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Thinking about getting new macbook...

post #1 of 10
12/12/08 at 8:46am
Thread Starter 
Hey, I am thinking about getting the new 13" macbook 2.4ghz.. But I cant really decide if I should get a macbook, macbook pro, or even stick with my current laptop.
I am a Computer programmer student, so I deal mainly with windows for visual studio (Have OSx on my Desktop though, and use it mainly.. so not new to OS X).
I would be doing a bootcamp install for windows and use visual studio there... Also thinking of using ether parallels or vmware to run off the bootcamp partition while in OSX..

Any ways heres my issue, my current laptop (Acer 8204, 2gb memory 2ghz intel dual core, ati X1600 video card, 15.4" scree etc etc.) has a resolution of 160x1050 (Which I love). I have never used a 13" laptop before, so I dont know how well I will do going from a 15"4 1680x1050 to 13" 1280x800... My other choice is the macbook pro, but to me going up in size and still not getting the resolution I am used to is still a loss.. So I dont see my self spending an extra 400 bucks for a still sucky (in comparison to my current laptop) resolution..
Has any one here used the Visual studio suite on 1280x800? How is it? Enough room to work?

Also my second thing is graphics. I dont plant o do heavy gaming on it as I do have a very power gaming desktop... But may play the ocasional Counter strike source, or some thing. Right now on my current laptop I can play Source at high settings and still get decent frame rates.. Could I expect similar results with the 9400m? I read a review somewhere stating the performance wise it is about the same as the mobility x1600. Any truth to this?

I also plan to upgrade the ram to 4gb down the road (going to see if I can get away with 2gb first, while I save up the money), so I know I will see some improvements then. Especially since the 9400 borrows some memory

anyways I am just hoping for some insight on which route to go... I really do want a macbook, I love OSX. But my current laptop is actually fine (performance wise). Really the main thing I was a macbook is how it looks, and the keyboard, and the overall solidness... I dont actually need a new laptop

Thanks for any info, suggesttions or what ever.
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post #2 of 10
12/12/08 at 2:10pm
So what exactly is your question or need to know? You seem to know everything about the Mac's and there specs and know what your needs are already.
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post #3 of 10
12/12/08 at 2:17pm
Not really related to your query....

But please for the love of all that is good in computer programming, get experience with things other than Visual Studio, which tends to force the MS way of doing things on you.

Also for the record, I prefer VMWare to Parallels.

Seablade
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post #4 of 10
12/12/08 at 11:43pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by maxrule View Post
So what exactly is your question or need to know? You seem to know everything about the Mac's and there specs and know what your needs are already.
Oops, I guess it wasnt that clear (guess that is what happens when I post with out sleep). What I want to know is if there is a major difference with 1280x800 on a 13" VS 1440x900 on 15.4".. Worth the extra money? I am thinking that the 13" will feel roughly the same as the 15.4 with 1440x900? Or am I wrong?


Quote:
Originally Posted by seablade View Post
Not really related to your query....

But please for the love of all that is good in computer programming, get experience with things other than Visual Studio, which tends to force the MS way of doing things on you.

Also for the record, I prefer VMWare to Parallels.

Seablade
Dont worry, I plan to. Visual studio is only my concern for now because some of my courses in school require it (windows and directX programming).
Also want to get into some objective c on the mac

While on the subject, are there any similar suites to visual studio for OS X?
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post #5 of 10
12/13/08 at 12:44am
Well OS X comes with XCode, and you always have the old Unix standby of Vi or Emacs and GCC. I personally have been enjoying the recent version of the Eclipse CDT.

Really probably your best bets are this...

Mac Only Programming... X Code
Windows Only Programming... Visual Studio
Java Programming... Eclipse/Java
Cross Platform Programming... Take your choice. I prefer Eclipse/CDT myself but was also a commandline emacs programmer on Linux for a while. I tend to use Eclipse because I can set up a few specific tasks automated relatively easily, do programming for Python, C, C++, Web(HTML/CSS), etc. all in one place, and have it all tied in and integrated to CVS or SVN(Prefer SVN). It does not however handle Autotools very well, but your standard Makefile projects generally aren't bad at all.

For gaming you will probably notice a difference between the Macbook and MacBook Pro. Whether that will make a huge difference in your scenario, I can't answer as I don't do it but so much myself sorry. (I also don't program much either, primarily Python scripts for small tasks and a few other things these days, so take that all witha grain of salt)

Seablade

PS Building OS X app bundles by hand is a pain in my ***.
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post #6 of 10
1/2/09 at 11:31am
Maybe you should wait for the new Apple Laptop codenamed "Brick".
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post #7 of 10
1/2/09 at 2:54pm
You do realise that the 'Brick' referred to the manufacturing process of the unibody laptops that are already out(Released in the last update) right?

Seablade
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post #8 of 10
1/2/09 at 2:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by maddy277 View Post
Maybe you should wait for the new Apple Laptop codenamed "Brick".
you do realize that "brick" is not a new machine but a new manufacturing process.
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post #9 of 10
2/18/09 at 10:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Seablade View Post
But please for the love of all that is good in computer programming, get experience with things other than Visual Studio, which tends to force the MS way of doing things on you.
I actually disagree, Visual Studio is the best IDE out there imo.
I assume your reffereing to .Net and all, which is true its Microsoft only (though again, i find .net GUI programming to be the best out there).

I use Eclipse too for Mac programming. Its damn good (and much better then it used to be).
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post #10 of 10
2/18/09 at 10:28pm
Quote:
I actually disagree, Visual Studio is the best IDE out there imo.
I assume your reffereing to .Net and all, which is true its Microsoft only (though again, i find .net GUI programming to be the best out there).
Any IDE that 'encourages' (Forces) you to use a specific library set is far from the best IDE ever IMO. This applies to XCode as much as Visual Studio.

And yes .NET but also any other Microsoft specific lib, like DirectX, or half a dozen others that predate .NET

Seablade
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