Help me decide.. (yes another one of those)

[i0Nic]

Hey guys, I have a macbook connected up to a 20" cinema display. I am in my final year of university and would like to make an upgrade to my setup in the next 3 months or so. I use my laptop extensively in 'laptop mode' when I'm at uni or the library, at home I enjoy using in desktop mode.

At the end of the year my job probably won't require me to need a laptop, but I guess it would still be good to have one to take to work and around the house etc since I have wifi. I really want some beefier hardware though because even though I don't do any heavy tasks I notice its a bit slow in photoshop and just normal browsing/listening to music/email etc (I only have 1gb RAM).

I really like the look of the new iMacs so I'm tempted to buy one of those, or to get a macbook pro and a bigger display after Macworld, I'll wait to see what comes out.

The problem is I don't want to deal with running 2 computers, but if I get the iMac that will be my main computer and I'll keep my macbook for portable needs. However I know after macworld I'll want a new laptop badly assuming they're going to update and release new ones as expected.

So it's either get an iMac and keep the macbook and display (to be used with the iMac), or sell the macbook and get a macbook pro and a bigger cinema display.

What do you think?

 

[Scarlet Fever]

I reckon you should bump the RAM up a bit. My 1.83GHz MacBook runs Photoshop CS1 fine with 1.5GB of RAM. You might not even need anything else after that.

 

[fivepoint]

Hey guys, I have a macbook connected up to a 20" cinema display. I am in my final year of university and would like to make an upgrade to my setup in the next 3 months or so. I use my laptop extensively in 'laptop mode' when I'm at uni or the library, at home I enjoy using in desktop mode.

At the end of the year my job probably won't require me to need a laptop, but I guess it would still be good to have one to take to work and around the house etc since I have wifi. I really want some beefier hardware though because even though I don't do any heavy tasks I notice its a bit slow in photoshop and just normal browsing/listening to music/email etc (I only have 1gb RAM).

I really like the look of the new iMacs so I'm tempted to buy one of those, or to get a macbook pro and a bigger display after Macworld, I'll wait to see what comes out.

The problem is I don't want to deal with running 2 computers, but if I get the iMac that will be my main computer and I'll keep my macbook for portable needs. However I know after macworld I'll want a new laptop badly assuming they're going to update and release new ones as expected.

So it's either get an iMac and keep the macbook and display (to be used with the iMac), or sell the macbook and get a macbook pro and a bigger cinema display.

What do you think?

I am in almost the exact same situation as you. i would really like the portability of the Macbook Pro, but it is very hard for me to give up the faster processsor, better graphics card, and (especially) the bigger HD of the iMac.

Either way, I need a big screen at my desk, so that is the biggest difference... price. Its about $2200 for the iMac I want (2.8ghz w/ 750HD) and a huge $3300 for the Macbook Pro I want with the 23" screen. So that is a big deal.

If I could make a suggestion, I would recommend that you wait until the 15th for Macworld, because it is VERY likely that they will release new macbook Pros at that time. Cinema displays are also a possibility.

Another thing to consider if you definitely want to go with the laptop, is to look at Dell screens. I know... cringe... but a lot of mac guys get them because they are often times the exact same screen with only minor differences, but they are significantly cheaper.

In the end, it will come down to portabiltiy vs. affordability/speed. The iMac will always be a bit faster, and considerably cheaper.

If you come up with a great answer, please feel free to pass your advice on to me!

 

[gazfocus]

I would go for a mid range iMac and then buy an extra 1GB RAM for your macbook. I convinced my work to buy one of the new 20" iMac's for HD video editing and it's gorgeous!

 

[jwt]

Even my Powermac G4 with a fraction of your set-up's horsepower does the things you mentioned with no slowdowns. So I assume that you're running an old version of PS through Rosetta with too little RAM. I would max the memory and upgrade to CS3 if you haven't already. Otherwise, Photoshop is always going to be slow. Student rate for PS Extended is $299 and I don't know what memory would cost for your MacBook, but everything should be under $500. I think that would be a much more cost effective solution in your final year of school.