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First mac. Help needed! iMac or MacBook?

Petoz

Petoz

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 1, 2008
438
38
UK
I want to buy my first mac very soon, but am not sure what to go for. My budget restricts me to 20" iMac or 2.1 ghz MacBook. But I'm at uni so can get education discount.

I keep thinking I should go for the iMac, because I would get more for my money. But I don't want to buy just before the refresh, as I will miss out on extra speed and bigger hard drive, and anything else they might do. So that makes me question the iMac.

As for the MacBook, it would give me the option of portability. But I don't think this is essential. It would just be useful sometimes. But I would still have my windows laptop, so again, not essential. However, it has just been updated, so I won't get "appled". And I would save some money.

However, I keep thinking about another option. A mabook pro which I could attach to my HDTV. So i'd have portability when required, but also a faster, bigger hard drive than I would on the MacBook. Would this set up be worth the extra money?

As you can see, I am a bit confused. I would appreciate any advice/opinions on what you think I should do. Or what you would do? Thanks in advance.
 
I just purchased a refurb 20" iMac and am quite happy with that. I ultimately went for the iMac over the Macbook because you do get more for your money and I didn't need portability as much as I originally thought.

The ironic thing is many complain about the 20" iMac screen because of slight gradient problems and yet it's much much nicer than the Macbook's screen.
 
Well I could afford slightly more if it is worth the money. That's why I need the help. Thanks for the quick response by the way. I was thinking possibly a refurb MBP, if it's cheap enough. Or just fork out if the education discount is enough. Each possibility is tempting. I just need help making the decision.
 
Unless you're a pro photographer I don't see the point of the 24 inch iMac - they make my eyes go funny and I'm glad I never got one. My 20 inch iMac is the best computer I've had - and that's better than the MBP and MP I had. I sold those, got the iMac and an old PB G4 12 inch for the portability.
 
I also think the 20" imac is a great choice. I love my MBP but it is an expensive overpowered toy(for me). The macbook is sweet. It is a high powered ultra portable, but you don't need that , right(?). I think any notebook needs a 19 or up external display that's more money and a tether. BTW, the macbook works great with a huge lcd tv, via a mini-dvi to vga adapter.
 
i've had both before and I prefer the MacBook. The imac was great compared to any other desktop i've ever owned or came across but portability is the key. If you're hardly on the go and are home alot and want to use it for basic things then the imac is good but the macbook is just as good. But if you're like me, I like to sit in the living room at times and be online. Other times I take it to use @ a wifi location so that helps. Plus you can use the macbook anywhere and everywhere period and it comes in handy trust me.
 
MacBook

I've had both, started with an iMac, then an iPhone, then a MacBook Pro. I still have them all, but i rarely use my iMac honestly. The only reason it's nice is because of the larger screen (you can always dock a laptop with an external display), and the larger storage capacity (you can also plug in an external or use some type of network storage). You can always use the laptop as a desktop, but not the desktop as a laptop!
 
jonswan said:
I sold those, got the iMac and an old PB G4 12 inch for the portability.
Click to expand...

I've been looking at PB G4's on ebay for exactly that reason. What are they like? I mean, do they still run well? Even with leopard installed? Do the new macbooks, or MBPs connect to HDTVs well? Because I have a 26" HDTV. But I don't know about the money saving. Is it worth saving about £100 to buy a macbook, but get less in terms of hard drive, screen size (when not connected to HDTV), and processor speeds (if they update the imac any time soon).
 
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