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Best notebook for Unity projects?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by bigkahuna, Mar 5, 2007.

  1. bigkahuna

    bigkahuna

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    It's finally time for me to buy a new notebook, my current one just isn't recent enough to run even the simplest Unity project.

    So I've started to shop around and the problem is that none of the local stores carry anything that is even remotely decent for game play. So if I want to buy a PC notebook with a decent graphics card I'll have to order it over the internet and then I won't know if it will run my Unity projects well until -after- I buy it... argh...

    So I'm thinking maybe I should get a Macbook Pro 15" with the 256 MB video? It'll end up costing me about another $800 over a comparable PC notebook, but the advantage will be I -know- it will work and I can even edit my projects on the road if I need to.

    Anyone have one of these or recommend something else? I really don't want a 17" notebook, and I would like to get a notebook that supports a second monitor. Any advice or suggestions?

    Thanks!
     
  2. Samantha

    Samantha

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    I just bought the 15" 2.33ghz Macbook Pro about 6 weeks ago. This thing is great! I can wholeheartedly recommend it. It's performed very well when playing semi-recent games like The Movies and Dark Messiah of Might Magic. The Prey demo was running at a weird lower resolution, but I think that was because of a bug in the game, not my hardware. Using boot camp is a pain because I seem to always want to stay in OS X. But as a dev machine (and not a future-proofed gaming pc) it's excellent.
     
  3. bigkahuna

    bigkahuna

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    Thanks Ulognep. Does it support a second monitor through a DVI port or similar? I will probably need this and I'm pretty sure the 17" models support this. How about the 15"?

    How's playback speed of Unity games? I'm guessing it should be about as fast as any, yes?

    Thanks!
     
  4. Aras

    Aras

    Unity Technologies

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    I'm using first generation 15" MBP as my main Mac development machine; it's good. The MBPs nowadays are much faster (Core 2 vs Core CPU; and graphics cards aren't severely downclocked anymore).

    The 15" model does have a dual-link DVI port, so you can hook up the 30" display if you want to.
     
  5. bigkahuna

    bigkahuna

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    Thanks Aras. What I want to do is connect a second monitor and -extend- my desktop to the second screen. That way I can display a Unity game in "Surround Vision". Anyone try this?
     
  6. NicholasFrancis

    NicholasFrancis

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    The 15" MBP rocks as a development machine. We use them a lot at Serious Games... Just make sure to get plenty of RAM (and don't buy that from Apple - they charge a pretty hefty premium)

    But yeah, the MBP is a great dev machine
     
  7. dan

    dan

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    All versions of the Macbook and Macbook Pro support extended desktops.
     
  8. bigkahuna

    bigkahuna

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    Cool... That's all I needed to know! Thanks everybody, I'm off to buy a notebook!
     
  9. Lallander

    Lallander

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    Spiffy, you won't regret it. Heck I'm pretty sure a standard macbook would do the trick, but if you can afford it pro is so much nicer.
     
  10. bigkahuna

    bigkahuna

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    Yeah but I want it to have -full- shader support (water, fullscreen f/x, etc). I plan on using this machine to demo my sims to clients, so it's got to run fast and look great. Otherwise, yup, I'd save myself a couple bills and get a Macbook.
     
  11. bigkahuna

    bigkahuna

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    One more question for MBP owners:

    Should I get the "Gloss" or "Anti-Glare" finish display?
     
  12. HiggyB

    HiggyB

    Unity Product Evangelist

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    I purchased a MBP in December and got the glossy display and love it.
     
  13. NicholasFrancis

    NicholasFrancis

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    I'd say gloss.

    The only people who comment on the glare of the glossy displays are people that don't have them themselves. The graphics are much more vibrant (and look better in demos) on the glossy screens.

    I've yet to meet a person with a glossy screen that don't love it.
     
  14. dingosmoov

    dingosmoov

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    I just got a 17 inch MacBook Pro last week. It's awesome for Unity!

    I have the glossy it looks great! Get the glossy.

    dingo
     
  15. bigkahuna

    bigkahuna

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    Ok, glossy screen it is. I'm visiting the Apple store today to just check it out, but will probably buy from "PConnection" which is giving a $150 rebate and no tax... gotta pinch those pennies every place I can! :D

    Thanks guys!