These threads are so annoying, I know, but I'm having a tough time deciding what the best route to go is now after hearing of the iMac launch. Here's my situation...
My BF and I just moved in together after dating for a couple years. He has a 2010 21" iMac, but I can't hook my retina macbook pro up to it, since Apple omitted the target display mode feature from the 21" model, and didn't add it until the newer year. We only have room for one desk in our apartment obviously, but I work from home 2 days a week... I need a big monitor to hook my Retina Macbook Pro up to so I can work. He got an iPad a while back, and so He never uses his Imac any more except to keep his 100 gig music library in iTunes, and he's already told me we can get rid of his iMac as long as I give him something to keep his music on.
So, I'm torn between these options:
-Sell the iMac and get a Mac Mini for his music, and the Thunderbolt Display for the office. The Mac Mini actually has better specs then his current iMac.
-Sell the iMac and wait until December for the 27" to be released and buy that. The 27" seems like over kill, but when you factor in the cost of the $599 Mac Mini and the cost of the Thunderbolt display it's kind of a wash. I can get a refurb TB display for like $829 and $599 for the Mac Mini and come out ahead, and not have to wait until December.
-Sell the 21" iMac and buy a 2011 Refurb 27" iMac. This would allow me to hook my MBP up, and allow us more display room.. And cheaper then getting the new 27" iMac - but would be sacrificing the faster processor, USB3, etc.. However, the older iMac still has an optical drive and I use that a lot. Aesthetics are NOT important as you will NEVER be able to tell it's the new Imac the way my desk is setup at home, it's in a nook so you can't see the sides of the back of the computer anyway.
All these decisions come with pros and cons, I think I would be happy with them all. The thunderbolt display is nice because it will allow Facetime with the lid closed on my laptop and all the periphreals will work, whereas a new 27" imac in target display mode will not pass through all the connected periphreals of the camera, speakers, and mic. But the Thunderbolt display only has USB2.. Not a biggie because I can just plug my hard drive into the macbook pro's USB3 port, i usually take the drive with me anyway.
I do kind of wonder though, if I wait for the 27" iMac, would i even want to use my laptop when I'm at home? I would just install all my work programs on my 27" imac and use that at home. But then I would need to come up with some sort of cloud-syncing solution to keep the docs on my laptop synced with my home computer...
So many decisions, they all have various pros and cons associated with them. The Retina Macbook Pro is already so powerful that I question the need to get another high powered computer, but I really do want the 27 inch monitor when working from home.
My BF and I just moved in together after dating for a couple years. He has a 2010 21" iMac, but I can't hook my retina macbook pro up to it, since Apple omitted the target display mode feature from the 21" model, and didn't add it until the newer year. We only have room for one desk in our apartment obviously, but I work from home 2 days a week... I need a big monitor to hook my Retina Macbook Pro up to so I can work. He got an iPad a while back, and so He never uses his Imac any more except to keep his 100 gig music library in iTunes, and he's already told me we can get rid of his iMac as long as I give him something to keep his music on.
So, I'm torn between these options:
-Sell the iMac and get a Mac Mini for his music, and the Thunderbolt Display for the office. The Mac Mini actually has better specs then his current iMac.
-Sell the iMac and wait until December for the 27" to be released and buy that. The 27" seems like over kill, but when you factor in the cost of the $599 Mac Mini and the cost of the Thunderbolt display it's kind of a wash. I can get a refurb TB display for like $829 and $599 for the Mac Mini and come out ahead, and not have to wait until December.
-Sell the 21" iMac and buy a 2011 Refurb 27" iMac. This would allow me to hook my MBP up, and allow us more display room.. And cheaper then getting the new 27" iMac - but would be sacrificing the faster processor, USB3, etc.. However, the older iMac still has an optical drive and I use that a lot. Aesthetics are NOT important as you will NEVER be able to tell it's the new Imac the way my desk is setup at home, it's in a nook so you can't see the sides of the back of the computer anyway.
All these decisions come with pros and cons, I think I would be happy with them all. The thunderbolt display is nice because it will allow Facetime with the lid closed on my laptop and all the periphreals will work, whereas a new 27" imac in target display mode will not pass through all the connected periphreals of the camera, speakers, and mic. But the Thunderbolt display only has USB2.. Not a biggie because I can just plug my hard drive into the macbook pro's USB3 port, i usually take the drive with me anyway.
I do kind of wonder though, if I wait for the 27" iMac, would i even want to use my laptop when I'm at home? I would just install all my work programs on my 27" imac and use that at home. But then I would need to come up with some sort of cloud-syncing solution to keep the docs on my laptop synced with my home computer...
So many decisions, they all have various pros and cons associated with them. The Retina Macbook Pro is already so powerful that I question the need to get another high powered computer, but I really do want the 27 inch monitor when working from home.
