MBPro or iMac

Unless you need true portable computing (i.e. other than web, mail, light word processing/spreadsheet) OUTSIDE your home, I'd get the iMac. More bang for your buck (no laptop premium). You've already got the portable computing around the house with the iPad.

eawmp1 said:

Unless you need true portable computing (i.e. other than web, mail, light word processing/spreadsheet) OUTSIDE your home, I'd get the iMac. More bang for your buck (no laptop premium). You've already got the portable computing around the house with the iPad.

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I have to agree. Plus you said you were planning on buying a 13" macbook pro later on. Save yourself the hassle and get the iMac. you wont regret it.

I bought my first mbp 15" i7 in August and it is an amazing machine and I doubt I will return to PC in the future. As for your dcisison it all comes down to usage, you do seem to have an ipad and iphone already is that not enough mobility for you? And as you are a bit of a gamer an imac is going to serve your needs better. But like I said it all depends on your needs and do you have the space at thome for your imac, I myself went for the MBP because I have recently moved into a small house and have a 2 year old daughter so there is no room for a desktop and I can put the MBP out of harmsway when not in use, I also take it to my studio for work occasionally. If I had an ipad and the space I would definately have gone for an imac.

joes1712 said:

The longer I have my iPad, the more I do with it. My wife has taken over the 15 inch Vaio, and we rarely use the Win7 desktop except as a print server. That will change as I just upgraded to a HP c310 to take advantage of wireless and AirPrint. As you say Jenko, the MBPro 15 could fill my needs and not restrict me to a specific room in the house, unless I wanted to. The iPad has met all demands on two week long trips, so maybe just the MBPro to replace the desktop? I appreciate the input!

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You are not listening...by your own admission you don't ned mobility. As Jenko and I said, you'll get more from an iMac.

joes1712 said:

Should I go with a 21 inch iMac or a 15 inch MBPro and use an external monitor for more screen space at home. I am a casual gamer and interested in maintaining my photo and music collections. I will maintain connection with Word for work files. Would likely purchase a 13 inch MBPro or Air when the Vaio calls it quits. Any thoughts?

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Lets see. Casual gamer. New to Mac. iPad owner. Eventually getting a Macbook Pro 13. Okay, here we go... Well, I've crunched those numbers and my conclusion is --- Buy a Macbook Pro + External monitor.

There are a few reasons Ive leaned away from desktop computers for the last decade.

1) Resale value. From my experience then notebooks sell at ridiculously high prices on Ebay. ESPECIALLY Apple ones. But with iMacs then they tend to depreciate very quickly so if you're one to upgrade every 18-24mo then you're much better off with a notebook.

2) External monitor. You can get a very good 24-27" monitor from Dell for under $300 so why settle for a 21" iMac?

3) Portability. Even if you don't "need" portability, it's still very convenient to just disconnect your laptop from the monitor/keyboard and take your notebook to the living room. Granted, I do this a lot less because of the iPad BUT I still do need to take my notebook on the road.

4) Power. The big reason to really get an iMac over a portable is because of Power. But the Macbooks are pretty powerful as they are. I use a few Pro level programs on my Macbook Pro and it handles great so unless you've got a specific need that CAN'T be done on a portable system then why get a machine that is tied to a desk?


So thats my opinion. We're shopping for a 2nd Macbook now but I'm waiting for the updated MBP13 which should be due early next year.

If you want to have a portable one then go for the 15 inch MBPro and just use an external monitor if you wish a bigger screen while at home.

I was on the same fence.. I didn't go iMac for one reason and that was the screen. I figured if my MacBook screen died I could still run that with a external monitor. If the iMac screen dies your looking at some serious cash to fix it. Plus being tied to a desk sort of turned me off. I love being able to sit at my desk with a keyboard and mouse, and then have the option to pick up and go to my couch downstairs or sit next to my fireplace.

Think about this..you can always purchase an external monitor for your MBP..get a larger one too really..

If you like glossy then for value I would get the iMac, 15 MBP + external would cost more than 21 iMac. Plus you already have iPad and plan on getting a 13.

15 is a bit heavy so not really perfect for mobile use everyday. But if you're in a big house and want to be mobile in your house then maybe 15 would be worth it . . . but then again you're getting a 13 and already have iPad.

iMac definitely more powerful than MBP and you would like the extra power (CPU and GPU) when it comes to gaming.

So if you're ok with glossy I'd get the iMac. I think the iMac really would fit into your line up better. And I would use re-sale as a tie breaker, not as a consideration.

Your best bet is to get the base MBP 13 and add a 3rd party SSD drive and external monitor.

Why?

1) For most tasks the SSD will make the MPB feel faster than the iMac (and you can't easily add an SSD to the 21" iMac.

2) One computer is easier and cheaper to maintain than two -- especially if you consider software licenses, your time updating, backups, syncing data, etc.

3) At some point you can upgrade your MBP and still use the external monitor. One thing I hate about the iMac is that you can't upgrade the HDD and when you want to upgrade you can't re-use the monitor.

The only to get the iMac is if you are really doing something that is a lot more compute intensive than the MBP can manage.