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College MacBook or iMac

O

o0samotech0o

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 1, 2008
193
0
Hi everyone,

I'm having a bit of a dillema because I need quite a lot of processing power for what I do (programming, rendering images and video, occasional gaming), but I'm off to college in 6 months or so, and I don't know whether I'd benefit more from being able to take a more expensive, less powerful, but portable computer with me to college. The iMacs are much better value for money, it's just I might need to be able to take my computer into college to use for a computing course I might take, and Music or Music tech (logic)

I guess all I'm asking is for your suggestions :D
 
You probably won't need to take it to class, but I'd suggest a MBP anyhow, probably the 15", as the i7 quads are actually more powerful than the i5 quads in the iMac.
 
I see everyones saying get a macbook pro, but even though the iMacs are i5 processors, the processor speeds of the iMacs and cores are higher (generally faster) so I'm still unsure, the power you get for the price of the mbp is less of an iMac, and I still have my late 2007 macbook, (with broken keyboard keys
 
o0samotech0o said:
I see everyones saying get a macbook pro, but even though the iMacs are i5 processors, the processor speeds of the iMacs and cores are higher (generally faster) so I'm still unsure, the power you get for the price of the mbp is less of an iMac, and I still have my late 2007 macbook, (with broken keyboard keys
Click to expand...
Sounds like you just need to sort out your own priorities and you'll have your answer.
 
o0samotech0o said:
I see everyones saying get a macbook pro, but even though the iMacs are i5 processors, the processor speeds of the iMacs and cores are higher (generally faster) so I'm still unsure, the power you get for the price of the mbp is less of an iMac, and I still have my late 2007 macbook, (with broken keyboard keys
Click to expand...

Sure, the iMac is going to be faster. But as you said, you're going to be using it for college - a laptop will be much more useful and effective.
 
motoracer1486 said:
Sure, the iMac is going to be faster. But as you said, you're going to be using it for college - a laptop will be much more useful and effective.
Click to expand...

But I'm also a freelance web designer, and im unsure whether the screen estate will be effective. In the end i might just end with both, you never know :eek:
 
o0samotech0o said:
But I'm also a freelance web designer, and im unsure whether the screen estate will be effective. In the end i might just end with both, you never know :eek:
Click to expand...

Both would be nice. You can also just get an external monitor and connect it to your laptop when you want to do web design.
 
the macbook pro's with the 2.0 and higher i7 are scored in geekbench to be higher than the i5 iMac... Mac Benchmarks

if you need screen real estate, you should get an external monitor, but you need something portable for college.
 
alust2013 said:
You probably won't need to take it to class, but I'd suggest a MBP anyhow, probably the 15", as the i7 quads are actually more powerful than the i5 quads in the iMac.
Click to expand...

You sure about that?


The iMac will cost you a lot less. I would buy an iMac and an Ipad 2 for the price of an i7 MBP.
 
alust2013 said:
You probably won't need to take it to class, but I'd suggest a MBP anyhow, probably the 15", as the i7 quads are actually more powerful than the i5 quads in the iMac.
Click to expand...

tears2040 said:
You sure about that?


The iMac will cost you a lot less. I would buy an iMac and an Ipad 2 for the price of an i7 MBP.
Click to expand...

GuitarG20 said:
]the macbook pro's with the 2.0 and higher i7 are scored in geekbench to be higher than the i5 iMac... Mac Benchmarks[/B]

if you need screen real estate, you should get an external monitor, but you need something portable for college.
Click to expand...

as said in my previous post, yes the i7's are more powerful then the i5's
 
GuitarG20 said:
as said in my previous post, yes the i7's are more powerful then the i5's
Click to expand...

Also cost about $500-$1K more.......

Definitely not worth the Price of admission in my eyes, especially when the results are not even that drastic. Furthermore a top of the line MBP will run you still $500 more than a top of the line iMac and still be slower, according to the geekbench scores.


I would rather have a base model 21.5" iMac and an ipad 2 rather than a MBP.
 
tears2040 said:
Also cost about $500-$1K more.......

Definitely not worth the Price of admission in my eyes, especially when the results are not even that drastic. Furthermore a top of the line MBP will run you still $500 more than a top of the line iMac and still be slower, according to the geekbench scores.


I would rather have a base model 21.5" iMac and an ipad 2 rather than a MBP.
Click to expand...

yes, but in college, you can't do any serious programming without the processing power in a MBP, if he needs to use it in class. and he's not gonna haul an iMac to class with him.
 
Listen man, I'm still rockin' my 2009 MBP w/ 8GB of ram 7200rpm drive, it holds it's own man, definitely! Get it for the portability! Do it right the first time ! :)
 
If you buy a MBP now and decide over the course of the next year that you need more processing power then you can buy an iMac a year from now and still have a good portable computer and a even more powerful desktop.

If you buy an iMac now and decide over the course of the next year that you need something more portable, you'll buy a MBP that may even be more powerful than the iMac, rendering it obsolete.

After spending a few years in college without a portable computer, and a few years with one, I can tell you that the portable came in handy an uncountable number of times. Note taking in class, studying in the library, completing homework on campus inbetween classes, there's lots of good reasons to get a portable. Hell, I'll tell you this for a fact. There was one class that I needed to graduate that I had failed twice before because the class was sooooo boring I couldn't stand to sit through the lectures, and consequently missed important information and failed. After I bought a PowerBook, I retook the class, spent 95% of my time in class on the PowerBook surfing the web or posting on forums, and caught enough information to be able to pass the class with flying colors. My PowerBook graduated me college!!!

Get a portable.
 
The MacBook Pro has enough processing power to do 10 times whatever you're required to do for school.

Compiling a few hundred lines of code doesn't take half a nano second.

Rendering graphics (college lever graphics) doesn't take much power.

Buy the MBP and enjoy your life ;)

Portability is always great!
 
The only iMac faster than the current quad core 2.2GHz+ Macbook Pro is the 3.4GHz 27". The rest are actually slower. The MBP now days is like having a little Mac Pro in your bag. I am referring to the Quad core only versions.

Geekbench Processor Testing:
Processor and Memory (no HD or graphics in test)
2011 iMac:
2.7GHz: 7863
3.1GHz: 8428
3.4GHz: 11602

2011 MBP:
2.0GHz: 8794
2.2GHz: 10006
2.3GHz: 10316
 
get a 3rd party external monitor and a mbp. I used mine for notes in class. It really depends on your major. Also, sometimes it's nice to study in the library. Keep in mind, sometimes you may want to join a study group for some final, and having a laptop would be useful.
 
Try looking at refurbs if money is an issue, but having a laptop for class makes boring lectures go by a little faster.

<--- currently in said boring lecture
 
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