It's about time to get my wife a new desktop computer. I can't decided between the i7 iMac or a Mac Pro with a 27" led apple screen. My wife uses all the adobe programs, she edits and produces a tv show (its a college show), she has just started web design. I know that the iMac will be more then enough power to run her programs, but I love that the Mac pro can be updated as new technology is created. Also would it be smart to wait a year and see if a new iMac or Mac pro will go on sale?
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i7 iMac or Mac Pro... Adobe, final cut pro, and web desgin.
- Thread starter Adamf
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Mac Pro all the way
The i7 iMac is a *very* solid performer, but if you can front the budget for a Mac Pro I wouldn't hesitate to go that route. The MP has a longer useable lifespan (mine is an early 2008 and it's still faster than just about every machine Apple currently offers), a higher RAM ceiling (32 vs 16), plus 4 internal hard drives (or more with adapters).
You could plug in 4 drives, use 1 for the Boot/Apps, and then RAID stripe the 2 bays for a super fast scratch/data drive for her photos and videos, and put a nice new 3TB drive in the 4th bay for Time Machine/Backups. SO much faster than external drives and you don't have to suffer through that annoying external drive windup that always takes a few seconds.
Blah blah blah I could go on but bottom line, if you can pay for the MP you won't regret it. At all. At 3 years old mine is showing very little age vs other computers. I totally expect to use it for 3+ more. The only place it's getting shallow is the GPU, but that's easy to fix with a new one.
The i7 iMac is a *very* solid performer, but if you can front the budget for a Mac Pro I wouldn't hesitate to go that route. The MP has a longer useable lifespan (mine is an early 2008 and it's still faster than just about every machine Apple currently offers), a higher RAM ceiling (32 vs 16), plus 4 internal hard drives (or more with adapters).
You could plug in 4 drives, use 1 for the Boot/Apps, and then RAID stripe the 2 bays for a super fast scratch/data drive for her photos and videos, and put a nice new 3TB drive in the 4th bay for Time Machine/Backups. SO much faster than external drives and you don't have to suffer through that annoying external drive windup that always takes a few seconds.
Blah blah blah I could go on but bottom line, if you can pay for the MP you won't regret it. At all. At 3 years old mine is showing very little age vs other computers. I totally expect to use it for 3+ more. The only place it's getting shallow is the GPU, but that's easy to fix with a new one.
Even though Mac Pro is upgradeable, its upgradeability is limited. As LGA 1366 is a dead socket now, you will be stuck with the CPUs that are available now. What Mac Pro really lets you do is to add more internal HDs and PCIe cards. The question is, does she really need that ability. A base Mac Pro with 27" ACD is 3498$, that's 1300$ more than the iMac. Quite hefty price for upgradeability. If she needs terabytes of fast storage, then MP is her best option but iMac's FW800 is pretty fast as well.
I would go with iMac
I would go with iMac
if you buy a Mac Pro, then at least buy a more sensible screen...there are lots of good displays out there, there's no point sticking with Apple ones.
there will be no more CPU upgrades. LGA1366 is dead. the only upgrades are PCI cards, likely middling GPUs that'll come out in future MP's, and last year's processors. if you buy a quad-core, you only get one socket, and you'll never be able to put more than a 6-core.
I think the decision hinges on how important her video work is. will the speed of a 6/8/12 core be worth the cost? can you even afford those models? if a quad-core is fine, then it pretty much depends on your needs for storage or PCI expansion.
there will be no more CPU upgrades. LGA1366 is dead. the only upgrades are PCI cards, likely middling GPUs that'll come out in future MP's, and last year's processors. if you buy a quad-core, you only get one socket, and you'll never be able to put more than a 6-core.
I think the decision hinges on how important her video work is. will the speed of a 6/8/12 core be worth the cost? can you even afford those models? if a quad-core is fine, then it pretty much depends on your needs for storage or PCI expansion.
I would go for the Mac Pro. I got mine in early 2008 and it's super. Great storage, expandability, and you can choose your monitor. I went for the 23" ACD and it developed some watermarking after 2.5 years. Got it replaced the next working day with no questions asked. Try that with a Dell or a BenQ and I am sure that you will not get the same results.