Hello,

Can anybody comment on the performance of VO on either the MacBook or MacBook Pro? I'm considering buying a replacement for my old and rusty G4 laptop and was wondering if the MacBook will "cut it"...

You must have done a case mod if your PB is in fact rusty ;)

haha, no casemod. the titanium powerbooks have the tendency to loose paint, no casemod needed ;-)

The MacBook will "cut it" just fine for VO. The MB Pro will certainly perform better at higher graphics settings. It's up to you to decide how important those higher graphic settings are and if they are worth the extra money.

Also note that they are updating the integrated graphics on the regular MacBook fairly soon, so it might be worth it for you to wait a few months. The new graphics chip in the upcoming MacBooks will be MUCH better than the current graphics chip and will work great for VO.

As of the latest MBP updates, I would wholeheartedly recommend it for VO... You can't really beat a GeForce 8600 in a laptop without making it an Alienware-style "portable desktop". The normal Macbook, however, is still lacking. And don't expect it to get any better. The Intel X3000/3100 that will be in the "new" MacBooks in a few months is still an integrated chip and still performs like a dog compared to a dedicated device like the GeForce 8600. But nobody who wants to play serious games would get a MacBook anyhow. Don't get me wrong- MacBooks are great for a lot of things. I would probably get one, because I play games on my desktop. But they're just not built for VO.

I have a 1-gen 15' MacBook Pro (ATI X1600 256mb, Core Duo version), and it's the most wonderful computer I've ever owned, in so many ways. When it comes to gaming, VO will run at maximum settings, and still provide 60+ fps in most situations (with exceptions, though I've never experienced actual game-obstructing graphical lag in VO on my MBP).

I can also run X3: Reunion at maximum graphics settings, to use an example from a more demanding game. On the windows side, Oblivion runs fine at high settings, NWN 2 likewise, and Jade Empire runs so well at maximum settings it hurts my eyes just to look at it.

And now, with the 3-gen MBP, you'll get up to 60% more gaming performance. I can't see how you could not be pleased ;-)

I do, however, hook up my MBP to an Apple Cinema Display 23' when at home. I'm not quite sure I would have enjoyed what little gaming I do as much on the 15'.

I don't own own a MacBook myself, but it really, really isn't made for gaming. My friend does his WoWing (poor fella) on his MacBook Core 2 Duo, and while it does perform rather well on resonably high settings in WoW (not that I could tell the difference anyways), that's about as far as it goes. Civ 4 is a pain, and rebooting into windows to try Oblivion is not even an option.

Regarding gaming performance of the new MacBook Pro, BareFeats did a couple of tests as always: http://barefeats.com/santarosa.html

Those games they are using for the benchmarks are much more graphic intense than VO, and it still did great. I'd imagine the new MacBook Pro will run VO at full graphics settings beautifully.

VO will run on just about anything in my experience, which is why I said the current regular MacBook will run it OK. I still think the MacBook they are releasing with the GMA X3000 will be significantly better at running games like VO, and will be fine for most people.

"I'd imagine the new MacBook Pro will run VO at full graphics settings beautifully."

Yep, it sure will. My first-gen MacBook Pro actually runs VO at full graphics settings beautifully, with a few ugly exceptions.

i just ordered one of thee new mbp's, the cheapest one.

how much of a limitation will the 128mb of video ram be vs the 256 in the other models?

It probably won't make much of a difference, at least not for VO.

Although I find that the very highest texture level is happier with 256 than with 128...

I've got a 17" first wave MBP, and I LOVE it. VO runs on perfect graphics perfectly. I run all my games on the highest settings, and the ONLY issue I've had is in Battlefield 2 (run through Boot Camp), on an indoor level with lots of walls and a high density of people, and there are 3+ teargas clouds. Other than that, it's awesome. MBP4EVER!

Im on a Macbook Pro with the standard hardware and it runs on full graphics without lag. Im also running set@home in the background using 80% of my prcessor.

it lags on the base macbook around some stations

I played VO with an iBook G4 1.33GHz and 768 RAM and it ran just fine if you take the graphics down to medium across the board. :)

Smittens, I might get one of those. Still in the decision phase...