Buying a new Mac, Please Help!!

[Furiousgeorge]

I am trying to decide what new mac to get.

I currently run a gen 1 blackbook, with 2gb ram and a 2.0ghz processor

My main complaint with it is the 80gb hd and the gma 950, but I love its portability and battery life

I am thinking about getting either the iMac 24" with 2.4 ghz or the Macbook pro 15" with 2.4 Ghz.

One of my main desires is to be able to game again using bootcamp. I also want the new mac to fly in leopard and have a lot of hard disk space.

I would love to have the portability of the mbp, but its a lot more money. I have seen some on craigslist and ebay, but i dont know how to tell if those are refurbs or stolen.

Basically i need to know if the vid card really sucks that bad on the imac, or if they game better than reported (seems to be really sketchy info on their performance under bootcamp with decent drivers). I mainly want to play Oblivion and some newer games coming like crysis and UT3. I've also heard bad things about aluminum imac stability.

Also, how big of an update are we likely looking at in January for the MBP? Is it worth waiting, or should I just buy now?

I know that was a lot of questions, I am thinking either way I'd keep my MB, and use it to take notes in school and do less intensive mobile stuff, but If i found the MBP to be really mobile i might change my mind.

Any advice is appreciated, thanks.

 

[aaronw1986]

If you're going to be keeping your macbook, I say the iMac is the best route to take. You get the larger screen, plus more hard drive space, which seems to be an issue for you. Would be a great combo.

 

[Furiousgeorge]

forgot to mention...

I'll also be hooking up the MBP to a 32" LCD via DVI-HDMI, so while the big screen is a nice consideration, it isn't necessarily a big dealbreaker.

but thanks for the input

I'd really love to see some comparisons of how the two comps game IN WINDOWS. I see all these comparisons in Mac, but the drivers for 2600 suck in OSX, so that's not the mst accurate ever. I've seen the barefeats aluminum imac in xp and vista and all, but it seemed so all over the place, it was hard to tell what to think of it. I'd like to hear some testimonials from those who own each.

I did try out the store display models of each, and running in OSX MBP definitely destroys the imac on gaming (NFS CARBON and BF2142).

I also would like to be able to take my awesome gaming with me... man im torn

 

[Furiousgeorge]

oh, and what if i sold my blackbook? what are they going for used these days?

 

[Willis]

Well it seems you want a MBP as you want to take your gaming with you.

At this stage, I would wait, because you are able to. If you are happy with what is on offer now, then get one now.

As for used prices, just look on ebay

 

[Furiousgeorge]

thanks, is there any way to tell if a model is stolen or refurbed when it is bought secondhand?

I see a lot of new, sealed in box deals, which always makes me wonder how so many end up out there new unless they are stolen.

 

[tingly]

I'd get a refurb mbp from store.apple.com, but sounds like you want brand-spanking new.