anyone have macbook 13" 1.83ghz - WoW

Skeletor · #1 (**permalink**) 03-15-2007, 02:14 PM

I'm thinking about buying this Mac:
* 1.83GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 512MB memory
* 60GB hard drive1
* Combo drive
* Intel GMA 950 graphics processor with 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM
shared with main memory

It is basically the 1099$ one from the apple.com/ store site. I'm wondering if anyone has played WoW on this same laptop? If so, does it run like absolute garbage, or is it even playable?

CoffeeShark · #2 (**permalink**) 03-15-2007, 02:25 PM

Here you go, Skeletor:

MacBook 13" versus MacBook Pro 15/17

Here's the graph for WoW:

Skeletor · #3 (**permalink**) 03-15-2007, 02:45 PM

ahh, thanks for the link/pic. It looks like it might be playable. It sounds like they had the settings up, which I could put them down a bit, especially since I was debating the lower powered version of the 13" macbook.

Normally I wouldn't think of buying a macbook, but a friend has one and the battery life is awsome. It doesn't really get that warm, and from the laptops I've looked at, it would make the best portable machine for doing some web work and coding some php/html on the go.

I just got to thinking about the only thing I might ever play on it would be WoW, but wasn't sure if it would even run since it comes with 512ram and integrated graphics.

CoffeeShark · #4 (**permalink**) 03-15-2007, 02:53 PM

16fps is a bit low, you might be able to get that to at least 30 by reducing settings, which would at least be somewhat playable.

silentsentinel · #5 (**permalink**) 03-15-2007, 02:54 PM

I can tell you from experience, that when I played WoW on my older Inspiron 8100 laptop with 512mb RAM, it sucked very, very bad.

Get something with at least a gig, or you'll probably regret it.

Battery life is a moot point too, as, well, your gaming will suck the juice right out of the battery anyway, so you'll want it plugged in if you plan to game for more than 30 minutes at a time.

Skeletor · #6 (**permalink**) 03-15-2007, 03:04 PM

Yea, for gaming I'd definitely make sure I was by an outlet to plug it in. From the sounds of my friends review of it, it seems like the battery will last 4 or more hours if he is just using it to surf the net and code, which appeals to me.

My current notebook is a 9lb HP beast which I bought about 1-2 years ago. It has a 3.2ghz, 2gig ram and 128 9600vid in it. It plays some games great, but I'm finding now that I updated my desktop that I want to use my laptop more for coding and less for gaming. The battery in that sucker would last for maybe an hour it seemed like, and it felt like a portable furness when most of the time all I wanted was to do text input.

I decided to sell off my current HP notebook and use the money towards a smaller one. I would probably try to play WoW a smaller percentage of the time, so if it doesn't end up playing it well, I could live without it. It would just be a nice bonus.

ducktapeman · #7 (**permalink**) 03-15-2007, 04:33 PM

Best advice for a mac is to max out the memory. Apple computer will utilize every free MB of ram that you can put in it.

I'm actually hoping to be purchasing a 15"MBP very soon, so I'll be moving my CS stuff over to it. It will be a huge improvement over my current Dell...

edit: oh btw, it for gaming, you might want to go with the MBP, because the MB uses built-in graphics, the MBP has a graphics card with it's own memory (that's why you see the big jump above).

Or alternatively, wait until the Santa Rosa chipset comes out, and it put in to the MB, MBP lines. Santa Rosa has support for DX10, and is supposed to be able to run the higher versions of vista with no problems. My .02.

Tulkas · #8 (**permalink**) 03-15-2007, 07:11 PM

First off, I have a MBP
* 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 2GB memory
* ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics with 256MB SDRAM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silentsentinel

Get something with at least a gig, or you'll probably regret it.

Battery life is a moot point too, as, well, your gaming will suck the juice right out of the battery anyway, so you'll want it plugged in if you plan to game for more than 30 minutes at a time.

You can upgrade the MB to 1GB for $75
I can get an hour and a half (1 1/2) playing CS:S through CrossOver on just battery

Quote:

Originally Posted by ducktapeman

Best advice for a mac is to max out the memory. Apple computer will utilize every free MB of ram that you can put in it.

See Above

I'm actually hoping to be purchasing a 15"MBP very soon, so I'll be moving my CS stuff over to it. It will be a huge improvement over my current Dell...

Don't forget, you will most likely want to run it through bootcamp, which is in beta till 10.5. It also means you will need a copy of windows (your current should be fine)

edit: oh btw, it for gaming, you might want to go with the MBP, because the MB uses built-in graphics, the MBP has a graphics card with it's own memory (that's why you see the big jump above).

He clearly said in one of the posts that he wanted to use the laptop for mostly coding, and if he could play some WoW on the thing great...if not, eh

Anyways, another thing you want to try out is go to your local MAC store and ask for refurbs. My friend got his through there for significantly less. You might be able to get it for cheaper than you thought. Make sure you get whatever backround info you can on whatever though, just to be sure.

My brother ordered a refurbished 30GB Black Video iPOD, and he was told it was basically brand new...that a company bought it but never used it and that it was basically not even used. We thought that it was a bunch of BS until it actually got here, and it didn't have a damn scratch fingerprint or anything on there. So, either they didn't lie, or they do a great job on the refurbishing.

Be aware Skeletor, I don't know about the MB...but I know the MBP has had heating issues in the past. Mine personally heats up like a motherf*er if on for a long time. They have internal temperature gauges on this thing and it gets really hot.