21.5" Highend Purchase Help

[gregpod9]

I currently have a late 2013 13" MBPr (i5 2.6/8GB/512GB SSD) as my primary computer and its all the time plugged in and sits on my desk. I really need a desktop. I went to the Apple Store to view the iMacs and the 27" iMac is too big for me. I decided that the high-end 21.5" iMac with a SSD is perfect for me. Before I ordered it, I have a few questions:

1. Should I stay with the i5 2.9 GHz or upgrade to the i7 3.1 GHz? I will not do any video editing, I rip cds to Apple Lossless through iTunes. I might use VM and definitely use bootcamp for Windows 8.1.

2. Should I have the 256GB SSD or upgrade to 512GB SSD? I have an external 1TB USB 3.0 HDD that has my Apple Lossless music. I heard that Apple has two suppliers for the 256GB SSD which are Sandisk and Samsung. Is there anything wrong with Sandisk SSD? I know the Samsung SSD is preferred.

3. Should I upgrade to 16GB memory or stay with 8GB memory?

4. Should I get the Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad?

 

[yjchua95]

I currently have a late 2013 13" MBPr (i5 2.6/8GB/512GB SSD) as my primary computer and its all the time plugged in and sits on my desk. I really need a desktop. I went to the Apple Store to view the iMacs and the 27" iMac is too big for me. I decided that the high-end 21.5" iMac with a SSD is perfect for me. Before I ordered it, I have a few questions:

1. Should I stay with the i5 2.9 GHz or upgrade to the i7 3.1 GHz? I will not do any video editing, I rip cds to Apple Lossless through iTunes. I might use VM and definitely use bootcamp for Windows 8.1.

2. Should I have the 256GB SSD or upgrade to 512GB SSD? I have an external 1TB USB 3.0 HDD that has my Apple Lossless music. I heard that Apple has two suppliers for the 256GB SSD which are Sandisk and Samsung. Is there anything wrong with Sandisk SSD? I know the Samsung SSD is preferred.

3. Should I upgrade to 16GB memory or stay with 8GB memory?

4. Should I get the Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad?

If you run VMs all the time, i7 and 16GB of RAMA really helps.

My personal 21.5" setup is a 3.1GHz i7, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD and GT 750M, and it runs everything really fast.

I went for i7 because I run VMs all the time and do video editing. I also went for a small SSD (thank god I got Samsung in the Sandisk v Samsung lottery) for pure speed and reliability. A Fusion Drive will never be as fast.

SanDisk is just 150MB/s slower in writes, but unless you do I/O intensive tasks you'll be hard pressed to tell the difference.

The small SSD doesn't bother me for boot camp either since I run Windows off an external SSD.

 

[colodane]

Based on the description of your usage, I'd suggest getting the i5. With the external SSD the 256 GB internal SSD should be fine. As you probably know, the RAM isn't easily user replaceable so I would advise getting 16 GB with the machine in spite of Apple's pricing on it. Strongly suggest the TrackPad - they are really efficient to use. If you don't like it, you can always purchase an inexpensive mouse later.

 

[yjchua95]

Based on the description of your usage, I'd suggest getting the i5. With the external SSD the 256 GB internal SSD should be fine. As you probably know, the RAM isn't easily user replaceable so I would advise getting 16 GB with the machine in spite of Apple's pricing on it. Strongly suggest the TrackPad - they are really efficient to use. If you don't like it, you can always purchase an inexpensive mouse later.

Considering that the OP is already going to spend so much, it'd be a waste if an i7 wasn't thrown into it to make it a complete maxed-out package. Having an i5 but with 16GB of RAM kind of makes it a hamstrung configuration.

 

[gregpod9]

I decided to order a refurbished 15.4" MBPr (i7 2.5/16GB/512GB SSD/750M). I was going for the 21.5" maxed out, but at the end of it all I wanted the retina screen (used to 13" MBPr screen, which I say its better than the 21.5" iMac screen), and I feel the 21.5" iMac is not good value. I would rather have a 27" iMac, but I don't have enough room on my desk for it; or a really good laptop with a quad core cpu with good battery life.