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The 8204 vs MacBook Pro Comparison Thread

post #1 of 17
1/29/06 at 9:28pm
Thread Starter 
I am actually surprised there is not a thread just for this comparison/argument.

Here is where I am currently. I have been a PC person for 13 years. I am a developer and a photographer. I don’t want to get in the argument on which OS is better, as I think we all agree that each has their advantages, so the comparison is really on the hardware. Now that the MacBook pro is very similar to new PC laptops (especially the 8204), it makes for an odd dilemma. I use a lot of Adobe and Macromedia applications; currently all on the PC, but a Mac seems to be the best choose for these applications. I do not lean heavily on games, however if I play them, I’ll have my PC. So in short the lappy, is really more for the portable office and development and design/graphics. So I am personally lending towards the MacBook.

The question is that hardware on the Acer 8204 seems to be better in comparison (as previously mentioned within a thread), however as a developer, I can get the MacBook Pro (1.8/1g) cheaper than the 8204. I can always get more ram and the video card (extra 256mb of VRAM) does not seem to be that important, since I am not planning on using this as a gaming laptop.

I wished that the MacBook would have had the card reader built in; I think that was a major design error, as many Mac users are designers, but other than that the hardware is about the same.

So excluding the OS argument, the hardware being nearly the same, I assume it boils down to price and what one plans to use the laptop for; 8204 for games / Mac from design/development. Would this be a correct comparison, or am I missing something else?

The fact that in time, both OSX and WinXP will be dual boot on either machine is an interesting addition to this comparison. Microsoft will want to make WinXP work on an MacIntel machine, and Vista is supposely going to work without issue (EFI support). Mac on the other hand states, they will not offer OSX for non-Mac hardware. So it seems to be that the MacIntel units would be the best of both worlds.

Interested in hearing other peoples thoughts on this.
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post #2 of 17
1/29/06 at 11:10pm
go with the powerbook. you can get it cheaper, etc. besides, if that OS really is the best for your specific applications, then there is no question about it. its hard to compare 2 computers with 2 different operating systems, or at least that is just my $0.02
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post #3 of 17
1/30/06 at 12:18am
You can not Dual Boot XP on the Powerbook, sorry to say it has some sort of tech taken from the Itanium line instead of a Bios, Microsoft has no plans to support said system initialization process untill Windows Vista.

The Macbook is nice, it's much lighter, but the Acer seems to have a better web cam, a faster CPU, more Ram, a larger HD, and a larger battery.
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post #4 of 17
1/30/06 at 4:37am
I'm currently working on getting both. I will compare both systems side-by-side if all goes well.
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post #5 of 17
1/30/06 at 1:26pm

Huh?

Quote:
Originally Posted by zaphod911
go with the powerbook. you can get it cheaper, etc. besides, if that OS really is the best for your specific applications,
Huh? The MacBook's I've seen are more expensive than the 8200 for slower cpu's with less memory. The key OSX software has not been ported to x86 yet. The systems do not run windows yet (necessary for gaming).

G4 powerbooks are simply too slow compared to AMD or Intel laptops, and being a dying platform, not worth the investment at this time.

If you want looks, 1" thickness and style, get a MacBook or PowerBook, otherwise look elsewhere. (IMO, a Samsung X series lappy is significantly cooler looking than any Apple).
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post #6 of 17
1/30/06 at 7:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by katorga
Huh? The MacBook's I've seen are more expensive than the 8200 for slower cpu's with less memory. The key OSX software has not been ported to x86 yet. The systems do not run windows yet (necessary for gaming).

G4 powerbooks are simply too slow compared to AMD or Intel laptops, and being a dying platform, not worth the investment at this time.

If you want looks, 1" thickness and style, get a MacBook or PowerBook, otherwise look elsewhere. (IMO, a Samsung X series lappy is significantly cooler looking than any Apple).

He said that he could get it cheaper, read his original post. Also, MACBOOKS do not use Gx chips, or any motorola chip, they use the new intel dual core chip, thus making them directly comparable to pc laptops using the same tech.

If you want my advice, if you can get the macbook cheaper, buy it. It's made by asus anyway lol.
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post #7 of 17
1/30/06 at 8:46pm
Thread Starter 
I am assuming you were joking with the statement that Apple units are made by Asus, or is that fact?

No way I would waste the money on a G4 laptop at this point. I want to have the performance with Adobe apps. Yes, right now using Rosetta, the performance will be lacking, but that will be resolved and the laptop will take on any PC laptop with the same specs.

Dualboot will be available, as soon as someone figures out how to get it to work with EFI. If not, I'll have Red Hat.

Would be nice to afford both laptops, but my expense went into my dual core Opteron last month.
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post #8 of 17
1/30/06 at 9:18pm
yes but there is a little problem about the macbookpro. in a german magazine called "mac life" is mentioned that the macbook pro use efi (is already mentioned) so win xp will run never at the macbook. the other problem is that vista will not support the version of efi on the macbook.
this is speculation but it seems quite sinful.
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post #9 of 17
1/31/06 at 3:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by T53si
yes but there is a little problem about the macbookpro. in a german magazine called "mac life" is mentioned that the macbook pro use efi (is already mentioned) so win xp will run never at the macbook. the other problem is that vista will not support the version of efi on the macbook.
this is speculation but it seems quite sinful.
Where did you hear that Vista would not support the Macbook Pro, I heard that it would infact support it, that would be a serious issue, though I must admit that the Macbook Pro is sexy, it's almost wasted hardware without some version of windows on it so you can game.
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post #10 of 17
2/1/06 at 1:07am
its an articel in the mac life magazin about that. When my scanner arrives i will send it to you as pdf .. but its in german.. is this ok?

before i read this articel i had the same idea to buy a macbook pro
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post #11 of 17
2/1/06 at 3:37am
Everybody is so concerned that it will not dual-boot, but when Virtual-PC is released for the new Intel Macs' it should run XP at native speed, because there shouldn't be any instruction-set change (the old Virtual PC changed X86 instructions to PowerPC). This is an even more promising option because you can be running both OS's simultaneously on one machine at native speed!
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post #12 of 17
2/1/06 at 7:51am
ASUS A6Ja is about +600€ cheaper than MacBook with same specs, which is IMO too much for couple design elements...
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post #13 of 17
2/1/06 at 5:59pm
Macbook pro looks nicer IMO, and runs OS X (both pluses).

In favour of the Travelmate, I can get it through my distributor for work stuff for $2375 cdn and a slightly faster CPU,

As someone previously mentioned though, there really is no comparison - this is apples to oranges. If OS X best serves your needs, get a macbook. Otherwise, get the 8204.


As for myself, I may pick up a macbook, but not for a year or so until applications start coming out that run natively on intel.
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post #14 of 17
2/1/06 at 6:05pm
Quote:
made by asus anyway lol.
Quanta made apple's laptops I thought, but could be wrong. They probably change asian manufacturers like some women change shoes.

That said, other than the super case design and EFI firmware instead of a BIOS, a MacBook is identical internally to any other Intel "clone" laptop. Same chipset, same cpu, same buses, same GPUs same wifi chip, etc etc. It really is "just another x86 laptop".
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post #15 of 17
2/1/06 at 6:16pm
Hanging around on the forum dedicated to 3D application that has 50/50 split of Windows and OS/X users (Cinema 4D), the general opinion of Mac users on new laptops is "wait." They say that first generation of each Apple laptop has bad issues typically, but subsequent models are much better and really worth it. That's the track record.

As for Acer, they also do improve in subsequent models. But I consider TM810x not having that bad issues being first Sonoma model. Can't tell what TM820x is going to be though...
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post #16 of 17
2/1/06 at 7:27pm
Quanta makes the PowerBooks. (...and presumably MacBooks) Asus makes the iBooks.

Apple designs both from start to finish, though. Quanta and Asus only provide manufacturing; not R&D.
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post #17 of 17
2/1/06 at 7:38pm

Screen resolutions are NOT comparable

I have been searching for a laptop (essentially a gaming laptop) that I need for 3D graphics. My biggest gripe so far is that no models from brand name companies have larger screen resolutions. Pretty much any wide display notebook with a 15.4 screen or smaller has a resolution 1280x768. I've even seen 17" models with this resolution. 17" Models tend to be 1440x900. It's a waste of screen space to have these huge pixels. I see that the 8200 is 1680x1050, which is pretty good. But Apple found the sweet spot for 15.4 which is 1440x900. To say that the ASUS A6Ja is identical to the MacBook Pro is misnomer since the ASUS has only an WXGA screen.

BTW- if anyone is interested in the progress of Windows on MacIntel, check out: osx86project.org
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