Intel Based Macs [Archive] - Revision3 Forums

tadpole256

10-01-2006, 01:06 PM

So, who has one of the new intel based Macs? What do you think? Is anyone dual-booting one yet? Is there anyone who is using an intel based Mac to run only a non-Apple OS?

wastern

10-01-2006, 01:32 PM

I've had a MacBook Pro for a good while now.

I tried dual booting with XP when I first got it, I played a game or two, then got sick of it and dumped windows

I then installed Parallels (like VMware for running Windows inside of OS X). I never used it, never had a need for it. So i ended up dumping that too

I know have Crossover installed which is basically Wine. So IE6 is running, but again. I installed it just to say I did. I have no use for IE6. Crossover will also run games however, and from what I've seen its pretty smooth. I just don't have a game I want to play..plus I have a PS2 and will be getting a Wii, so its not an issue

Over all, its a fantastic laptop and I couldn't be happier with it. I can't wait for Leopard to come out

klitzy

10-01-2006, 01:38 PM

My only question is it able to really play the game or is it choppy and slow? Will the regular macbook work with games or would I have to go with the macbook pro?

wastern

10-01-2006, 01:48 PM

My only question is it able to really play the game or is it choppy and slow? Will the regular macbook work with games or would I have to go with the macbook pro?

when installing Windows....it's just like any other Windows laptop with a Core Duo...runs like butter, as Jobs would say

In Crossover I haven't personally tried it, but there was a video on youtube (i think it was posted on digg) that showed HL2, i think, and it really smooth. maybe a slight hiccup here and there, but its still in beta, that needs to be taken into account

If you are buying it for a gaming rig or plan on doing any more then casual gaming I would go for the Pro. The MacBook as on board graphics which is fine for most things, but having the dedicated video card in the Pro is quite nice. I have an X1600 w/ 256mb ram in mine

tadpole256

10-01-2006, 03:36 PM

phatlip12

10-01-2006, 03:50 PM

I have a Macbook, I actually installed Parallels and Windows XP on my machine yesterday. I need IE 6 to use a web application at my college and it doesn't want to work in CrossOver so I decided to use Parallels. It works alright for what I use it for, Im probably going to upgrade my RAM soon.

When it comes to the MacBooks heat I don't personally think its all that bad. It gets as hot as any other laptop would in my opinion. Unless you like to put your laptop on your lap when your naked you should have no problems puttting it on your lap IMO. LOL

casework

10-01-2006, 05:09 PM

I have a MacBook Pro. It's amazing. I've experienced none of the problems that "plague" the Macs in the blogworld. It does get hot, and after a good while using it I have to take it off my lap, but no different than any other laptop I've used, and with the substantial amount of power that mine has compared to others I've used, it doesn't get any hotter than it should, in my opinion.

I installed XP back when I first got it, but I never used it either. It's one of those features that is awesome it's there, and will probably get people to switch, but honestly, OS X is just so much better that you don't want to use XP. I grew up an avid gamer, then PC gamer, and then I really got into computers... but after switching to Macs earlier this year, I never want to use a PC again. In fact, I haven't turned my PC back on since I got my Mac.

moiety

10-01-2006, 06:06 PM

So, who has one of the new intel based Macs? What do you think? Is anyone dual-booting one yet? Is there anyone who is using an intel based Mac to run only a non-Apple OS?

I have a Mac Pro, which I run XP on under Boot Camp for games. It runs beautifully, no problems what so ever to date.

http://static.flickr.com/87/217355154_587209e023_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/therift/217355154/)

lordfoul

10-01-2006, 07:14 PM

Parallels (http://www.parallels.com/en/download/desktop/update/) is supposed to work great and you can try it for free.

jdhore

10-01-2006, 08:44 PM

i've got both a MacBook Pro and a "Hackintosh" and i love them both

noonebutme

10-01-2006, 08:59 PM

Crossover's just the commercial version of wine - other then that they're pretty much the same code afaik.

As far as gaming goes, a regular macbook wont help much - Intel onboard graphics arent very good for gaming, though a Macbook Pro, Mac Pro, or iMac with a full graphics card would work really nice for gaming.

Im debating about wiping my hackintosh partition - the support for SSE2 is going downhill, and im not about to get a new processor anytime soon :/

bigmikeherrmann

10-01-2006, 09:07 PM

MacBook 2.0ghz 2gb Ram 120gb HD (White)

wastern

10-01-2006, 09:10 PM

Have you had any software problems at all to date? Do your old apps run smoothly?

How about hardware, especially since you have a macbook, does it get intensely hot? Can you actually use it on your lap?

For the most part everything runs really smoothly. As with any system you'll have the occasional app hang up, but it doesn't take down the whole system

Actually, just last week I had Firefox lock up a whole Fedora system. I had to power cycle it. That is very rare for Linux, but in 4 years I've never had a mac do that

As for the heat. after a while it can heat up quite nice to the point I wouldn't want it on my lap. But most of the time I can use it on my lap without a problem

pamich

10-01-2006, 09:24 PM

I use parallels instead of boot camp. With virtuedesktops, you can just hit ctrl+shift+left/right to switch between mac and windows screens.

rootkitshield-com

10-01-2006, 09:30 PM

I have my Mac Mini booting into all 3 OS... Windows XP Pro, OSX, and Debian Linux.

Installing XP was easy with bootcamp, but to get Linux to work also, I used Refit, and the latest version of debian (the stable release didn't have all of the kernel drivers it needed.

In case anyone else wanted to give it a shot:
HOWTO Install Debian on the Intel Mac Mini
http://www.mactel-linux.org/wiki/HOWTO_Install_Debian_on_the_Intel_Mac_Mini

arabruno

10-01-2006, 09:39 PM

I bought my first mac about two weeks ago after being a life long PC user. I am prolly a rare case for this but out of the box the MacBook Pro had somethign wrong with the Optical drive, so I had to take it back and they replaced it on the spot. Got that one home, and something was screwd with my iSIGHT and the latch wasn't properly shutting correctly.

So I just took that back and got a MacBook and said screw it.

Before taking it back I installed and played World of Warcraft on the MBP, it ran smother than some desktops I have played it on. I was runing it off of OSX, I installed Windows via boot camp, and it ran smooth as pie there as well.

After I got my MacBook home I havnt installed windows again, no real need to I guess. I kind of miss the dedicated video card... a little.

punkrockguy

10-01-2006, 10:01 PM

pamich

10-01-2006, 10:13 PM

I just got a new macbook about a week ago. I have been a mac user for a while now. I love it! I have a question for people with macbooks. Has anyone tried using parallels with just 512mb of ram? I just assumed that it would be a waste of time without at least a gig.

I've had parelles constantly on with 1gb ram with practically no slowdown, so I'll assume it won't bog your system down too much. You choose how much ram the virtual machine can use (default is 256) so you can change it as you deem necesary.

wastern

10-01-2006, 10:33 PM

I just got a new macbook about a week ago. I have been a mac user for a while now. I love it! I have a question for people with macbooks. Has anyone tried using parallels with just 512mb of ram? I just assumed that it would be a waste of time without at least a gig.

I recommend 1gb of ram to people just running OS X. The system will run a lot better and faster. OS X loves its ram. It will maximize the use of all you give it

punkrockguy

10-01-2006, 10:48 PM

Maybe I will give it a try and see how it works. I really don't need to use windows much. There is a program that i use that is windows only and I use it about once a month. It is a program to program a satellite reciever. It won't run with crossover. It is a program that does not need to be installed. You just run it by clicking the EXE file in the folder. As far as i can tell, you can't run those with crossover.

jonny-trombone

10-02-2006, 12:02 AM

... Is there anyone who is using an intel based Mac to run only a non-Apple OS?

I bought an intel-mac (student discount!) when my desktop died. I was too busy to worry about replacing everything, and I figured I could just use Windows faster and cheaper on an intel iMac.

...I very rarely use windows, anymore.

jonlon15

10-02-2006, 02:09 AM

I have a PowerBook G4, 12". I just don't see the need to get an Intel-based Mac yet.

This PowerBook does everything I need it to do. Sure, it's not the best at running Halo, but thats why I have an Xbox.

Anything I need for Windows is taken care of using Virtual PC. It's slow, but hey, its cheaper than buying an Intel Mac just to run a few programs.

If your thinking about switching, definitely check out the Intel Macs, CrossOver and Parallels will definitely ease the transition for you. But if your on a PowerPC based Mac and it does everything you need it to do at a reasonable speed, then get the most you can out of it! PowerPC Macs aren't obsolete, they are still fantastic machines.

concept

10-02-2006, 02:40 AM

wastern

10-02-2006, 03:04 AM

Hi,

I am looking at picking up a macbook, I will most likely wait until the release of os x 10.5. I use photoshop quite a bit and am getting into avid/fcp. With 1gb of ram and a core 2 duo(will probably be out by the time os x 10.5 ships) will that handle intense graphics on a 23" or 24" lcd?

I know apple says those displays are supported, I just want to know if the performance is ok with just a macbook. let me know from your experience.

Thanks!

If your main use for the machine is going to be photo and video editing you'll want a real graphics card in there. You'll be much happier and better off with the MacBook Pro. Also, you'll probably want 2gb of ram

casework

10-02-2006, 03:25 AM

concept

10-02-2006, 09:04 PM

Yeah, the MacBook Pro is what I have, and I use Photoshop a lot and in the future I'm going to be doing more video and audio editing, and so far it's absolutely perfect for everything I need. And as far as the price goes, it's at least $1000 cheaper than any PC laptop alternative for the same specs.

But at over $2500 configured for a mbp with 2gb of ram, I would rather just get a mac pro.... I, however like the compact size and portability of a laptop. My current laptop (toshiba 1.7ghz centrino w/ 1gb ram) does a decent job and im running extended desktop (19"), but it does have 128mb dedicated ati video card.

I guess im just saying i dont want to go overkill if i dont have to.

thanks for your help

casework

10-02-2006, 09:13 PM

But at over $2500 configured for a mbp with 2gb of ram, I would rather just get a mac pro.... I, however like the compact size and portability of a laptop. My current laptop (toshiba 1.7ghz centrino w/ 1gb ram) does a decent job and im running extended desktop (19"), but it does have 128mb dedicated ati video card.

I guess im just saying i dont want to go overkill if i dont have to.

thanks for your help

But if you're at college, a desktop isn't ideal. That and the Mac Pros weren't even near being released when I got my computer.

Ultimately the portability is what it's all about. If you aren't a student or someone who needs to do work on the go or away from home, then a Mac Pro would be more worth it than a MacBook Pro, generally speaking.

wastern

10-02-2006, 09:29 PM

When I got my MBP it cost me $2700....

2 months later the dropped the price and raised the processor speed

oh well.

that was when the iMac and MBP where the only things out, I wanted to wait until the full intel line was out, but just couldn't

If I had to do it now with the current lineup of systems, I'd probably get an iMac for speed and a MacBook for portability. 2 systems for the price of one.

or a MacPro, that thing is just amazing

bman

10-02-2006, 10:16 PM

I can't wait to get my intel mac, with 3GB of ram, and all the decked out crap with it. !! Going to cost me around $4000 canadian but worth it i'd say.

pamich

10-04-2006, 01:28 AM

Fun fact for intel based mac users.

Triple booting (http://wiki.onmac.net/index.php/Triple_Boot_via_BootCamp)

casework

10-04-2006, 01:58 AM

Fun fact for intel based mac users.

Triple booting (http://wiki.onmac.net/index.php/Triple_Boot_via_BootCamp)

There's actually a video on YouTube of a guy switching between OS X, Linux, and XP using the SmackBook function. It's amazing. I'd post a link but last time I was looking for it I couldn't find it. I'd just search "SmackBook" on YouTube.

nownot

10-05-2006, 01:57 AM

yes im now in the intel based mac family(even though i didnt buy anything) it feels good. lol

phatlip12

10-05-2006, 04:58 AM

I just got a new macbook about a week ago. I have been a mac user for a while now. I love it! I have a question for people with macbooks. Has anyone tried using parallels with just 512mb of ram? I just assumed that it would be a waste of time without at least a gig.

I do, I only use Windows because a web application I need to use on my college website only works in IE. Thats the only thing I use Parallels for so i don't see a need to upgrade the ram for THAT specific reason.

wastern

10-05-2006, 05:03 AM

I do, I only use Windows because a web application I need to use on my college website only works in IE. Thats the only thing I use Parallels for so i don't see a need to upgrade the ram for THAT specific reason.

You might want to give Crossover a try, it'll save you a ton of hdd space and probably run faster. Its still in beta so its not 100% stable, but if thats ok with out its worth a look

check it out. it makes a "bottle" so it works pretty much like any other app on your system

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wastern/230241406/

phatlip12

10-05-2006, 05:11 AM

You might want to give Crossover a try, it'll save you a ton of hdd space and probably run faster. Its still in beta so its not 100% stable, but if thats ok with out its worth a look

check it out. it makes a "bottle" so it works pretty much like any other app on your system

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wastern/230241406/

I already tried, I have to download some active x stuff to get it working right and Crossover doesn't like it. :(

wastern

10-05-2006, 05:15 AM

I already tried, I have to download some active x stuff to get it working right and Crossover doesn't like it. :(

ah. that would be a problem.

I was also kind of disappointed to see that , as far as I can tell, Crossover is running on windows 98 libraries...thats not very good. More and more things are made for 2000 and XP only, and some just XP. Though somehow they are getting those games to run, so who knows