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Am I crazy to think about an iMac as a semi-portable?

When he needs to, my son, a drummer, carries his iMac with him pretty easily. It fits nicely into a good canvas tote bag. His is a 20" iMac, though, and I'd suggest that you test-heft both the 20" and the 24" to judge the portability for yourself. (I've got the 24" as my desktop machine, and it seems to me there's a pretty big difference in "portability.")
 
For those of you mentioning a case- Ive been thinking about it. My girlfriend is pretty good with a sewing machine; I think we can rig something fancy.
 
i say pick up a 2.0 Ghz aluminum macbook, for around $1000 USED, keep looking at the marketplace.

subscribe to tigerdirect newletter and you can pick up a 22" lcd or 24" for under $250.
 
A 24" is bit more portable than a Kaypro II, because it weighs a few pounds less and is easier to grab.
 
You should be able to wire mics from the imac to whatever room you are going to be on and thus record without a problem no matter where you are. I think its possible to move it around all the time, if your rooms are clean ( dont want to trip and drop it ), if there arent too many stairs, if you're prepared for the effort and if you are strong enough that you wont mess up. Otherwise you're just nuts..
 
I travel with my 20" aluminum imac a whole bunch. I was in places long enough I would want a laptop and external monitor, so the imac was easier. I just get a thick towel and lay it over the top of the computer so front and back were covered, then it lays with the glass against the back seat where your back would go and put stuff in front of it to keep it in place. I don't think this would work well with a 24" though.

Mine has traveled many thousands of miles with no problems.
 
I would buy the iMac anytime. You don't pay the premium for a laptop and you said you will only move it pretty occasionally. Moving an iMac around the house is not that much of a problem, unles you want full portability and constantly move it.
You want find a better solution for less.
 
Don't forget that you need to carry the keyboard and mouse, to. They're not that heavy, but that's two additional items you need to carry (or more like 1, if you leave them connected).
 
You might be able to run a mic wire across your house, and then use screen sharing to control the iMac from your iBook.
 
Incase your still deciding....I have done what you are thinking about for a few years and here's what i've found.

Back in 05' (I think) when the last of the G5 iMacs came out (thinner white style with iSight) I was weighing up the cost of a powerful enough machine for my architecture programs Vs cost and portability, (the powerbook was the other contender). Needless to say i went for the 17" iMac.

Now I know its not quite the same as the 24" your considering but that thing was definitely semi-portable. In halls of residence (or dorms for those from the US) that thing came out of my room at least once a week. Sometimes just to the living room for some films or group uni work but quite often across campus for some serious "Front Row" action at parties. Set the thing up without keyboard and mouse so no-one could mess and took the apple remote with me and raved all night long (happy days). Definitely agree that the raised stand saved it from one or two close shaves when drinks were concerned. Was also pretty easy to take back home the 3 or 4 times I popped back.

In my experience the cardboard and polystyrene box the imac came in was more than enough to transport it around in, and the box is still lookin good today. Luckily it didn't have to hold up against any water/booze so if ur g/f really wants to get her sewing kit out she could give it some re-enforcement. Wound also recommend one of the Kensington locks that fit in the back so you don't have to grow eyes in the back of your head!

The only thing is that once you get the taste of that semi-portability, you do tent to crave more. I got envious of my mates doing uni work on the sofa while i had to send myself to my room or have the hassle of setting up a table in a student house full of messy blokes. Mind u, most of my mates laptops couldn't venture too far away from a plug socket as their brand new windows laptops has some serious battery use issues. I now have a unibody macbook, it runs my programs better than most of the ppls gear on my course so I wouldn't underestimate their power, although i imagine you might need the firewire.
 
I used to throw a keyboard and mouse in a backpack and sling my G3 on to a bus or two. It was 10 pounds heavier than the current iMac, but it wasn't as wide and had a handle so I could pick it up with one hand.

I'll be honest with you though, I've never carried one of the new ones very far outside of its box.
 
it's certainly portable enough to move it around in your house to do the occasional recording. It's not awkward to carry, just a bit heavier than would be convenient.

it's certainly a semi-sorta-portable.........taking it around to places to perform would be a bit more inconvenient though since the screen is so exposed to potential damage.

I've got a G5 iMac that I've picked up, carried to the car, driven to somebody's office and then carried it inside to set up to use for work for a few days. That was ok, but I sure wouldn't want to take it back and forth every day
 
I tote my 20" iMac quite often. In fact I just unloaded it from the back of my car. One of these days I might have to break down and buy an iLugger case.
 
liamwillib said:
The only thing is that once you get the taste of that semi-portability, you do tent to crave more. I got envious of my mates doing uni work on the sofa while i had to send myself to my room or have the hassle of setting up a table in a student house full of messy blokes. Mind u, most of my mates laptops couldn't venture too far away from a plug socket as their brand new windows laptops has some serious battery use issues. I now have a unibody macbook, it runs my programs better than most of the ppls gear on my course so I wouldn't underestimate their power, although i imagine you might need the firewire.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but that's actually a reason why I want the iMac instead of a MacBook. I'm not getting rid of the iBook, since the vast majority of portable computing I need to do doesn't require a lot of hardware power. Once I get a new battery for it, I imagine it'll become something of a netbook—new software may not run on PPC, but browser-based cloud computing should continue to be fine for a long time to come.

There's just those very few times I forsee myself needing a lot of power /and/ mobility, and those few times don't seem to justify the added cost of a MBP and monitor.
 
Some DJs do it.

I did a few months with 20" while between laptops but eventually got another laptop.

use the original box for carrying.

cherry su said:
Do you really need all that power on the go?

man-carrying-a-desktop-computer-around-his-shoulders-as-if-it-is-a-mobile-device.jpg
Click to expand...

Haha. Thanks
 
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