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Decisions, Decisions, Decisions...

Harlowgold1

Harlowgold1

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 14, 2008
266
224
Ohio - GO BUCKEYES!
I used to get irked by people who don't know what to buy. Well here I am in the same boat. I start my doctorate next month and I am needing a new desktop. I love the iMac but I am wondering if the base MAC Pro would suit me better and give me longer computer life. I like to use two monitors and I currently have the HP 24" monitors. The have decent quality, so I am thinking should I go with the top of the line iMac or spend $200.00 extra for the base MAC Pro - I had heard in some benchmarks the Imac was faster?!? Any suggestions and does the MAC Pro have a noisy fan?

THANKS ALL - JENNY:eek::eek::eek:
 
Top of the line iMac is definitely faster than a base Mac Pro. It is also quieter and it uses less power, but you don't have upgrade options.

Go with the iMac as you really don't need the power of a better Mac Pro if you are just using internet, word processor, and minor photography/video editing. You can always sell your iMac down the road and buy a newer one for about the same loss as upgrading a Mac Pro.

There is a device on the market which can allow you to span two monitors and connect them both to one port. In this way, an iMac will be able to use them both.
 
The Mac Pro can be upgraded more than the iMac with more RAM, hard drives, graphics cards, etc. I think the Mac Pro wil last you longer than the iMac. Since you already have monitors get the Mac Pro!
 
I think the Mac Pro is more stable. My wife's 2005 iMac failed 3.1 years after purchase and Apple did not budge on replacement despite being calm, firm, and kind.

I would go with the Mac Pro if money is not too tight.

Also, if you are working in a mobile environment in grad school what about a laptop?
 
Thanks all but one more question. What kind of speed differential will I see with the top of the line iMac and a base Mac Pro?

Thanks in adance -- Jenny :p
 
I'd recommend the mid-range MBP. Buy a laptop stand, Apple keyboard, and a good mouse. Perhaps another power adapter for ease of use. This set up gives me the versatility I need for writing my dissertation and the portability to get the hell out of the house when writer's block sets in. I'm not sure what field you're in, but I have to run a lot of simulation and quant analysis. My 2.2ghz SR MBP runs it fine. Save your coin for 8 gigs of RAM once it drops below $150 a 4gig stick. Get at least a 7200rpm drive or SSD to minimize I/O lag. Good luck. I wish I had a 24" monitor for LaTeX and Stata. It would be awesome. Too bad they pay me peanuts for my RA.

Oh, I highly recommend Papers for Mac and iPod/iPhone. That combination, regardless of what hardware you run it on, is worth it's weight in gold. I'm not sure what I'd do without Papers. http://mekentosj.com/papers/
 
Harlowgold1 said:
Thanks all but one more question. What kind of speed differential will I see with the top of the line iMac and a base Mac Pro?

Thanks in adance -- Jenny :p
Click to expand...

The iMac is considered a consumer Mac. The Mac Pro is more like a workstation with components selected for stability. For certain apps, the iMac will be faster due to faster clock speed. But for really heavy stuff like Final Cut, Logic, ProTools, etc. the Mac Pro will be faster due to multiple cores. The iMac will perform better with tasks that require fast clock speed and not multiple cores.
 
Help!!

I've just had a birthday and looking to buy a new imac 24" but from reading all the rumors im not sure if i should buy or not. I've been looking at getting the 3.06 GHz Imac with the HD graphics im just wondering if i should wait for the possibility to get the new one? will this have the new i7 chip in? will it have a SD card reader?

will this I7 quad core really make a difference?

Please help, im not sure what to do.
 
McKitKat said:
I've just had a birthday and looking to buy a new imac 24" but from reading all the rumors im not sure if i should buy or not. I've been looking at getting the 3.06 GHz Imac with the HD graphics im just wondering if i should wait for the possibility to get the new one? will this have the new i7 chip in? will it have a SD card reader?

will this I7 quad core really make a difference?

Please help, im not sure what to do.
Click to expand...

1. iMacs will not have quad-cores
2. iMacs will not have i7 chips

The iMac has laptop components, its core 2 duo chips are mobile. Thats why it fits into such a stylish design and why its hard to upgrade anything apart from ram/hdd.

The next iMac is rumored to be in the fall along with apple's new os x. But these are only rumors and you might have waited for no reason. If they are updated, the updates will be very small. Maybe a small price drop, a better graphics card and possibly card reader.

So decide if you need an imac now, if you can wait then just hang on and see if your waiting pays off.
 
Kool thanks Man it has been rumored i understand. It was something that i was interested to know some other people thought. thanks for the reply so fast.
 
kufford said:
I'd recommend the mid-range MBP. Buy a laptop stand, Apple keyboard, and a good mouse. Perhaps another power adapter for ease of use. This set up gives me the versatility I need for writing my dissertation and the portability to get the hell out of the house when writer's block sets in. I'm not sure what field you're in, but I have to run a lot of simulation and quant analysis. My 2.2ghz SR MBP runs it fine. Save your coin for 8 gigs of RAM once it drops below $150 a 4gig stick. Get at least a 7200rpm drive or SSD to minimize I/O lag. Good luck. I wish I had a 24" monitor for LaTeX and Stata. It would be awesome. Too bad they pay me peanuts for my RA.

Oh, I highly recommend Papers for Mac and iPod/iPhone. That combination, regardless of what hardware you run it on, is worth it's weight in gold. I'm not sure what I'd do without Papers. http://mekentosj.com/papers/
Click to expand...

Papers seems very cool... did you pay the student price? And should I wait to purchase until 2.0 comes out?
 
NeverhadaPC said:
Papers seems very cool... did you pay the student price? And should I wait to purchase until 2.0 comes out?
Click to expand...

Yeah, just email the dudes there and they'll send you a code. They seem to be very cool people. I'm not sure how 2.0 is going to work out but whatever the cost, it's worth it. I wish it had better bibtex support but other than that, it's perfect. I guess I make it sound to be a bigger deal than it really is, but the software fundamentally changed my workflow and made my life easier.
 
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