Need Mac expert advice

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Yes, I mean you guys!

I'm considering getting a MacBook Pro. The most graphics-intensive thing I will be running on it is World of Warcraft so I'm considering whether to get a refurbished model with an ATI 1600 card or the new model (Santa Rosa) with the NVidia 8600. However, I've also heard that there are some problems with NVidia's 8xxx cards. Can anyone give me any advice about all this?
 
I really don't know about that stuff. I hope someone else who knows about graphic issues on Macs can help you with that. I'm a long time Mac user but not well knowledge on graphic chips stuff.
 
Yes, I mean you guys!

I'm considering getting a MacBook Pro. The most graphics-intensive thing I will be running on it is World of Warcraft so I'm considering whether to get a refurbished model with an ATI 1600 card or the new model (Santa Rosa) with the NVidia 8600. However, I've also heard that there are some problems with NVidia's 8xxx cards. Can anyone give me any advice about all this?

You need get new one with GeForce because they are more faster and better performance than ATI.
 
Yes, I mean you guys!

I'm considering getting a MacBook Pro. The most graphics-intensive thing I will be running on it is World of Warcraft so I'm considering whether to get a refurbished model with an ATI 1600 card or the new model (Santa Rosa) with the NVidia 8600. However, I've also heard that there are some problems with NVidia's 8xxx cards. Can anyone give me any advice about all this?
Minimum System Requirements
* Mac® OS X 10.3.9:
* 933 MHz or higher G4, or G5, or Intel processor
* 512 MB RAM or higher; DDR RAM recommended
* ATI or NVIDIA® video hardware with 32 MB VRAM or more
* 6.0 GB available HD space
* 4x CD-Rom drive
* A 56k or better Internet connection

Don't worry about what's other peoples said. Just follow above about the requirements. Since you said you want Macbook, that is a good way to go! Buy it and see how it goes. But don't buy it from the Best buy store if your game didn't get along with your machine, they won't give you a refund due to the copyright. Find other stores that accept the return.

Good luck!
 
Here's the thing, though. I can afford either the ATI with 256MB or the NVIDIA with 128MB. Some people are telling me to go with the extra memory, but I tend to agree with Pacman that NVIDIA seems to be the way to go. Does this change your opinion at all?
 
By the way, this is for a computer I hope to be able to use in the classroom to make the classes more visually interesting for my deaf students. The WoW thing is just for me when I have spare time of course. I have to wait and see from my boss if the classrooms are Internet-ready and I can connect my computer to a projector; if I can't then I might not get the laptop.
 
most lately laptop are ready to connect with projector thru VGA, DVI or HDMI, depend what projector have available. All I know that most Apple laptop do not support VGA anymore. however, it does come with VGA adapter to DVI.
 
most lately laptop are ready to connect with projector thru VGA, DVI or HDMI, depend what projector have available. All I know that most Apple laptop do not support VGA anymore. however, it does come with VGA adapter to DVI.

Yes, I just found out that both my classrooms have projectors and the MacBook Pro does come with that adapter. So I'm going to get it. Thanks!
 
Minimum System Requirements
* Mac® OS X 10.3.9:
* 933 MHz or higher G4, or G5, or Intel processor
* 512 MB RAM or higher; DDR RAM recommended
* ATI or NVIDIA® video hardware with 32 MB VRAM or more
* 6.0 GB available HD space
* 4x CD-Rom drive
* A 56k or better Internet connection

Don't worry about what's other peoples said. Just follow above about the requirements. Since you said you want Macbook, that is a good way to go! Buy it and see how it goes. But don't buy it from the Best buy store if your game didn't get along with your machine, they won't give you a refund due to the copyright. Find other stores that accept the return.

Good luck!

Where's recommended requirement?

If you have laptop with weak video card or video chip then just play in low resolution.
 
Here's the thing, though. I can afford either the ATI with 256MB or the NVIDIA with 128MB. Some people are telling me to go with the extra memory, but I tend to agree with Pacman that NVIDIA seems to be the way to go. Does this change your opinion at all?
You can never go wrong with more memory. If you can afford it, add the xtra memory where possible. That includes system and video RAM.
 
Where's recommended requirement?

If you have laptop with weak video card or video chip then just play in low resolution.
That doesn't always work. Some games will not function at lower resolutions.
 
I have a MacBook Pro with a 256MB nVidia card. World of Warcraft works like a dream! I experience no slowdowns or any performance issues. MacBook Pros are VERY powerful beasts. :)
 
Yes, I mean you guys!

I'm considering getting a MacBook Pro. The most graphics-intensive thing I will be running on it is World of Warcraft so I'm considering whether to get a refurbished model with an ATI 1600 card or the new model (Santa Rosa) with the NVidia 8600. However, I've also heard that there are some problems with NVidia's 8xxx cards. Can anyone give me any advice about all this?

Check this;
Apple - Games - Hardware

Under Road Warrior, you will see that WOW is a suggested game.

Apple - Games - World of Warcraft

Go to apple store and see if they have a demo of that game installed and you can try it out.. if not, ask that a demo be installed and see for yourself.
(Apple Store has internet access which you can fetch the demo from the link above and run it. I am sure there's MacBook Pro that are ATI and NVIDIA on display. Just check the apple system profiler to see which is which.)

Otherwise,
I prefer ATI. Since you can get one with ATI 256 then go for it. But again, ATI has been bought by AMD.

Details on MacBook Pro graphics
Apple - MacBook Pro - Graphics
 
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