Hello,
Been following MacRumors for a while, as I'm thinking of upgrading my old MacBook Black, but have hit a snag and was hoping I can get some "real life" experience from other users. So thought I'd post here as I'm sure lots of people have a lot more Mac/OSX experience around here than me.
Sorry in advance for the long post, but trying to give as much info to "help you help me" (or something like that).
So first, this is what we want the computer to be able to do:
- Photo editing: Nothing fancy, not that good at it yet, and nowhere near professional level. As I have Aperture already will probably be using that, instead of iPhoto. If we do really get into it, would consider upgrading to the latest version of Aperture (or Lightroom) and Photoshop Elements;
- Video editing: Even more basic than the photos, but do have a camera capable of making some nice videos and Final Cut Express, so why not? Doubt it would become a main use though;
- Sound / Music: My girlfriend is into music, and would like to fool around with it a bit. I believe Garage Band would probably cover all her needs;
- Games: This will be done on Windows mostly. I'd like to have a good gaming experience. By good I mean 30-40 fps average on medium to high settings on the most recent games, but if able to do more even better. Older games (still have a massive backlog I'd like to go through) would probably run at max settings. I'm not what some people call a "hardcore gamer" in need of all the latest gadgets and being able to put all the sliders to extreme settings and still be able to run a game at over 120 fps!
Now... Putting aside the fact that Apple is likely to come out with some upgrades (and Mavericks is coming out) in the next couple of months, I can't decide between these 2 options:
Option 1: Maxed out iMac 27" - CHF 2939.- (USD 3155.-)
Upgrade everything to the max, except memory I'd leave at 8GB (can get a lot cheaper from Crucial) and the hard drive would only go to a 1TB Fusion.
I don't change computers all the time, so this should last us a few years (5+) I'd hope and fulfill all we need. The downside for me is lack of portability (not a major issue, have a tablet for that) and the fact I might be paying a premium for components that are OTT for the OSX tasks (photo, video, etc.) and not value for money on the Win tasks (gaming)
Option 2: MBP 15" - CHF 2219.- (USD 2380.-)
Only upgrade from the base model would be memory to 8GB (unless 16GB is possible, then will leave it at 4GB and buy from Crucial) and the antiglare screen.
Advantages are it quite the saving and portable, in case we need it out and about. But would it be powerful enough for the OSX tasks? Don't want to spend all this money and figure out can't really fulfill one of the main reasons for staying with OSX. As for gaming, I'm sure I can entertain myself for a while with older games for a while, and then use the money saved to buy a good gaming PC, that would be a lot better than the iMac even for only CHF 1000.-, like the Alienware X11 or whatever Valve's steam box will be. Already have a 27" display, so can use that with the MBP on a dual display setup for editing and later connect it to the PC.
Another advantage is that my girlfriend will be going to the US, so assuming Apple release the update on the MBP before, would be able to save even more (only USD 1999.- for the same thing) or use the difference to upgrade the processor/graphics card combo.
So finally, my questions are:
- Which option would you go for and why?
- What's the experience like with photo, video, etc. editing on the MBP? Would I find myself missing the extra horsepower of the iMac?
- My girlfriend threw a spanner in the works yesterday by asking what would happen if both of us needed to work at the same time, but we have only one computer... Any suggestions then on a suitable 2 computer option, considering for her there is no need for something too powerful, as she won't be gaming?
Thanks a lot for any help.
Been following MacRumors for a while, as I'm thinking of upgrading my old MacBook Black, but have hit a snag and was hoping I can get some "real life" experience from other users. So thought I'd post here as I'm sure lots of people have a lot more Mac/OSX experience around here than me.
Sorry in advance for the long post, but trying to give as much info to "help you help me" (or something like that).
So first, this is what we want the computer to be able to do:
- Photo editing: Nothing fancy, not that good at it yet, and nowhere near professional level. As I have Aperture already will probably be using that, instead of iPhoto. If we do really get into it, would consider upgrading to the latest version of Aperture (or Lightroom) and Photoshop Elements;
- Video editing: Even more basic than the photos, but do have a camera capable of making some nice videos and Final Cut Express, so why not? Doubt it would become a main use though;
- Sound / Music: My girlfriend is into music, and would like to fool around with it a bit. I believe Garage Band would probably cover all her needs;
- Games: This will be done on Windows mostly. I'd like to have a good gaming experience. By good I mean 30-40 fps average on medium to high settings on the most recent games, but if able to do more even better. Older games (still have a massive backlog I'd like to go through) would probably run at max settings. I'm not what some people call a "hardcore gamer" in need of all the latest gadgets and being able to put all the sliders to extreme settings and still be able to run a game at over 120 fps!
Now... Putting aside the fact that Apple is likely to come out with some upgrades (and Mavericks is coming out) in the next couple of months, I can't decide between these 2 options:
Option 1: Maxed out iMac 27" - CHF 2939.- (USD 3155.-)
Upgrade everything to the max, except memory I'd leave at 8GB (can get a lot cheaper from Crucial) and the hard drive would only go to a 1TB Fusion.
I don't change computers all the time, so this should last us a few years (5+) I'd hope and fulfill all we need. The downside for me is lack of portability (not a major issue, have a tablet for that) and the fact I might be paying a premium for components that are OTT for the OSX tasks (photo, video, etc.) and not value for money on the Win tasks (gaming)
Option 2: MBP 15" - CHF 2219.- (USD 2380.-)
Only upgrade from the base model would be memory to 8GB (unless 16GB is possible, then will leave it at 4GB and buy from Crucial) and the antiglare screen.
Advantages are it quite the saving and portable, in case we need it out and about. But would it be powerful enough for the OSX tasks? Don't want to spend all this money and figure out can't really fulfill one of the main reasons for staying with OSX. As for gaming, I'm sure I can entertain myself for a while with older games for a while, and then use the money saved to buy a good gaming PC, that would be a lot better than the iMac even for only CHF 1000.-, like the Alienware X11 or whatever Valve's steam box will be. Already have a 27" display, so can use that with the MBP on a dual display setup for editing and later connect it to the PC.
Another advantage is that my girlfriend will be going to the US, so assuming Apple release the update on the MBP before, would be able to save even more (only USD 1999.- for the same thing) or use the difference to upgrade the processor/graphics card combo.
So finally, my questions are:
- Which option would you go for and why?
- What's the experience like with photo, video, etc. editing on the MBP? Would I find myself missing the extra horsepower of the iMac?
- My girlfriend threw a spanner in the works yesterday by asking what would happen if both of us needed to work at the same time, but we have only one computer... Any suggestions then on a suitable 2 computer option, considering for her there is no need for something too powerful, as she won't be gaming?
Thanks a lot for any help.