POLL: Macbook pro vs custom built desktop?

[mcsoul 10+ year member]

Everyone needs a good desktop. IMO.

Notebooks are apt to get broke.

 

[Lugnutzk 10+ year member]

What do you do in the summer that requires 150 gigs of hard drive space?

 

[Supergumby5000 5,000+ posts]

What do you do in the summer that requires 150 gigs of hard drive space?

bringing my music/videos/pictures with me. my summer consists of living in a village in alaska for 3 months, music and videos comes in handy.

 

[Jmac 10+ year member]

I'm not quite sure if i know what this is if you dont mind explaining.
And i did think about just upgrading the ram if i did go the desktop route. the only issue is i rely on a laptop in the summer, and a 150gig hdd makes that kind of a pain. I guess i would still be money up if i bought a portable external though too hehe

There are 2 types of solid state flash memory used in flash-based storage devices like USB flash drives, memory cards, etc.
The most common, and cheapest, is MLC (Multi-Level Cell). You can find these in your bargain basement, $10 for 2 GB card/drives. The downside here is that MLC devices are generally very slow (unless paired w/ a high-quality controller and a decent amount of support DRAM or SRAM, but they rarely are) and they have a relatively short life-span (approximately 1/10th that of a similar SLC-based device).

SLC (Single-Level Cell) NAND flash memory is much more expensive, although much quicker (generally in the area of 5-35 times faster than MLC-based devices) and have a much longer lifespan (approximately 10 times longer than that of a similar MLC-based device). However, you can usually find these items on sale at major retailers for not much more than MLC-based devices if you keep your eyes open. The Sandisk Extreme III is probably the easiest to find on sale; I've seen it as low as $30 CAD locally (down from $90 MSRP). The Sandisk Ultra II and other "slow" SLC devices will also suffice, though note they're about 1/2 the speed of the Extreme III.

Edit: It's the Extreme III not Ultra III.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820171259&nm_mc=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r&cm_mmc=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r-_-Memory+(Flash+Memory)-_-SanDisk-_-20171259

 

[Supergumby5000 5,000+ posts]

There are 2 types of solid state flash memory used in flash-based storage devices like USB flash drives, memory cards, etc.
The most common, and cheapest, is MLC (Multi-Level Cell). You can find these in your bargain basement, $10 for 2 GB card/drives. The downside here is that MLC devices are generally very slow (unless paired w/ a high-quality controller and a decent amount of support DRAM or SRAM, but they rarely are) and they have a relatively short life-span (approximately 1/10th that of a similar SLC-based device).

SLC (Single-Level Cell) NAND flash memory is much more expensive, although much quicker (generally in the area of 5-35 times faster than MLC-based devices) and have a much longer lifespan (approximately 10 times longer than that of a similar MLC-based device). However, you can usually find these items on sale at major retailers for not much more than MLC-based devices if you keep your eyes open. The Sandisk Ultra III is probably the easiest to find on sale; I've seen it as low as $30 CAD locally (down from $90 MSRP). The Sandisk Ultra II and other "slow" SLC devices will also suffice, though note they're about 1/2 the speed of the Ultra III.

hmmm interesting.

 

[dvrmstrng 5,000+ posts]

what does a good macbook pro run nowadays?

 

[Jmac 10+ year member]

what does a good macbook pro run nowadays?

$2000+ for a new one.
A little less for the refurbs ...

 

[Supergumby5000 5,000+ posts]

$2000+ for a new one.
A little less for the refurbs ...

however, in this situation, i get a $300 discount for being a college student. So im looking at $1700 for the lower end model or $2200 for the higher end model.

 

[Jmac 10+ year member]

however, in this situation, i get a $300 discount for being a college student. So im looking at $1700 for the lower end model or $2200 for the higher end model.

The higher-end model doesn't really have anything worth the extra $500 though ... You can upgrade the hard drive yourself to a 500 GB unit for less than half that and the extra 256 MB on the graphics card is completely useless unless you're doing hardcore 3D design which, by the sounds of it, you're not going to do. The 8600M GT isn't fast enough to run 256 MB worth of texture maps and light maps in a game at 60 fps, let alone 512 MB worth.
The memory on the 8600M GT runs @ 1400 MHz and has a 128-bit wide bus meaning it has a maximum memory bandwidth of 1400*128/8 = 22,400 MiB/s (21,362 MB/s). If a game were utilizing 256 MB worth of graphics memory, the MAXIMUM framerate the memory would be capable of is 21362/256 = 83 fps. Of course, this is assuming 100% efficiency of the memory bus, no bottlenecks presented by the CPU or GPU, etc. Unfortunately, the 8600M GT has a pretty slow GPU and the unit will usually be bottlenecked by this rather than the memory anyways.

 

[GabeC 10+ year member]

mac stuff is WAY overpriced

get a pc

 

[benchambers80]

7811 with new centrino 2

 

[Selkies 10+ year member]

I'd say desktop. If you're laptop still runs fine and you don't use it for much other that word processing and surfing the net then there's really no need to get a newer laptop. Desktops are always nice to have although if you're in a dorm room they may be a bit much. Macs are nice computers usually but you really pay for the name. What is to stop you from building a nice desktop with OS X installed?

Macbook Air FTL. IBM already put Apple in its place on that front. That thing is nothing more than an expensive accessory.

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

If you had half a brain, you'd opt for the custom PC. Macs are nice and all, but a $1500 PC will smoke it in every way possible.

 

[Jmac 10+ year member]

I'd say desktop. If you're laptop still runs fine and you don't use it for much other that word processing and surfing the net then there's really no need to get a newer laptop. Desktops are always nice to have although if you're in a dorm room they may be a bit much. Macs are nice computers usually but you really pay for the name. What is to stop you from building a nice desktop with OS X installed?
Macbook Air FTL. IBM already put Apple in its place on that front. That thing is nothing more than an expensive accessory.

Sony's new one looks pretty fvcking baller, too ...
Also, Voodoo's, while perhaps not as chique, is supposed to be all of the awesome ...