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iMac vs rMBP for year 8 student

R

Ravesh

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 15, 2014
33
0
sri lanka
hi I am a year * student I will mainly use my mac for studying and homework also some light gaming [minecraft,WOW,spore,farmville and COD

can i manage with a 15 inch rMBP or do I need a 27inch imac

my rMBP will have 16gb ram i7 and gtx750m

the imac will have 32gb ram i7 and gtx780m

I can only buy one so which one is better
 
Y

yjchua95

macrumors 604
Apr 23, 2011
6,725
233
GVA, KUL, MEL (current), ZQN
Ravesh said:
hi I am a year * student I will mainly use my mac for studying and homework also some light gaming [minecraft,WOW,spore,farmville and COD

can i manage with a 15 inch rMBP or do I need a 27inch imac

my rMBP will have 16gb ram i7 and gtx750m

the imac will have 32gb ram i7 and gtx780m

I can only buy one so which one is better
Click to expand...

Both are frankly overpowered for your needs.

I got through my IGCSEs on just a 13" cMBP.

For your usage, even the mid-range 13" rMBP (2.6/8/256) would suit your needs.

But if you want to go for an overpowered machine, you could go for a 15 rMBP with 750M. I have a 750M variant of the 15" rMBP and can play BF4 pretty well.

1680x1050, 16xAF, FXAA and mix of high and ultra settings, and it gets 47-50 fps on average, with the lowest being 35 fps and easily shooting past 60 fps in quite a lot of situations.
 
Sheza

Sheza

macrumors 68020
Aug 14, 2010
2,083
1,802
Wow, do you have money streaming out of your ears or something 0__o

EDIT: YEAR 8 STUDENT? Wow haha. Okay, well do you already have a laptop? If you're in Year 8 you won't be bringing your laptop to school anyway so it's down to personal preference if you like laptops better than desktop computers. I personally preferred desktops when I was in Year 8. My first laptop is only because I'm going to Uni so will need to have a portable machine.
 
maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,448
43,370
Ravesh said:
my rMBP will have 16gb ram i7 and gtx750m

the imac will have 32gb ram i7 and gtx780m

I can only buy one so which one is better
Click to expand...
Do you have mobility needs? Do you travel, or will you be taking your laptop to school?

Get the iMac if you don't need a computer with you.
 
Y

yjchua95

macrumors 604
Apr 23, 2011
6,725
233
GVA, KUL, MEL (current), ZQN
Sheza said:
Wow, do you have money streaming out of your ears or something 0__o

EDIT: YEAR 8 STUDENT? Wow haha. Okay, well do you already have a laptop? If you're in Year 8 you won't be bringing your laptop to school anyway so it's down to personal preference if you like laptops better than desktop computers. I personally preferred desktops when I was in Year 8. My first laptop is only because I'm going to Uni so will need to have a portable machine.
Click to expand...

Some schools allow students to bring personal laptops (like mine, for instance, but only from Year 10 onwards).
 
R

Ravesh

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 15, 2014
33
0
sri lanka
Sheza said:
Wow, do you have money streaming out of your ears or something 0__o

EDIT: YEAR 8 STUDENT? Wow haha. Okay, well do you already have a laptop? If you're in Year 8 you won't be bringing your laptop to school anyway so it's down to personal preference if you like laptops better than desktop computers. I personally preferred desktops when I was in Year 8. My first laptop is only because I'm going to Uni so will need to have a portable machine.
Click to expand...

i currently have a lenovo yoga but it has been crashing heavily and it only has a very base i5 and 2gb of ram

also i would prefer a imac but the fact is i would like to use my pc while lying on the sofa sitting at a table so i need portability but i also need power

:apple:ipad air, samsung galaxy note 3, lenovo yoga :apple:ipod touch 5g

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Sheza said:
Wow, do you have money streaming out of your ears or something 0__o

EDIT: YEAR 8 STUDENT? Wow haha. Okay, well do you already have a laptop? If you're in Year 8 you won't be bringing your laptop to school anyway so it's down to personal preference if you like laptops better than desktop computers. I personally preferred desktops when I was in Year 8. My first laptop is only because I'm going to Uni so will need to have a portable machine.
Click to expand...

No i do not have money streaming out of my ears but i have been saving to buy a mac for the last 4 years plus the mac will be lasting me 6 years:D
 
Sheza

Sheza

macrumors 68020
Aug 14, 2010
2,083
1,802
yjchua95 said:
Some schools allow students to bring personal laptops (like mine, for instance, but only from Year 10 onwards).
Click to expand...
Yeah, but Year 8 is still a no-go.

Ravesh said:
i currently have a lenovo yoga but it has been crashing heavily and it only has a very base i5 and 2gb of ram

also i would prefer a imac but the fact is i would like to use my pc while lying on the sofa sitting at a table so i need portability but i also need power

:apple:ipad air, samsung galaxy note 3, lenovo yoga :apple:ipod touch 5g

----------



No i do not have money streaming out of my ears but i have been saving to buy a mac for the last 4 years plus the mac will be lasting me 6 years:D
Click to expand...
A better idea would be to not go full-out on a top-spec MacBook but to split the money so you can buy a new one in 3 years time.
 
P

plusnq

macrumors member
Jul 15, 2013
69
0
My daughter has had to take a laptop to school since Year 7. I'd err on the side of mobility and add a large screen at home if needed later. Good luck with school.
 
I

ixxx69

macrumors 65816
Jul 31, 2009
1,294
878
United States
Ravesh said:
hi I am a year * student I will mainly use my mac for studying and homework also some light gaming [minecraft,WOW,spore,farmville and COD...
Click to expand...

I think you'll want the laptop... whether or not you can bring it to school, you'll like taking it with you around the house or on your bed, and it's fun to bring over to a friends house, etc.

Also, don't let anyone make you feel bad for getting a nice computer. There are a lot of posters here who seem to resent anyone who wants more than the absolute bare minimum. That being said, I agree with other posters that it's better to find the sweet spot on specs without going overboard.

Personally, I like to spend a little less upfront and upgrade more often, rather than spending a lot up front and expecting your laptop to last five or more years. For instance, 8GB RAM should be good for your use for the next few years. You didn't mention anything about the SSD, but I'll suggest 250GB minimum, and I'd definitely recommend 500GB before getting 16 or 32 GB RAM.

Good luck!
 
R

Ravesh

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 15, 2014
33
0
sri lanka
ixxx69 said:
I think you'll want the laptop... whether or not you can bring it to school, you'll like taking it with you around the house or on your bed, and it's fun to bring over to a friends house, etc.

Also, don't let anyone make you feel bad for getting a nice computer. There are a lot of posters here who seem to resent anyone who wants more than the absolute bare minimum. That being said, I agree with other posters that it's better to find the sweet spot on specs without going overboard.

Personally, I like to spend a little less upfront and upgrade more often, rather than spending a lot up front and expecting your laptop to last five or more years. For instance, 8GB RAM should be good for your use for the next few years. You didn't mention anything about the SSD, but I'll suggest 250GB minimum, and I'd definitely recommend 500GB before getting 16 or 32 GB RAM.

Good luck![/Q`thanks `I Think I will take the rMBP 13 inch and in a year or 2 I will buy a 27inch iMac because i do not need a very powerful laptop but require a powerful desktop for gaming etc but I prefer mac OSX to windows because windows crashes alot

:apple:ipad air :apple: ipod touch 5g
Click to expand...
 
alphaod

alphaod

macrumors Core
Feb 9, 2008
22,183
1,245
NYC
I assume you need your computer for school, so get the laptop.

That said, I assume if you're still in 8th grade wouldn't your school have some sort of guidelines to what you're suppose to buy?
 
R

Ravesh

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 15, 2014
33
0
sri lanka
alphaod said:
I assume you need your computer for school, so get the laptop.

That said, I assume if you're still in 8th grade wouldn't your school have some sort of guidelines to what you're suppose to buy?
Click to expand...


Not exactly my school does not allow laptops but when I go to a friends house I would like to bring my computer also my school recommends a windows 8 laptop but since I have a win8 laptop I will use it for microsoft office and the rMBP for my personal computer my Lenovo yoga cannot be taken out of the house because it's my moms conputer so I can't take it out


:apple:iPad Air :apple:iPod touch 5g
 
p3ntyne

p3ntyne

macrumors 6502
Jan 10, 2014
406
3
Sydney, Australia
Sheza said:
Yeah, but Year 8 is still a no-go.
Click to expand...

Huh? At my previous school you were given a laptop at Year 5. Where I am now, you can bring your own in Year 7...

OP, I think the 13 inch is a good idea although, wouldn't it be preferable to have a lower spec rMBP and IMac. I'm in year 8 too and am yet to use a program (for school) more intensive than Pages and Safari.
 
R

Ravesh

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 15, 2014
33
0
sri lanka
p3ntyne said:
Huh? At my previous school you were given a laptop at Year 5. Where I am now, you can bring your own in Year 7...

OP, I think the 13 inch is a good idea although, wouldn't it be preferable to have a lower spec rMBP and IMac. I'm in year 8 too and am yet to use a program (for school) more intensive than Pages and Safari.
Click to expand...

I live in Sri Lanka and attend the BSC so they don't allow laptops
 
C

cosmicjoke

macrumors 6502
Oct 3, 2011
484
1
Portland, OR
What about a $200 chromebook, they don't run windows and are stable and easy to maintain.... then get the imac (ideally off refurbished apple store).
 
C

cosmicjoke

macrumors 6502
Oct 3, 2011
484
1
Portland, OR
Ravesh said:
Or how about a rMBP and a Thunderbolt Display
Click to expand...

I wouldn't advise it for gaming, the iGPU isn't powerful enough for the 2560x1440p native resolution. People tend to run the rMBP games at lower resolutions with good success, but it works out because the rMBP's display has a really good scalar so it doesn't look blurry, but that won't be the case on the Thunderbolt Display.
 
R

Ravesh

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 15, 2014
33
0
sri lanka
cosmicjoke said:
I wouldn't advise it for gaming, the iGPU isn't powerful enough for the 2560x1440p native resolution. People tend to run the rMBP at lower resolutions while gaming with good success, but it works out because the rMBP's display has a really good scalar so it doesn't look blurry, but that won't be the case on the Thunderbolt Display.
Click to expand...

Oh but I will use a nvidia gtx750m model not the igpu model
 
p3ntyne

p3ntyne

macrumors 6502
Jan 10, 2014
406
3
Sydney, Australia
Ravesh said:
Or how about a rMBP and a Thunderbolt Display
Click to expand...

I would advise against a Thunderbolt Display. Not only will they be updated soon (not confirmed but suspected) but they are also extremely overpriced. For the same price you could get a (28 inch) 4K monitor or 2 (29 inch) 21:9 monitors.

EDIT: If you are only going to do light gaming, as you said previously, what would be wrong with getting something like the base 13 inch rMBP and a 21:9 or 1440p monitor. It'll also be easier if you wish to take your laptop with you.
 
Last edited:
C

cosmicjoke

macrumors 6502
Oct 3, 2011
484
1
Portland, OR
Ravesh said:
Oh but I will use a nvidia gtx750m model not the igpu model
Click to expand...


I have this setup, but with the early '13 gtx 650m. A lot of the mmos are playing at 1440p if you turn graphics settings way down, but also you can play in windowed mode and just make the window a bit smaller and crank them back up a bit. It's doable, but will perform nowhere nearly as well as the iMac. If I was using the monitor primarily for gaming, I'd just buy a cheaper 1080p monitor and that would be better suited for full screen gaming.
 
Sheza

Sheza

macrumors 68020
Aug 14, 2010
2,083
1,802
p3ntyne said:
Huh? At my previous school you were given a laptop at Year 5. Where I am now, you can bring your own in Year 7...

OP, I think the 13 inch is a good idea although, wouldn't it be preferable to have a lower spec rMBP and IMac. I'm in year 8 too and am yet to use a program (for school) more intensive than Pages and Safari.
Click to expand...
Where on earth did you go to school, was it private?

In the UK there is nowhere near enough money to provide students with a laptop in Year 5 or support students brining in laptops in Year 7. Think of the theft and damage risks.

My advice to OP is this: Get a cheaper laptop now and then use the rest of your money to buy a more updated mid-range MacBook for when you do more intense studies such as GCSEs or A-Levels. You will get more for your money that way.
 
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