iMac or Macbook Pro: Story Inside

[MacManGB]

Hey everybody,

First, a story. I joined the Apple community in 2005 and never looked back. I owned the last generation Powerbook 15". Then, in 2008, I bought the last generation Macbook Pro before the unibody version was released. I loved both of these.

In April this year, someone broke into my house (at college) and stole both my Powerbook and my MBP. Needless to say, BOOOOOOOO.

I was broke and couldn't afford a Mac, let alone a top-of-the-line version, and I bought a Dell Mini 9 with the intention of installing Leopard on it. Well, about 3 weeks ago, the SSD hard drive on the Mini 9 died. Disk read error, or whatever. AWESOME.

So now, 1) I NEED a computer, 2) it MUST be a Mac, 3) I can't make up my mind on what to get.

With my corporate discount, I can get a fairly decked-out 27" iMac (2.8GHz Quad Core i7, 8GB of RAM (4x2GB), 1TB 7200rpm HD) for approximately $2250.

For about the same price, I could buy a 15" Macbook Pro, 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, and either the 500GB 7200rpm drive, or the 128GB SSD.

Things to consider: I am a musician and would definitely use my computer for music-intensive activities. I would like the mobility of a laptop, for obvious reasons, and my current living situation does not afford me much desk space for a desktop. But I don't want to spend the money and have something much better spring up in a couple months for the same price I would pay now, and it seems like the iMac would significantly outperform the Macbook Pro at this point.

Thoughts? What would you guys do? MBP, iMac, or wait till Jan or Feb when MBP should be updated? Thanks for all the help in advance, and thank you for reading.

[Spanky Deluxe]

Originally Posted by MacManGB

Hey everybody,

First, a story. I joined the Apple community in 2005 and never looked back. I owned the last generation Powerbook 15". Then, in 2008, I bought the last generation Macbook Pro before the unibody version was released. I loved both of these.

In April this year, someone broke into my house (at college) and stole both my Powerbook and my MBP. Needless to say, BOOOOOOOO.

I was broke and couldn't afford a Mac, let alone a top-of-the-line version, and I bought a Dell Mini 9 with the intention of installing Leopard on it. Well, about 3 weeks ago, the SSD hard drive on the Mini 9 died. Disk read error, or whatever. AWESOME.

So now, 1) I NEED a computer, 2) it MUST be a Mac, 3) I can't make up my mind on what to get.

With my corporate discount, I can get a fairly decked-out 27" iMac (2.8GHz Quad Core i7, 8GB of RAM (4x2GB), 1TB 7200rpm HD) for approximately $2250.

For about the same price, I could buy a 15" Macbook Pro, 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, and either the 500GB 7200rpm drive, or the 128GB SSD.

Things to consider: I am a musician and would definitely use my computer for music-intensive activities. I would like the mobility of a laptop, for obvious reasons, and my current living situation does not afford me much desk space for a desktop. But I don't want to spend the money and have something much better spring up in a couple months for the same price I would pay now, and it seems like the iMac would significantly outperform the Macbook Pro at this point.

Thoughts? What would you guys do? MBP, iMac, or wait till Jan or Feb when MBP should be updated? Thanks for all the help in advance, and thank you for reading.

I'm afraid any machine you buy will be outdated in a few months, its just the way of the tech world.

The iMac is definitely going to be more powerful than the MacBook Pro but you might not have space for it. If I were you (and provided I had the space), I would consider getting the iMac but starting off with 4GB of RAM. It's user upgradeable and is already cheaper from a third party than from Apple. 4GB is a pretty hefty amount right now anyway so why not buy more when you can afford it. Instead, you could put that $200 saved towards either a new cheap netbook, new hard drive for your Dell or a second hand MacBook.

It depends where you need that extra power. Do you need the power when you're out and about, do you work from other locations a lot or do you only really need that power when you're at home?

[MacManGB]

Originally Posted by Spanky Deluxe

I'm afraid any machine you buy will be outdated in a few months, its just the way of the tech world.

The iMac is definitely going to be more powerful than the MacBook Pro but you might not have space for it. If I were you (and provided I had the space), I would consider getting the iMac but starting off with 4GB of RAM. It's user upgradeable and is already cheaper from a third party than from Apple. 4GB is a pretty hefty amount right now anyway so why not buy more when you can afford it. Instead, you could put that $200 saved towards either a new cheap netbook, new hard drive for your Dell or a second hand MacBook.

It depends where you need that extra power. Do you need the power when you're out and about, do you work from other locations a lot or do you only really need that power when you're at home?

Thanks a lot Spanky, you raise some very good points. Your suggestion sounds good too. The thing is, it's true, I would really only need the power when I'm home, or select occasions when I may need said computer for live recording. But the laptop makes things so much easier -- difficult to work in bed with the iMac, can't bring it anywhere...

[MacKiddyWiddy]

welll, although the imacs power would help you big time, i don't think you'd be too pinned back with the mbp... they are pretty nifty devices[IMG]http://macblog.***********/imgs/signature_SmileyFace.jpg[/IMG] just the imacs are niftyer (is that a word?) so my overall answer is i'd go with the mbp and then maybe bump up the ram

[ditzy]

The iMac is considerably more powerful. The MBP is considerably more portable. Only you really know which one you need more.

[cfitz7111]

With limited desk space the 27 may be too large. It is a big machine, plus you need some distance from it to avoid eye strain

[ipodftw]

I think you have already choosen your mind on what your are going for, i would go with the mbp [IMG]http://ipodftw.***********/imgs/signature_smiley.jpg[/IMG] simply because its what your after!

[bumzo1]

just remember if you buy the mbp now it will probably be outdated in january when the mobile i5s are released

[pukifloyd]

buy a MBP now and when you have space sell the MBP and buy an iMac

btw if you can wait, apple may launch the updated MBP with i5 in January...!

[striatedglutes]

You guys and your "outdated in a few months" talk are killing me

OP, yes, there is a significant chance that the MacBook Pros will be beefed up in a few months; however, to say the ones out now will be "outdated" is simply false.

How much did you actually use your mini9 to do things on the road that absolutely couldn't wait?

It seems that with your inclusion of "wait till Jan/Feb" as a choice, you don't need it NOW. I'd wait.

[Freewayjim]

To the OP, yes the iMac is more powerful but the MBP is no slouch and I'm sure is more than powerful enough to do what you need to do with it, I'd say go with the portability.

As for what's around the corner, yeah I'm waiting and wondering too but it all depends on what you need now. If you buy a MBP now it won't be outdated and it's still a wonderful machine. The catch is if you wait for the new releases you will get more bang for your buck as the new releases will have better specs for the same price points of the MBP's available today.

Good Luck.

[Gatteau]

I wouldn't compare the iMac to the 'current' MacBook Pro. Wait until' January or sometime around February and see what happens.. if Apple releases their (new) MacBook Pro lineup you can decide by then, comparing them to the iMac.

Well, yeah, that's of course if you're up for the absurd wait.

[DesignerOnMac]

Originally Posted by MacManGB

Thanks a lot Spanky, you raise some very good points. Your suggestion sounds good too. The thing is, it's true, I would really only need the power when I'm home, or select occasions when I may need said computer for live recording. But the laptop makes things so much easier -- difficult to work in bed with the iMac, can't bring it anywhere...

Silly question? Are you doing 'live recordings' in bed? Seems awkward to me!

[J&JPolangin]

...why not put a cheap HDD or SSD into the mini 9 so you can wait until ~Jan to see what updates the MB/MBP's get and if you don't like them you can get the i7 iMac and still have a portable with the netbook along with all that i7 iMac power?...