Macbook Pro or Summin else?

[dogsballs]

My old notebook is long in the tooth, but thats another topic. Looking to get a new laptop. Price isn't really an issue; I just want something that will be very lag-free and sumultaneously run 4 or 5 poker sites/8 poker tables/PT/PAHUD/iTunes/Interent browsing handily. The lag I currently get when I run a few programs, esp if Full Tilt is included, is driving me insane. I'm prepared to pay for quality. I'm not into gaming at all; just poker, music and internet. Can spend $3 or $4k & I'm tempted by the 17" Macbook Pro. Most relevant specs are below at bottom of this post.

I already have two Dell 2001FP's.

Questions:

1) Is running Windows in a Macbook more "immune" to getting bogged down by trojans/bad stuff from outside? Or same as a PC laptop would be?

2) Can I run two dell 2001FP's as well as the native display from the macbook? ie 3 screens total.

3) Looking at Apple stuff. What is Tiger & Leopard? Should I wait for Leopard to come out?

4) 4GB RAM? I like playing safe.

5) Should I not bother w the Mac & just max out a PC notebook.

Thanks for any suggestions.





Processor and memory
* 17-inch MacBook Pro
2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4MB on-chip shared L2 cache running 1:1 with processor speed
* 2GB (two SO-DIMMs) of PC2-5300 (667MHz) DDR2 memory; two SO-DIMM slots support up to 4GB
* 800MHz frontside bus

Video and graphics support
* 17-inch MacBook Pro
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processor with dual-link DVI support and 256MB of GDDR3 SDRAM.
iSight
* Dual display and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 2560 by 1600 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors
* DVI output port
* VGA output using included DVI to VGA adapter


Storage

* 17-inch MacBook Pro
o 160GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive; optional 160GB 7200-rpm or 250GB 4200-rpm drive3
o 8x slot-loading SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
+ Maximum write: 8x DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+RW; 6x DVD-RW; 4x DVD-R DL (double layer), DVD+R DL (double layer); 24x CD-R; 16x CD-RW
+ Maximum read: 8x DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-ROM; 6x DVD-ROM (double layer DVD-9), DVD-R DL (double layer), DVD+R DL (double layer), DVD-RW; 24x CD


Display

* 17-inch MacBook Pro
o 17-inch (diagonal) TFT display with support for millions of colors; optional glossy widescreen display
Supported resolutions: 1680 by 1050 (native), 1280 by 800, 1152 by 720, 1024 by 640, and 800 by 500 at 16:10 aspect ratio; 1280 by 1024 at 5:4 aspect ratio; 1280 by 1024 at 5:4 aspect ratio stretched; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 at 4:3 aspect ratio; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 at 4:3 aspect ratio stretched; 720 by 480 at 3:2 aspect ratio; 720 by 480 at 3:2 aspect ratio stretched
Optional 17-inch (diagonal) TFT widescreen display with support for millions of colors; optional glossy widescreen display. Supported resolutions: 1920 by 1200 (native), 1680 by 1050, 1280 by 800, 1152 by 720, 1024 by 640, and 800 by 500 at 16:10 aspect ratio; 1280 by 1024 at 5:4 aspect ratio; 1280 by 1024 at 5:4 aspect ratio stretched; 1600 by 1200, 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 at 4:3 aspect ratio; 1600 by 1200, 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 at 4:3 aspect ratio stretched; 720 by 480 at 3:2 aspect ratio; 720 by 480 at 3:2 aspect ratio stretched

[kerowo]

If you aren't interested in switching to OS X you are probably better off getting a windows lappy. Just from a hassle point of view. However, if you want to here is my take on the questions:
1. Windows is windows, running it on a virtual machine or via Bootcamp doesn't make it more secure. If you set things up right it may be easier to recover from disaster, but not safer.
2. MBPs will support 30" cinema displays out of the box (maybe with an adapter, but still) so it should be able to support 2 20" monitors, I don't know how you would plug it all in, but it should be able to.
3. Tiger is the current version of OS X, Leopard is the next version, due out this month. If you aren't in a large hurry you should wait till the lappies come standard with it. Again, less hassel and you'd hate to get one 16 days before Leopard comes out and have to pitch a bitch to get it.
4. Leopard is going to be 64 bit which means more memory would be good, especially if you are going to use Parallels and run Windows virtually.
5. If you don't care about computers and just want to get things done the way you are used to get a big windows laptop with XP on it.

[TomHimself]

2. it wont support 2 monitors. maybe with some sort of extension but not out of the box. 30' yes it supports.

[dogsballs]

Thanks for the replies.

So, I'm still not exactly clear... The MBP will allow you to plug in a 30" straight out of the box, in addition to the laptop display? ie both screens will be running with separate stuff on em...I can surf the net and have lobbies etc on the lappy screen and have multi tables on a 30"?).

It would still be better to use my 2 2001's tho, instead of splurging on a 30".

I curently have one of my 2001FPs driven by a Villagetronic thingy which is stuck in the narrow but wide slot in the side of my current Dell Inspiron 9200 notebook (can u tell I'm clueless...?); it acts as the video card to drive my 3rd display at the moment. Could I use that - or something cheap enuf like it - to drive the 2nd 2001FP (ie 3rd screen total) from a MBP?

mebbe maxing a PC would be more straightforward. You can easily get a video card installed to drive more than 2 external monitors, yes?

thanks again.

dogs

edit: working on mac isnt a plus or minus at all for my own personal ease; I used to do all my work on mac before getting stuck into poker. I'm seduced by slickness and reliability tho.

[kerowo]

Correct, out of the box the MBP will allow you two desktops, the laptop monitor and up to a 30" monitor plugged in. To get 3 desktops you would need find some kind of video card for the PC slot on the MPB, which may not be easy.

Yes, if you aren't going to move the laptop around, a regular desktop will give you move power and more options for less money.