Advice on replacing MBP&Mac Mini with iMac

[jagooch]

I recently replaced my 2015 MBP 15" ( 2.2Ghz i7 16GB RAM ) with a 2015 MBP 13" ( 2.5Ghz i5 8GB RAM ) for portable computing.
The MBP 15" previous did Mobile and "home" computer.
My 2014 Mac Mini ( 2.6GHz i5 8GB RAM 500GB fusion drive ) computer runs as a media/web/etc server.

For mobile computing , I'm going to use my MBP 13" going forward.
For desktop/home computing, my long term plan is to get a 27" iMac i7, but I need to decide what to do with the MBP 15" and Mac Mini that it would replace.

I see my options are
1. Sell the Mac Mini and use the 15" MBP as the desktop computer . Pro: The MBP is powerful enough to do all tasks. Con: the Mac Mini won't get me as much money towards my iMac purchase.
2. Sell the 15" MBP and use the Mac Mini as the desktop computer . Pro: More money for the iMac purchase. Con: the Mac Mini is not as powerful.
3. Order an iMac now, set it up, and then sell the other computers. Pro: get the iMac faster. Con: Dip into savings for funds and then backfill savings after the other computers sell.
4. Keep the MBP as workstation , sell the Mini, don't get an iMac. Pro: Lowest cost. Con: Clunky setup with external monitor and peripherals.
Thoughts? Money isn't an issue, I can do 1-3 now, though I prefer to sell items before buying new ones so I'm not stuck with extra computers lying around the house.

 

[jmiddel]

Your MBP is a great machine, hide it and run a 4k 27" monitor with a wireless keyboard and mouse/trackpad if you like it neat, you'd just have the monitor cable.

 

[AmazingHenry]

I'd sell the 15", use the mini. Still a great machine. Or maybe you could just use the 13" as your only computer? It's your fastest one at this point and you could attach it to an external monitor.

 

[jagooch]

Your MBP is a great machine, hide it and run a 4k 27" monitor with a wireless keyboard and mouse/trackpad if you like it neat, you'd just have the monitor cable.

I'm decided to try this first. I'm moving apps and data over to my 15" MBP right now. If I don't like it, I can always replace it with an iMac.

The Mac Mini is cute, but it stuttered when doing video editing, which is why I got the 15" MBP in the first place. I think having the super portable 13" MBP for mobile and the 15" MBP ( or iMac! ) as the workstation/server will work for me.

As a result I'll can get rid of my iPad and Mac Mini, simplifying my setup.

 

[theluggage]

I'm decided to try this first. I'm moving apps and data over to my 15" MBP right now. If I don't like it, I can always replace it with an iMac.

Good choice - there's a rumor of new iMacs late this year, you can always change your mind then.
I like working with the MBP on an elevator stand, external mouse & keyboard, so the MBP acts as a second screen.

Money isn't an issue,

...then I'd suggest keeping the Mini as a media home server so you don't need to leave your MBP running 24/7. If you get the OS X server app and hang a USB3 hard drive on it you can use it as a time machine backup server, for your two MBPs, too.

 

[jagooch]

Good choice - there's a rumor of new iMacs late this year, you can always change your mind then.
I like working with the MBP on an elevator stand, external mouse & keyboard, so the MBP acts as a second screen.



...then I'd suggest keeping the Mini as a media home server so you don't need to leave your MBP running 24/7. If you get the OS X server app and hang a USB3 hard drive on it you can use it as a time machine backup server, for your two MBPs, too.

]
The Mini was my media and time machine server before. I'm looking to consolidate computing devices as I have too many of them, while also getting a performance boost for home/desktop computing. To that end I'm replacing the Mac Mini and Macbook Pro with a used iMac. The 13" in Macbook replaces my iPad. So I'm cutting my device count in half while gaining better performance!

I put the Mac Mini back into it's server role for now, as my Macbook Pro was not doing a good job at it. I've been shopping for a good deal on an iMac 2014/2015 today. I've found several deal already from co-workers , eBay , and Apple refurbished store.

Also, the Mac Mini did get a performance boost today when I discovered that Crashplan service was still running on it even though I've switched to Backblaze. It was using 25% of the CPU . It was a pain to uninstall, but now that it's gone the Mini is performing much better.

I'm pretty excited about the results of my cleanup so far. My desk was a crowded mess when I started reducing devices and now it has a ton of free space.