2 Macbooks or 1 & an iMac

[myopic1]

My wife and I are just about ready to replace our dinosaur eMac. I had been planning on getting her a MacBook, and then an iMac to use as our 'main' computer.

However, now I'm thinking about just getting two MacBooks (or one & an Air), with a separate Monitor/Keyboard/Mouse/Hard Drive to attach to them as needed.

What do you guys think?

The biggest issues I can think of is performance (but what the hell, we've been limping by on an eMac for 6 years), and I don't think you can use an external for your iPhoto library.

 

[Wireless Buddy]

A MacBook for her and a MacBook for you.

 

[Eric Lewis]

A MacBook for her and a MacBook for you.

yes macbook each

skip the air

 

[cwheatley]

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I know this is a little off topic, but why do people use iPhoto?

 

[bdj33ranch]

I might misunderstand - but you CAN have your iPhoto library on an external hard drive. See Apple Support - iPhoto - type 'external library' in search. However I do not know if that library would get confused if it was moved back and forth between two different computers.

 

[myopic1]

I'll check to see if we can move the iPhoto Library off the main HD. Last time I asked a 'Genius' they said it wasn't possible, and pointed me to a hack that was supposed to make it work.

However, I buy Macs because I do not want to mess around with 'Hacks' to get something to work.

Why no Air?

 

[myopic1]

Can I just plug a hard drive into our Airport Extreme and use it to hold our music/video/photo libraries? That would be great, then we would just have to plug in the power & monitor cords, assuming the keybard/mouse is over bluetooth.

Could the keyboard/mouse pair with two MacBooks? If so, how do you tell it which one is 'active' when it is in use?

 

[Wireless Buddy]

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I know this is a little off topic, but why do people use iPhoto?

I agree, iPhoto is pointless.

@op: You can get the Air if you want it, but MacBooks are cheaper and give you more power, not to mention twice the USB ports and a disc drive.

 

[XP Defector]

I'll check to see if we can move the iPhoto Library off the main HD. Last time I asked a 'Genius' they said it wasn't possible, and pointed me to a hack that was supposed to make it work.

However, I buy Macs because I do not want to mess around with 'Hacks' to get something to work.

Why no Air?

I'm pretty sure you can, if you hold ALT down and click iPhoto (or iTunes for that matter), you can select which library you wish to use. At least with iTunes I was running my library from an external disk and swapping to my internal when I was away from home.

 

[XP Defector]

My wife and I are just about ready to replace our dinosaur eMac. I had been planning on getting her a MacBook, and then an iMac to use as our 'main' computer.

However, now I'm thinking about just getting two MacBooks (or one & an Air), with a separate Monitor/Keyboard/Mouse/Hard Drive to attach to them as needed.

What do you guys think?

The biggest issues I can think of is performance (but what the hell, we've been limping by on an eMac for 6 years), and I don't think you can use an external for your iPhoto library.

Avoid the Air, they are a gimmick and in my opinion a total waste of money. I might actually recommend an iMac and a MacBook, because desktops simply last much longer than Notebooks, especially the stuff they build these days. You really want to look at how much you would actually use a notebook, most people I know with notebooks never have them leave their desk. If you both think that you'll be portable with them, then two Macbooks wouldn't be a bad idea, they are great little computers despite the flaws.

 

[kblesmis]

Why do you need external?

Unless you have thousands and thousands of photos, you might not need an external. I have 1,500 photos, and it is taking up about 2.2 GB. You can get up to a 250GB Hard drive in the MacBook, so that is something to consider. Hope you find a solution.

As far as performance goes, the MacBook is excellent. It is the only computer I use. I have 11,321 songs in iTunes, 1,500 photos, about 20 DVD's, I am always running GarageBand, downloading Music, surfing, and ripping DVD's at the same time, and it never even hiccups. Oh, and I write papers on it too. It has stood up to everything I have thrown at it. I have a 2.16GHZ with 2GB of RAM. Go for the MacBooks, you won't be disappointed.

 

[Shackler]

have to say Macbook and an iMac should be fine. you have the MB for portability when needed and the iMac as your desktop to replace the eMac. Two B can't be necesary if you had a desktop before.

 

[ktbubster]

Get an iMac now and get a Macbook after the refresh in quarter 3. The iMacs were just pumped up so they should be good to go for a while. The Macbooks are looking at some sort of redesign or refresh in Q3 (July - September). So I would get the iMac... be super enthused and all happy with the shiny new computer for a month or 2 or 3 and then surprised yourself with a shiny new macbook a little later. It'll make the process of getting new computers that much better, AND give you more bang for your buck.

Heck, even if you don't care for the redesign, you can save money going refurb or sale elsewhere

Like someone said, if you've been emac-ing it up the last few years, you probably don't need two portables... one should suffice, and the iMac will be great and pack a real punch at home....

AND if one of you ends up being jealous and you decide the need for two portables is there, you can always sell the imac for almost as much as you paid for it probably and fetch a new lappy later, but i don't forsee that happening

P.S. don't disregard the resale value of your emac - just incase you thought otherwise. You can probably fetch a few hundred for it to help on your new venture.

 

[bigjnyc]

i would say 1 macbook and 1 imac unless you both have the need to be portable at the same time, like if you frequently travel seperately and both need laptops with you, or if you have business needs for it. Otherwise it makes more sense to have one of each and just create an admin account for yourself on the macbook in case you ever need to go portable.

 

[daneoni]

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I know this is a little off topic, but why do people use iPhoto?

I agree, iPhoto is pointless.

What's wrong with iPhoto. Its a pretty good photo aggregator, granted its editing capabilities suck overall (i use Aperture for that) but for simple jpegs its fine and its interface is simple & accessible

As for the OP get two macbooks, u will be jealous when you're wife starts couch computing whilst you have to go to a desk in a room to use a computer.

Also forget the Air, a lot of people seem to be having issues with it. I've heard the processor is often throttled and you never get full speed unless you install a hack which messes with the CPU voltages. Also CPU cores get switched off when temps become to high and those temps become high easily, simply watching a flash video is enough to force the comp to switch off one core.

Also you'd be paying a premium for all that subpar performance. Not worth it IMHO

 

[Consultant]

i would say 1 macbook and 1 imac unless you both have the need to be portable at the same time, like if you frequently travel seperately and both need laptops with you, or if you have business needs for it. Otherwise it makes more sense to have one of each and just create an admin account for yourself on the macbook in case you ever need to go portable.

Yeah. Unless you need to be portable at the same time, it would be good to get an iMac and MacBook.

 

[cfs]

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I know this is a little off topic, but why do people use iPhoto?

To keep photos organized. It's also easier to locate the photo you want when mailing through Apple Mail or when using Web Galllery

 

[krye]

I might misunderstand - but you CAN have your iPhoto library on an external hard drive. See Apple Support - iPhoto - type 'external library' in search. However I do not know if that library would get confused if it was moved back and forth between two different computers.

Yes, you can have your iPhoto library anywhere. If memory serves, you just drag the library to the destination drive, rename it if you want. When you open iPhoto it will tell you it can't find the library and gives you the option to browse for it. Browse to the new location and BOOM! That's it. You only have to do that once. It will open from the new location from now on.

Oh yeh, and I'd go for the MacBook/iMac choice. There's definitely something to be said for owning a dedicated desktop. You can always hop on the wife's laptop if she needs the desktop and vice versa. And I'm sure she'll let you borrow the laptop if you need it on the go. No one said you can't have 2 user accounts on both machines.

 

[mrklaw]

two macbooks IMO

We have a macbook and an imac and the portability of the macbook just around the house means we use that 95% of the time. I'm now selling my imac and will buy a monitor for those few times I need a big screen or better colour management for my photos.

I'm hoping we can manage with just the one macbook - my wife's use is mostly just occasional web/email.

performance wise the new midrange macbook is pretty much on par with the midrange imac IMO. perhaps the HDD would be a bit slower, but probably not that noticable (especially if you bump up the ram to 4GB)