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How many Apple devices/computers do you own, why, and how do you manage them all?

One computer: A 13" MacBook Pro. This is the only computer I need/want for home use. However, I recently setup full disk encryption on Lion which means its no longer easy to allow guests to use my computer since I would need to give them a complex password to use it. Therefore I will probably soon supplement this with a cheap, second hand Macbook from eBay solely for guests to use.

Two phones: Main phone is an iPhone 3GS. I also have a small clam-shell Nokia phone which I carry with me when traveling so I can use international SIM cards without removing my home country SIM from my iPhone.

One Tablet: iPad 1st Gen. In all honesty, I could do without this.

One mp3 player: iPod classic 5th gen.

Various content on my portable iDevices sync with my home computer via iTunes, Dropbox, 1Password and Simplenote. iPhone also syncs with my Microsoft Exchange work account.
 
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I have a 27" iMac, a 27" Thunderbolt Display, a 13" Macbook Pro, an 11" Macbook Air, an original Macbook, and an iPhone...

The original Macbook just sits in my bedroom so I can watch television shows at night before I go to bed. It used to be my main portable until I got the Air, so now it just serves the single purpose, since I don't own a TV.

The iMac is my office computer. I'm a photographer and a photo professor. I use the combo of the iMac and TB display for production of either my work, or for projects related to class.

The Macbook Pro is also a work computer, that I use in the classroom for demos, or anything else I'd need it for while hooked to a projector.

The Air is just my personal computer now, great for travel or anything else. Even nice for tethering to it for a photo shoot.

The iPhone is just my phone.

I use Dropbox and Evernote extensively across all of the computers and phone, and find I am never lacking information regardless of which computer I have at the moment.
 
iMac Core 2 Duo 20" 2.33GHz (first Mac) It usually is used by someone else or uses the CPU to do Distributed Compting for Einstein@Home... 2nd Mac is a 2.66 i7 15" MacBook Pro. It syncs to my phone and has some older film stuff on it. Newest and most used Mac is the Mac Pro w/ specs in my sig. This one does serious video production and is pretty much a beast. That's it for me! :apple:
 
2. iPod nano 1st gen and iPhone 3GS. I only use the iPhone so there's no real management needed. :)
 
Right now I have 3 computers I use all the time.

1) Mac Pro
2) 15" MacBook Pro
3) Thinkpad X200 tablet

The Mac Pro is a computer I've always wanted and for over 2 years now it has allowed me to complete tasks faster than before. It's paid for itself many times over. This I use as a server as well, so it stores all my media I can access over VPN.

The 15" MacBook Pro is my mobile workhorse; it's fast and does most of the things my Mac Pro can do except it lacks a bit of storage, so that's why the Mac Pro is so nice to have.

As for the Thinkpad, it's my quintessential Windows machine. It has a touch display along with a Wacom digitizer input. I used to take notes on it, but have since switched back to paper. Now it does a lot of the native stuff I need done like accessing Windows proprietary stuff or programming my car. It's a lot more durable than my Mac and it has built-in 3G which is very nice to have when I need internet on the go without having to carry a dongle or tether.

Other things I have~

4) iPhone 4S
5) Blackberry 9780
6) iPod classic
7) iPod nano
8) iPad 2
9) iPhone 3GS
10) Nokia N900
11) Samsung Focus

The iPhone 4S is my phone I use everyday. It replaces the iPhone 4. I have a Blackberry for emails and BBM, but for some reason I don't really use BBM much anymore and I'm so used to the iPhone keyboard (which has no resistance) and I'm slower on the Blackberry now. I'll probably get rid of the Blackberry sooner rather than later.

I keep my iPad 2 in my car. That's really the extent of it. It lets me search for stuff when I'm stopped or when I'm with friends we need to get some internet searching done for food or whatnot. I sometimes bring it instead of my MacBook Pro on short trips if I know I'm just going to check email or look for information.

The iPod classic… well I have a couple of them which I keep in my car. I use lossless, so they are big and require multiple iPods to store. Yes I can tell the difference!

The iPod nano, I use for working out and stuff; it's small and easy to use. Don't need my iPhone to distract me.

I used to use the iPhone 3GS as my phone when I'm traveling abroad, but has been replaced by my Samsung Focus.

I keep the Nokia N900 because to me it's staying in touch with what Nokia has to offer. I love Nokia devices and I used to enjoy Symbian, but Nokia's hardware has gone downhill over the years. I will be buying the next Nokia phone when they release it with Windows Phone 7.

The Samsung Focus runs Windows Phone 7, and the OS I love. I would switch if I didn't use a lot of the features of iOS (not to mention the thousands of dollars I've spent on iOS apps, music, and accessories). This phone's display is beautiful. Windows Phone 7 is the one of the reason I'm buying the next Nokia phone (as I mentioned above).
 
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OK, based on my current needs, I need:

-Desktop: something powerful, flexible and with a large screen. iMac comes to mind, but I think either a custom built machine or a Mac Pro would be better. I'll be using this A LOT so I would rather take the Mac option.

-Laptop: Something small, light with a good battery life. Something to carry around the house or take out with me for light browsing, Office suite and videos. 13" Macbook Air?

-Phone. For obvious reasons. iPhone 4. With a huge data allowance so I can tether to my laptop.

So, Mac Pro, Macbook Air and iPhone 4.

Right now I'm making do with my current setup until I can get the Mac Pro. Hopefully next May-ish I can retire my current setup.

As for my current gear, the only thing in my signature that gets little use (from me) is the iPad. It's nice to have around, but I really would rather have the Macbook Air (I get frustrated with it a lot and usually go and work on my MBP anyway).
 
My main computer is my 21.5" iMac. It's where I keep all my videos, pictures, music, personal files, etc and the machine I sync my iPhone with. It's what I use for editing images & video and where I do all of my writing.

I then added an iPad-2 to my collection, in an attempt to have a mobile computer but I quickly realized that it doesn't really do a whole heck of a lot more than the iPhone in my pocket. When I'm on the road (I travel quite a bit for work), I need more than just a beefed-up version of iOS. I ended up selling it two days later. I thought about keeping it for the hell of it, but I couldn't quite figure out when or how I'd use it enough to justify the $635 I'd just spent.

After that, I bought my 11-inch MacBook Air. Hands down, my favorite computer, ever. It's exactly what I needed for traveling and use around the house, when I don't feel like going downstairs, to sit at my desk on my iMac. Like others on here, I, too, use Dropbox as a means of keeping some things in sync between my MBA, iMac, and iPhone. But, truth be told, ever since purchasing the MBA, I've had less and less use for my iMac. I've often contemplated selling the iMac and MBA and getting an ultimate 13-inch MBA instead, and pairing it with a 27-inch monitor for those rare occasions when I need the extra screen space.

I also have two Apple TVs (second generation). One in my living room and one in my bedroom. This is, by far, the best and simplest way of pushing my music collection to my entertainment systems. iTunes movie rentals, Netflix streaming, and AirPlay are just extra cherries on top.

An AirPort Express that I use when traveling and for streaming music outside to my backyard/pool area, as needed. Also, a Shuffle that I use for working out and an iPod Classic connected via USB in my car.
 
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Computers:
1) Windows pc, i5 sandy bridge... just because
2) some homemade server with 12tb of storage
3) MY computer... the others are shared so to speak... 13" macbook air ultimate
4) brothers laptop
4) family laptop

MP3 Player:
iPod touch 4gen 32gb

Phone:
None because it broke... have an upgrade in a month
 
alphaod said:
Right now I have 3 computers I use all the time.

1) Mac Pro
2) 15" MacBook Pro
3) Thinkpad X200 tablet

The Mac Pro is a computer I've always wanted and for over 2 years now it has allowed me to complete tasks faster than before. It's paid for itself many times over. This I use as a server as well, so it stores all my media I can access over VPN.

The 15" MacBook Pro is my mobile workhorse; it's fast and does most of the things my Mac Pro can do except it lacks a bit of storage, so that's why the Mac Pro is so nice to have.

As for the Thinkpad, it's my quintessential Windows machine. It has a touch display along with a Wacom digitizer input. I used to take notes on it, but have since switched back to paper. Now it does a lot of the native stuff I need done like accessing Windows proprietary stuff or programming my car. It's a lot more durable than my Mac and it has built-in 3G which is very nice to have when I need internet on the go without having to carry a dongle or tether.

Other things I have~

4) iPhone 4S
5) Blackberry 9780
6) iPod classic
7) iPod nano
8) iPad 2
9) iPhone 3GS
10) Nokia N900
11) Samsung Focus

The iPhone 4S is my phone I use everyday. It replaces the iPhone 4. I have a Blackberry for emails and BBM, but for some reason I don't really use BBM much anymore and I'm so used to the iPhone keyboard (which has no resistance) and I'm slower on the Blackberry now. I'll probably get rid of the Blackberry sooner rather than later.

I keep my iPad 2 in my car. That's really the extent of it. It lets me search for stuff when I'm stopped or when I'm with friends we need to get some internet searching done for food or whatnot. I sometimes bring it instead of my MacBook Pro on short trips if I know I'm just going to check email or look for information.

The iPod classic… well I have a couple of them which I keep in my car. I use lossless, so they are big and require multiple iPods to store. Yes I can tell the difference!

The iPod nano, I use for working out and stuff; it's small and easy to use. Don't need my iPhone to distract me.

I used to use the iPhone 3GS as my phone when I'm traveling abroad, but has been replaced by my Samsung Focus.

I keep the Nokia N900 because to me it's staying in touch with what Nokia has to offer. I love Nokia devices and I used to enjoy Symbian, but Nokia's hardware has gone downhill over the years. I will be buying the next Nokia phone when they release it with Windows Phone 7.

The Samsung Focus runs Windows Phone 7, and the OS I love. I would switch if I didn't use a lot of the features of iOS (not to mention the thousands of dollars I've spent on iOS apps, music, and accessories). This phone's display is beautiful. Windows Phone 7 is the one of the reason I'm buying the next Nokia phone (as I mentioned above).
Click to expand...

That's a lot of equipment? What do you do for a living to afford all of the electronics. By the way, you could simply get a NAS with a ton of space as a server. It would lower you're power bill quite a bit. The Mac Pro uses a significant amount of power.
 
iMac = Family computer, but I use it a fair bit too.

13" MacBook Pro = My primary computer.

iMac G3 = Cuz it looks cool and makes a good bedroom DVD player...

iBook G3 = To play classic games on :cool:

Macintosh Classic = For the sake of it cuz its retro!

White MacBook = I don't have it yet, but I'll have it soon, and I'll take it to school instead of my good MBP that I don't want damaged or stolen.
 
Macbook Pro 13" i5 = My main computer for school and homework. It is what I use for anything these days. Web browsing, email, music production, video editing and photoshopping. All this would be a pain if I don't have it hooked up to my 22" monitor at home.

Macbook Pro 15" (2006) = This thing was my workhorse for almost 5 years. Up until it started to burn my hands due to being overloaded. The battery on it is dead. I'm deciding whether I should sell it or keep it and upgrade it, then sell it. I am currently using it as a Media Center so I could watch movies on the TV.

iPhone 4 - Only phone I have. Email, twitter and tasks. I've used this as a note taker for class (when I forgot my MBP at home) by using Pages. It worked but my professor thought I was texting or something.

iPhone 2G - stays at home, plays Pandora. I want to sell this.

iPod Nano - car/workout music station, one of my favorite iPods since it feels durable and it is light. It works.
 
Mac Pro - Main machine. Used to have an iMac but I came across a crazy deal I couldn't possibly pass on. I like the flexibility, I like the PCI slots, I like that I could switch the graphics card, I like that I can switch the hard drives...

In summary, I'm glad that I can switch things. :)

I use it for all my encoding, transcoding, *coding, and general CPU crunching tasks. Most of my media watching / listening on do on this machine.

iPhone 4 - Because it's a nice phone and media player, although limited in storage.

Phenom / 6950 - In a HAF 912 case. I use it for the Vidya games of course!

Thinkpad X200 - Arch Linux. Use it mostly to check the internet, emails, wake up and/or ssh into my boxes at home. It's my "netbook".

Home server - Soon to be replacing my old one. FreeBSD 8. Dual core Sandy Bridge, super low power. Mini ITX, Lian Li case.

Media & Backup server to all my machines. Seedbox, mail server, etc
 
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2nd Gen iPod Shuffle - for working out with music
2nd Gen iPod Nano - used to be my main iPod
5th Gen iPod Video 30 GB - used to be my wife's main iPod

G4 Powermac Quicksilver - bought used for a project that never materialized (I really should sell it)
G4 Powermac MDD - loaded up with drives and used as external network storage
G4 White iBook - used to be our main computer, today used for audio support on DJ gigs
24" 2.8 Ghz Aluminum iMac - current main desktop used at home
17" 2.5 Ghz Aluminum Mackbook Pro - current main laptop, used on DJ gigs

Wireless G Airport Base Station - used occasionally when on trips

Two iPhone 4's - one for the wife and one for me

That's it. Of course I've got a whole list of new stuff I want, but I can't justify the cost. :p
 
Mac Pro 2.8
Mac Mini 1.83

(2) iPad first gen
(2) iPhone 4G

(1)XP box with esata 4 disk hard drive enclosure for music and picture back up.

The biggest hurdle I have been dealing with is keeping my iTunes library synched and up to date with all the machines.

Use Drop box for documents and have it installed on all the machines and mobile devices.
 
Windows PC which contains 6tb to store all my media

2010 Macbook pro that I don't use much anymore. I use it to sync my iOS devices

iPad as my main laptop. I bring this everywhere synced with iCloud and my MBP.

iPhone synced with iCloud and my MBP.

2nd gen iPod nano for working out. This ipod is falling apart searching for a new one.

In the long run I want to get a 27 " base model iMac for home and a synology diskstation for backup and media storage. The iMac would also manage my iOS device with iCloud.

When I get the iMac I will sell my PC and MBP.
 
(1) iPod Photo 60GB (that old one that was first color screen) for music in the car
(1) self-made PC for Adobe Audition and general PC stuff.
(1) iPhone 3GS for personal calls, etc.
(1) Mac Pro for video production
(1) HTC Inspire for business calls and surfing web remotely.

I manage them by keeping them charged/running smoothly.
 
AppleDApp said:
No synching whatsoever?
Click to expand...
Ah, well I sync the iPhone wirelessly for music & apps since iOS5 does that now.

The android syncs everything by itself, so nothing to manage there. It can sync via bluetooth or wifi, or a cord. Ha, a cord.

I use Gmail, which syncs all my mail, calendars and contacts across both phones and the Mac, so nothing to manage there. I can create or edit on any device and it syncs everywhere.

I still have to charge the iPod, but it has a good selection of my music on it that I haven't changed in a few years, actually. If I want to hear a new song in the car, I just swap the iPhone or Android in place of it, because they hold the newer music. I should get the last iPod Classic 160GB, so I can hold my whole collection in the car. My Mac has AudioGalaxy running as a music server, so the android or the iPhone can play anything on my Mac over 3G network to my phones, which I plug into the car stereo or anywhere. I went to a friend's office and plugged into his work computer speakers to play stuff off my Mac at home.

My wifi network connects the PC, Mac, printer and any friends that come over automatically, so if I need to print or transfer any files to any device, it's all wireless.

I don't feel like there's much to manage, other than keeping things charged. Everything is connected.
 
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Apple!!

With Apple products, it doesn't matter if you need them or not....its a case of you have to have them whatever!! I know you can't ride two bikes with only arse. Currently I have the following:

Powerbook G4 12"
Macbook Air 11"
Airport Extreme 4th Gen
Ipad 2 32GB 3G
iPad 2 16gB Wi-Fi
iPhone 4 8GB
iPod Touch 2nd Gen
iPod Touch 4th Gen
iPod Shuffle 1st Gen
Apple TV 2nd Gen

...and I love them all!!!
 
I've got:

2010 MacBook Pro 13" - this was my first OSX Mac (I had a Performa years ago and then I had to put up with peecees for a long time after that) and is my main computer
2012 MacBook Air 11" - my secondary computer and the one I use when watching TV.
iPod Touch 2G - had this since Christmas 2008, unfortunately it's broken
iPod Touch 4G - had this since Christmas 2010, still going strong. I use it every day
iPod Nano 4G? (the long skinny one in different colours) - I keep this around as a spare.
iPad 3 - this is my dad's but I've used it a couple of times and mum uses it a lot. I don't particularly like it.

I sync between the two MacBooks using an external hard drive as I can't use iCloud (my MBP runs SL and I think you have to use Lion to use it) and I prefer keeping my files on my hard drive. I manage my iPod via iTunes, mostly on my MBP.

I'm hoping to get an iMac to replace our old XP desktop peecee when it finally gives up the ghost. That can't happen soon enough :p Other computers in the house are my parents' peecee laptops but they don't count as this thread is about Apple stuff only :D
 
We have three MacBooks of about the same pedigree (2 GHz, 2-4 Gb RAM, 120-250 Gb HD) that gets passed around between myself, the Mrs., and our two sons. I have an iPod Touch 4 (8 Gb) that's mainly mine. (The boys have iPod Nanos). I synched my iTouch by USB; just recently I got Dropbox installed and set up for me and the Mrs., so we can have our files in the cloud. Most of my files, however, are on one computer, and I have to practically make a reservation in advance to get at them!
 
All my stuff is in my sig, but heres how I use it:

MacBook Pro 13" - my main computer. I don't have a need for a main desktop computer at the moment.

iPad - used for all my general browsing, emails, etc.

iPhone 4s - my personal phone

iPhone 3Gs - supplied by my employer for work use.

Windows Laptop - again, supplied by my employer for work use.

I will be buying a Mac Mini server as soon as the new refresh decides to finally come along to act as an always on server for me to remote to, as well as act as a HTPC.

All my data sits on my NAS, and is backed up to an expansion unit as well as external drives.
 
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