Macbook Core2Duo video card question?

I'm thinking about picking one of these up over the holidays (2.0Ghz Macbook) but I have a quick question first. How good is the integrated video that comes with this thing? I will NOT be using this for gaming as I have a desktop for that but I would like to use it to watch movies in various formats, particularly X.264 (*.mkv (matroska) format). Will the macbook have any trouble playing video at 720p resolutions? (most X.264 files are encoded at around 720p). Thanks

-Adrayic

if it does have onboard, should be fine. just might use more cpu time then you might like.

I believe the Macbook uses Intel's GMA 950 onboard graphics chip. I've done some research and it seems like it should be fine.... i just really want to make sure of it before I go spend the cash

I bought one a couple of weeks ago and I am thinking of doing an actual review.

As far as the GUI, applications and Movies, it looks wonderful. This mostly has to do with the display and not the graphics chipset.

Unfortunately, if you do decide to game on it, you will be limited. I can play World of Warcraft with most of the settings turned down, but it’s not really a very demanding game. I will mention I am playing it under the Mac OS so it might run better under XP. I wouldn’t try to play FEAR on it.

The Macbook is the highest quality laptop I have seen in a long time. The intel graphics would be my only real complaint (there are some other minor ones). It cost 5-20% more than comparable PC laptops with the same config. I would say the quality is worth the extra, but in reality it is iTax.

If you want the 13” smaller widescreen, I would say buy it. I wanted smaller and it is really the best out there for its size. If you are ok with 14’-15” screens, I would get a cheaper PC laptop.

GMA 950 on the Macbook runs 720p just fine, and 1080p also runs well. Make sure you throw some memory in there though!