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dennis88 · 11:12 AM

Hi!

Is it safe to buy a 12" powerbook with superdrive and 640mb ram now?
Is the geforce 420go THAT bad?

I want to play warcraft 3 at high settings, with good fps.
Can I do that with the 12"?

I was looking at it in the shop, and it was soo cool!

It wasn't hot either.

Thanks!

djjava · May 14, 2003, 11:25 AM

Originally posted by dennis88:
Hi!

Is it safe to buy a 12" powerbook with superdrive and 640mb ram now?
Is the geforce 420go THAT bad?

I want to play warcraft 3 at high settings, with good fps.
Can I do that with the 12"?

I was looking at it in the shop, and it was soo cool!
It wasn't hot either.

Thanks!

why would you wanna play games on a 12" lcd???

fldsfslmn · May 14, 2003, 11:42 AM

you gotta do what you gotta do!

AssassyN · May 14, 2003, 12:27 PM

Unfortunately the current 12" PB wouldn't allow you to play WarCraft III (or any other taxing game such as that) at a high resolution with high/maxed out settings and options. The lack of L3 cache and only 32MB of VRAM on the 420 graphics chip simply can't push those games very stupendously.

However, the 12" PB will most likely be updated as early as July or as late or October of 2003, and if you can possibly wait until that upgrade, you'll most likely find a machine that'll suit your gaming needs better with it's updated specs.

Mskr · May 14, 2003, 03:37 PM

Originally posted by AssassyN:
Unfortunately the current 12" PB wouldn't allow you to play WarCraft III (or any other taxing game such as that) at a high resolution with high/maxed out settings and options. The lack of L3 cache and only 32MB of VRAM on the 420 graphics chip simply can't push those games very stupendously.

However, the 12" PB will most likely be updated as early as July or as late or October of 2003, and if you can possibly wait until that upgrade, you'll most likely find a machine that'll suit your gaming needs better with it's updated specs.

AssassyN, I usually agree with most of what you say, but you're wrong on this one...

Warcraft III plays just peachy on my 12" 1024x768x32, though with all settings to "High", it can jump a little (a few frames) when combat starts and for a frame or so when something is just created. But I find that it doesn't affect my (admittedly poor) play. I suck, but it's not my computer's fault...

Anyway, when I would pan or tilt the camera, it was incredibly smooth with no jumping. In fact, panning the camera was very, very fast. Wish I could grab a QuickTime video to show you what I'm talking about.

I can't find how to enable an FPS display for Warcraft, though. Anyone know if you can turn on an FPS display?

I guess I should say, though, that I am NOT a power-gamer who gets annoyed if a frame jumps in this game. On the other hand, the UT2k3 demo is almost unacceptable, even with most every feature turned off at 800x600. At 640x480, it's a bit better, but still, you can't have ANY options on (dynamic lighting, etc.) or it's too jerky to play right. Many, many times was I fragged to bring you this information....

msykes · May 14, 2003, 04:24 PM

The game may run fine, but I'd say this is one time where it definitely can't hurt to wait until the next revision. Gaming is one of the most taxing things you can do with a computer, so I'd definitely wait as long as possible to be able to buy the best machine possible. Heck, if you believe any rumors floating aroudn we might see 970's in a 12" powerbook soon (though personally I doubt it for the 'Books)

On the other hand, every week you wait is another week you won't be playing any games!

dennis88 · May 14, 2003, 04:44 PM

Take a look at this:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthre...threadid=26953

This may mean that a new 15,4" al pb is coming soon..

I can wait till june-july..Maybe..

AssassyN · May 14, 2003, 05:07 PM

Originally posted by Mskr:
AssassyN, I usually agree with most of what you say, but you're wrong on this one... Warcraft III plays just peachy on my 12" 1024x768x32, though with all settings to "High", it can jump a little (a few frames) when combat starts and for a frame or so when something is just created. But I find that it doesn't affect my (admittedly poor) play. I suck, but it's not my computer's fault... Anyway, when I would pan or tilt the camera, it was incredibly smooth with no jumping. In fact, panning the camera was very, very fast. Wish I could grab a QuickTime video to show you what I'm talking about.

I can't find how to enable an FPS display for Warcraft, though. Anyone know if you can turn on an FPS display?

I guess I should say, though, that I am NOT a power-gamer who gets annoyed if a frame jumps in this game. On the other hand, the UT2k3 demo is almost unacceptable, even with most every feature turned off at 800x600. At 640x480, it's a bit better, but still, you can't have ANY options on (dynamic lighting, etc.) or it's too jerky to play right. Many, many times was I fragged to bring you this information....

Hehe, I'm sorry if I made it sound like the game was unplayable, but I was simply telling him not to except 40FPS+ constantly with all settings maxed on the 12" PB, because just as you said, it won't happen. He sounded like a gamer, and those have high expectations, and I was simply trying to be real about it.

The Placid Casual · 07:39 AM

In all honesty it is never 'safe' to buy anything. Never has been, never will.

Something bigger and better is always just around the corner...

I just bought a 12", and love it. I could have waited I guess, but it is the best Mac I have owned since my Wallstreet and I am blown away by it. No complaints at all from me, I'm too busy enjoying it.

If you can wait, wait. If not, worst case scenario you still have a great machine...

Peace,

TPC

Mskr · May 14, 2003, 05:58 PM

I have to revise my earlier statements about UT2k3... It's completely unplayable anyway, even at the lowest settings for everything...

Once a lot of action happens (when you'll NEED the high framerates) it drops down to about 1 FPS. It's like playing basketball, and you can only see the output of a digital camera to go by. Obviously, this is not a good situation...

Anyway, yeah, I agree: a better 12" will come out. When will it? Who knows. From what I hear, the 970s don't have power management built in yet (or, IBM hasn't released any specs that talk about power management). Does this mean that they won't go into PowerBooks until 2004? Who knows? (Well, probably Apple...

) I agree with the placid casual: buy the computer you need when you need it. Otherwise, you're just missing out on something you need. If you don't NEED the computer right now, wait. Something better is likely to come around later this year. If you can wait until after WWDC, you'll probably have a much better idea about what's going on.

mosch · May 14, 2003, 09:00 PM

Originally posted by The Placid Casual:
I all honesty it is never 'safe' to buy anything. Never has been, never will.

Something bigger and better is always just around the corner...

Amen. I have some clients that are always waiting for the next price drop, or the next model release. They'll still be waiting three years from now, as they'll be waiting for revision b of the ppc970 II or something.

Just find a machine you like, buy it, and be happy. (This advice typed from a PB12 which I'm very happy with, despite the minor imperfections)

roders · May 14, 2003, 09:42 PM

WC3 runs great with everything on in my Ram maxed 12" PB, in single player @ 1024X768, and runs fairly Ok @ 1280X1024 on my external CRT.
UT2003 runs good too, once you sort out/edit the .ini by reducing the number of sound channels from 32 to 8 and allocating the game engine more Ram (even with most of the eye candy on).

Hanul · May 16, 2003, 06:15 AM

I don't know what all the people expect, but I found the UT2003 demo playable on my max'ed out 12" PB. I'm not an avid gamer, but I tried the same demo on Windows a year ago. Athlon XP 1800+, 512MB RAM, Geforce2 Ti, and while I could set more details, I can't tell it's a big difference. On the 12" screen it's ok to play with all settings "normal" in 1024x768. It can't be that bad, fps-vice, because I managed to frag some other players

.

dettociao · May 18, 2003, 06:53 PM

Originally posted by AssassyN:
Unfortunately the current 12" PB wouldn't allow you to play WarCraft III (or any other taxing game such as that) at a high resolution with high/maxed out settings and options. The lack of L3 cache and only 32MB of VRAM on the 420 graphics chip simply can't push those games very stupendously.

However, the 12" PB will most likely be updated as early as July or as late or October of 2003, and if you can possibly wait until that upgrade, you'll most likely find a machine that'll suit your gaming needs better with it's updated specs.

I agree with MSKR... I could always play WC3 fine on my 12"

xyber233 · May 18, 2003, 07:20 PM

Originally posted by dettociao:
I agree with MSKR... I could always play WC3 fine on my 12"

Are you playing online and if so, how many players? I play on battle.net using my 700mhz lcd iMac 640mb ram with 4-6 players and it is very choppy. I am sure it runs well in the singleplayer campaign but I am wondering how it runs on battle.net with lots of action. I really want a 12" powerbook but I am holding off until the next revision. I really hope it comes before august.

BigDaddy · May 18, 2003, 11:01 PM

Yea I heard it will run like butter.