Buying a MacBook - Pros/Cons

[egordo877]

I HIGHLY recommend your holding off on buying a MacBook:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread....0&tstart=0

http://discussions.apple.com/thread....2&tstart=0

http://discussions.apple.com/thread....4&tstart=0

In summary, the new Macbooks have been plagued with problems. I bought one a few months ago and mine is no different, it randomly shutdowns all the time and it really sucks to say the least. in fact there were threads with responses even longer than the ones above but they got locked and/or removed. There are even reports of people that get their macbooks replaced and then three weeks later the same problem happens again!

The main discussion board is here:

http://discussions.apple.com/categor...art=15#threads

I recommend you wait for the next revision or look into buying one of the Macbook Pros instead, they don't seem to have those problems.

[Ignignokt]

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In summary, the new Macbooks have been plagued with problems. I bought one a few months ago and mine is no different, it randomly shutdowns all the time and it really sucks to say the least.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would agree that a few weeks wait might be a good idea, although I know a bunch of people with Macbooks who don't have those issues. The best part is that Apple goes out of its way to fix problems that are theirs.

True story - about a year ago, my 2-year-old (out of warranty) iBook suffered a small drop when my bag came unlatched from the strap. It was fine when I checked it out a little later, but about a week after that it wouldn't start up at all.

I took it in to the Apple Store's "genius bar" and explained what happened. The guy tried everything that he could think of, then sent it to be repaired. When I got it back, I found that the repair was free. Some people with iBooks were having logic-board issues, and Apple was replacing the boards for free. The guy at the Apple Store "forgot" to mention I had dropped it, so since the logic board replacement solved the problem, Apple gave it to me free.

The Apple forums go nuts when any problem is found. That's a good thing - it helps Apple to isolate the problems those people are having. Sometimes the signal-to-noise there is really high though.

[mkflsam]

Wait until Sept 12th, Apple is going to have a "special event", most think it'll be an upgrade to the MacBook and MacBook Pro, going from Core Duos to Core 2 Duos. Definitely worth the wait.

I bought a MacBook specifically to play poker on campus. It's lightweight, portable, and sleek.

Don't get a MacBook if you're planning on playing Warhammer a lot. The integrated video card is lacking, although it's good enough for Diablo 2, World of Warcraft, and Half-Life 2, it won't scream.

There are only a handful of viruses for OSX, most are outdated/patched already. Not sure if there is even a current/active virus out.

If you want a mac, get a mac. You can dual boot WinXP and OSX just fine. The resolution is only 1280x800, although it's enough to 4 table with no overlap with resized tables on PP/PS. If you want to 9 table there will be significant overlap although I've done it before with minimal fuss. Just need some good .ahk scripts.

BTW, unless you need a DVD burner, upgrading just to go from a 1.83->2.0 processor is silly. You're talking 5% improvement or less. A few seconds saved on 1-2 minute processor intensive tasks. If you need the combo drive though, it isn't so bad. Also, just get the MacBook with minimal ram from Apple. You can buy 2 gig of 3rd party ram for $150 or so. Apple charges way too much for memory.

event

You're better off just playing poker in WinXP and doing everything else in OSX. There is PokerTracker type program and Full Tilt OSX universal binaries, but there really is no substitute for Party/PokerAce/AHK/PT.

[LeeroyJenkins]

I play poker on my MBP on Windows XP, it works wonderfully. There is a mod in which you can make the resolution 1920 x 1200 on your MBP or Powerbook, would that be enough for 4 tables without overlap? Linky here: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=207751

edit: after reading more of the topic, the mod apparently makes it so that the screen is that of a 23" cinema display which would be enough for 4 tables without overlap. Seems a bit too complicated for me to do though.

[egocidal]

I can run pokerroom and its skins (europoker, etc.) as well as FTP. I cannot wait for Party to come out with the java client deal. I use a Powerbook G4

[Marc H]

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Cons: It's a Mac.

What poker software supports Mac?

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YSSCKY

[alip]

Having Mac poker clients is good - but what about the 'supporting' software we use, such as Poker Tracker/Poker Ace HUD? Seems like at the moment Windows is still necessary for the full suite of poker applications.
-alip