retina Display but the normal generation of MacBook Pro has an Ethernet port. It also depends how much you want to spend. Good Luck.

  • Macbook Pro Late 2008 Unibody vs Macbook Air

    Hi all - not sure if this is the place to post this?

    I currently have a Macbook Pro 15.4" Unibody - Late 2008 - 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo - NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT with 256 MB of dedicated GDDR3 SDRAM and a NVIDIA GeForce 9400M with 256 MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory - 256Gb Hard Drive - 2Gb RAM.

    I am looking to move to a newer & possibly lighter machine - and am considering a Macbook Air.

    I currently use around 150Gb HD space - and only ever use the integrated graphics (aside from when I rarely boot up in Windoze which I understand defaults to the NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT). I rarely use the optical drive and use a max of 2 x USB ports. My usage revolves around Safari - Mail - Pages - GarageSale - iPhoto - Dreamweaver CS4 (occasinally) & Word. I would like to retain my 1440 x 900 screen estate - and backlit keyboard.

    I wondered which Macbook Air would offer me improved performance and would be a worthy upgrade over my current machine?

    Thanks!

    Answer

    I have a 2011 model 11" Air with the i7 upgrade and it is the Best Computer Evaaaaar! - the i7 upgrade is noticeably faster than my wife's i5 model when compared side by side.

    That is the only tip I would give for an Air. We have some people at work with i5 Airs and they complain about them being pokey.

    The biggest speed improvement you will notice is the SSD. My work computer is an i5 13" Air (just like my wife's) and it is much much much faster than the i5 Macbook Pro I used to have because of the SSD.

  • MacBook Air or iPad?

    The thing is I am a college student and I come across with lots of assignments and research to do. I also use up a large storage of music, photos and videos, since I edit them and like playing with photo/video editing tools. Not a fan of games at all. I am about to purchase either MacBook Air or iPad, although I am not sure which one to choose.

    From my point of view iPad is more portable and has a camera installed and a wifi-4G makes it easier to use on the go. I also fancy great apps for it, which are not popular for the Air. It also does not have an installed camera.
    On the other hand, Air has a keyboard and it's mouse use which makes it easier to type and see the document fully.

    I would most grateful if any of you could help me make a choice as I am ready to pay if it's worth it. Appreciate any advice.

    Best Answer

    I have an iPad and ordered a new Retina Mac, but I can tell you that an iPad is not a replacement for a Macbook, or any laptop for that matter.

    What I can tell you is, they can be used to supplement each other.

    If you get the iPad, you can tunnel into a Remote Desktop Connection to a laptop at home and it will be as if you are sitting inf front of your computer at home. I do this and it is pretty sweet. Consider the iPad a portable desktop, if you have the technical know-how to set this up securely.

    If you get the MBA, you can run the iPad emulator on it, if I am not mistaken. I believe paying the $99 Apple Developer fee to create an Apple Developer Account allows you to run emulators on the Mac. If you do this, you could - in theory - have all the access you want to iPad apps. And, if you used your real Apple ID when buying the apps, you would be able to buy an iPad at a later day and be all set to go with the apps already bought. No need to purchase them twice.

    I hope this helps!

  • Does this work with MacBook Pro WITHOUT retina display?

    Does this work with MacBook Pro WITHOUT retina display?