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Buying advice in light of non-Imac release

segovius

segovius

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 18, 2006
203
0
Barcelona / Berlin
Ok, the time has come to make some decisions, was planning on getting an iMac and could (just about) wait till October but even then the iMac might not fit my needs. I turn to you for help and advice!!

I have a 2009 15" MacBook Pro, 2.53 ghz Core2 Duo, 4gb ram. Use it extensively and daily and it's showing its age a bit - used as a work machine for coding and programming, web design and Photoshop/InDesign.

Main problem is that I need a bigger screen. Would have gone with 17" MBPro maybe but that option's gone..and it must be matte, or at least the reduced glare glossy.

I was hoping for the new iMac with reduced glare - or ideally matte - screen but no go. Even if I wait then no guarantee it will have even if released in October.

Other options are a new current MBP 15 in matte and a matte screen from a third party - is this more likely to resolve the issue than waiting on the iMac? Is it a better bet for a substantial upgrade from what I have now?

And if so what matte screen - I'm thinking 27" but maybe 24" will do. Any suggestions?
 
segovius said:
Ok, the time has come to make some decisions, was planning on getting an iMac and could (just about) wait till October but even then the iMac might not fit my needs. I turn to you for help and advice!!

I have a 2009 15" MacBook Pro, 2.53 ghz Core2 Duo, 4gb ram. Use it extensively and daily and it's showing its age a bit - used as a work machine for coding and programming, web design and Photoshop/InDesign.

Main problem is that I need a bigger screen. Would have gone with 17" MBPro maybe but that option's gone..and it must be matte, or at least the reduced glare glossy.

I was hoping for the new iMac with reduced glare - or ideally matte - screen but no go. Even if I wait then no guarantee it will have even if released in October.

Other options are a new current MBP 15 in matte and a matte screen from a third party - is this more likely to resolve the issue than waiting on the iMac? Is it a better bet for a substantial upgrade from what I have now?

And if so what matte screen - I'm thinking 27" but maybe 24" will do. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

if you need more screen the retina 2012 macbook pro may not be for not for you.

how about a 2011 17 inch refurbished macbook pro?


http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_pro/17




this one is not too bad.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/G0M3BLL/A


this machine can run snow , lion, ml.


has anti glare.

the video card is okay not great.

you can upgrade to 2x 8gb ram = 16gb. Plus it has thunderbolt, lastly you could drop in an ssd.

it is a huge improvement over your machine.


I realize you are in Europe but maybe you have a way to get this from a usa relative? A lot of people would say this machine is out of date but it is not much different then the 2012 retina machine.

The screen is pretty nice 17 inch 1080 p is a clear screen.

the retina screen in the 2012 is not practical you need to set it at 1080 p to see the fonts

The cpu is decent.

The big difference is usb3 in the 2012.


But it has thunderbolt. they both max at 16gb ram. If you drop in an ssd the 2011 is just as fast as the 2012
 
Last edited:
segovius said:
Ok, the time has come to make some decisions, was planning on getting an iMac and could (just about) wait till October but even then the iMac might not fit my needs. I turn to you for help and advice!!

I have a 2009 15" MacBook Pro, 2.53 ghz Core2 Duo, 4gb ram. Use it extensively and daily and it's showing its age a bit - used as a work machine for coding and programming, web design and Photoshop/InDesign.

Main problem is that I need a bigger screen. Would have gone with 17" MBPro maybe but that option's gone..and it must be matte, or at least the reduced glare glossy.

I was hoping for the new iMac with reduced glare - or ideally matte - screen but no go. Even if I wait then no guarantee it will have even if released in October.

Other options are a new current MBP 15 in matte and a matte screen from a third party - is this more likely to resolve the issue than waiting on the iMac? Is it a better bet for a substantial upgrade from what I have now?

And if so what matte screen - I'm thinking 27" but maybe 24" will do. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

There will be new imacs soon. Updates are simply way to overdue for there not to be. Its just a matter of when. If I were you I would suggest just buying a bigger screen for now to fill that need temporarily, and also update your RAM from 4gb to 8gb from crucial. That should allow you to hold your own for now and then you'll still have a lot of money to buy a new imac with when it eventually comes out.
 
The only solution is to wait.

At least that's my take on it.

I know it's frustrating & hard, I just don't expect it to be that much longer.

Once the wait is over, you'll be so glad you didn't jump to a lesser solution.

You've waited this long, a little while longer will be well worth the wait.
 
Have you considered the Mac Mini?

You can then choose the screen size and Matte/Gloss you need.

I've been seriously considering over the iMac but waiting to see what will come. My 2005 G5 PowerMac will have to serve me a few more months now. But I was going to keep it anyway for older software compatibility.
 
Lancer said:
Have you considered the Mac Mini?

You can then choose the screen size and Matte/Gloss you need.
Click to expand...

I can see where your coming from with the 'bring your own screen etc', but to be honest, replacing a macbook pro with a mac mini as a work computer isn't what i would call an upgrade.
 
Have you considered throwing an SSD into your MBP, and maxing out your RAM? You can put 8GB of RAM in there for ~$50, and swap out your HDD for a 240GB SSD for ~$200. I did that to my 2008 iMac and it breathed new life into it. It will easily last me another year before I get the itch to upgrade. Pick up a 27" monitor and you'll be good to go. At the very least, it will buy you some time before you "need" to get an iMac! The real question you need to answer is how much do you need the portability you have now?
 
Zedsdead185 said:
I can see where your coming from with the 'bring your own screen etc', but to be honest, replacing a macbook pro with a mac mini as a work computer isn't what i would call an upgrade.
Click to expand...

Either way I'd still wait for the 2012 model. The Mini is not much newer than the iMac, it was released with Lion last year. But for many it's better than an iMac as you get to chose the screen. But hopefully the iMac does away with the gloss screen in a few weeks/months. The other benefit of the Mini is a butt load cheaper than the Mac Pro and you can hook up 2x LCDs if you want.

I like the AIO iMac but will have to wait and see what Apple delivers. I know even a cheap LCD can't compete the iMac on price, once you spec them the same and you can always add a 2nd LCD to the iMac anyway for more screen space.
 
Mike in Kansas said:
Have you considered throwing an SSD into your MBP, and maxing out your RAM? You can put 8GB of RAM in there for ~$50, and swap out your HDD for a 240GB SSD for ~$200. I did that to my 2008 iMac and it breathed new life into it. It will easily last me another year before I get the itch to upgrade. Pick up a 27" monitor and you'll be good to go. At the very least, it will buy you some time before you "need" to get an iMac! The real question you need to answer is how much do you need the portability you have now?
Click to expand...

Actually don't need the portability - have it all the time on my desk on a Rain stand and never take it out anywhere. The real reason I got it was because I needed a matte screen and was no other option.


philipma1957 said:
if you need more screen the retina 2012 macbook pro may not be for not for you. I realize you are in Europe but maybe you have a way to get this from a usa relative? A lot of people would say this machine is out of date but it is not much different then the 2012 retina machine.

The screen is pretty nice 17 inch 1080 p is a clear screen.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I saw that....we have the same refurb machine in the Spanish store. It is the Feb model and they have October models too but not matte.

I've ruled out the retina for the reasons you say - am wondering if 17" will be enough of a step-up though...

----------

I'm assuming it's highly unlikely they'll offer a BTO matte option on any new iMac isn't it?
 
segovius said:
[/COLOR]I'm assuming it's highly unlikely they'll offer a BTO matte option on any new iMac isn't it?
Click to expand...

Even if we do get an actual update this year, I am highly doubting it will be a redesign. Just another spec bump. So, I would say that you would not be able to choose a matte option, unfortunately.
 
segovius said:
I'm assuming it's highly unlikely they'll offer a BTO matte option on any new iMac isn't it?
Click to expand...

From what we're able to surmise, it will be the same kind of low-reflective screen on the rMBPs. Not matte, and no matte option will be available, but it won't be mirror anymore.
 
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