MacBook Pro 17" questions

[LeoTheLion89]

another option for my girlfriend is to get a intel based mac so she can play Sims 3 on it here is the specs follower by my questions just as before:

Product Information
This is a customized product of Apple Laptop MacBook Pro 17" (June, 2007)

Product Identifiers
Manufacturer Apple
Product Family MacBook Pro
Model ID MacBookPro3,1
Model Number A1229
MPN AppleMacBook Pro17June2007

Motherboard
Bus Speed 800 MHz

Display
Screen Size 17"
Display Max. Resolution 1680 x 1050

Technical Features
Security Features Kensington Lock Slot
Expansion Ports 3 x USB 2.0, DVI (Digital Video Interface), FireWire 400, FireWire 800, RJ-45 (NIC), VGA out
Special Features Integrated Video Camera, MagSafe Power Adapter Port

Hard Drive
Hard Drive Rotation Speed 5400 RPM
Storage Controller Type Serial ATA

Memory
RAM Technology DDR2 SDRAM
Max Supported RAM 4 GB
RAM Speed 667 MHz
Installed Cache Memory 4096 KB

CD / DVD
Optical Drive Read Speed 24x (CD), 6x (DVD+R DL), 6x (DVD-R DL), 8x (DVD+R), 8x (DVD-R)
Optical Drive Write Speed 24x (CD), 4x (DVD+R Dual Layer), 4x (DVD-R Dual Layer), 8x (DVD+R), 8x (DVD-R)
Optical Drive ReWrite Speed 16x (CD-RW), 6x (DVD-RW), 8x (DVD+RW)

Video
Installed Video Memory 256 MB

Audio
Audio Output Type Headphones, Line Out, Optical Digital, Speaker(s)
Audio Input Type Integrated Microphone, Line In (3.5mm), Optical Digital In

Networking
Networking Type Bluetooth, Integrated 10/100/1000 Network Card, Integrated Wireless LAN
Data Link Protocol AirPort Extreme, Bluetooth, Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n

Battery
Battery Run Time 5.75 Hours
Battery Technology Lithium polymer

Dimensions
Depth 10.4 in.
Height 1 in.
Width 15.4 in.
Weight 6.8 lb.

Miscellaneous
Release Date June, 2007
Input Method Keyboard, Remote Control, Trackpad

ok questions how well will the run Lion?
how easy is Lion to use for a mac newbie?
how well will it run sims 3?
will it run Linux Mint 9?
Will it run Linux Mint 9 just as effective as it would on any other intel or AMD machine?

this laptop has 4GB of RAM installed because i have never used a Mac above 256MB RAM (eMac is the only one over 1GB ive used) how will is the machine compared to a windows computer with the following specs

AMD Phenum quad core 2.8GHz
ATI Mobility Radeon HD2450
4GB DDR3 RAM
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

[DeltaMac]

I don't see anything that says it has 4 GB installed

Max Supported RAM 4 GB

is simply Maximum that Apple quotes. That model actually can have a 4GB in one slot + 2GB = total 6GB.
You may want to verify that with the seller.

You can likely look for comparable systems performance on one of the PC test sites that compares lots of different PC systems. The Macs with Intel procs are not too far off from same processor for PC system boards.
You can compare with an Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.4 GHz, with a NVidia GeForce 8600M GT vid card, and 4 GB RAM

Lion? of course
and, sure, Windows 7 would be a good fit, too.

I don't have any knowledge about Linux Mint yet, but 9 is several versions old, shouldn't be any problem, and there's info about dual-booting if you want
http://johnatilano.com/dual-boot-mac...nt-9-on-a-macb
Not exactly your model, but I think close enough.
Why wouldn't you go with a more recent version of Mint?

Sims 3 certainly will work with that MacBook Pro, good graphics, I think.

[LeoTheLion89]

Linux Mint 9 is the same as Ubuntu 10.04 both in which are in LTS mode