iMac+Macbook Air vs Macbook Pro+Thunderbolt display

[s!ke]

I'm not sure what LaCie actually does. Most of their stuff seems to be just bundled and rebranded. The ones that used NEC panels were older ones. Last time I looked many of them were using PVA displays that didn't really correspond with anything from NEC's line, so I don't know if this is still the case. I think NEC used to do their assembly.



Hmm... I am guessing this is a Core2duo MBP? The newest ones seem pretty fast relative to the imac. You mention graphic design. Are you dealing with motion graphics or something? The big advantage I see with the imac for such work is that if you're dealing with huge print files, the imac can hold more ram. The gpu hardware is similar, but I don't know if OpenGL performance differs heavily, so I won't comment there.

Yeah its a core2duo mbp, and I found my mbp just can't handle rendering in after effects. Im going to but the iMac with 6970m 1gb vram and add 16gb of RAM into it.

 

[Yebubbleman]

Hi!

I'm soon in the market for a new computer and have come up with two different solutions:

1. Buy an iMac 27'' (2,7 Ghz) and a Macbook Air 13'' (128 Gb)
2. Buy a Macbook Pro, 15'' (2,2 Ghz) or 13'' (2,8 Ghz), and an Apple Thunderbolt display

Apart from the the usual Safari, Mail, iTunes and word processing, I use my computer for CAD (Solid Edge in Windows), Rhino 3d and some rendering (Keyshot and Bunkspeed Shot).

After working on a 13'' Macbook Alu (2,4 Ghz-version from '08) I feel the need for a bigger screen but I don't want to give up the portability.

Both solutions cost about the same and I'm not in a hurry to buy anything so I can wait for potential updates.

Which of the two solutions would you go for?

I'd go with option 2. Here's why:

For one: while in college, I had an iMac (Early 2006; 20"; 2.0GHz Core Duo) and alongside it I had a MacBook (Late 2006; 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo). The iMac did everything I could possibly want to do on a Mac. While the MacBook could suffice for internet and word processing, but it lacked the storage space and discrete VRAM-laden graphics on the iMac, which resulted in me not doing a whole lot with it. Sure, for taking notes, browsing the Internet, and playing nothing more graphically intensive than WarCraft III, the MacBook was fine. But I couldn't fit my music library on it. I couldn't do video editing with it, I couldn't play games on it. I ended up hating this as I frequently wasn't at my desk with the iMac. I was often at the then-girlfriend's house or downstairs in the living room, or somewhere else different, and the machine I took to those places just wasn't powerful; plus all of my stuff was on the desktop and I'd have to consolidate files between the two machines; it was a mess. All in all, I began to realize that this wasn't the right set-up for me. For some, it works extremely well. I'm not one of them. If you are, then the first option is the better call; otherwise, I've found that unless you are doing specific tasks with the second one (or making the non-portable one a server), there's no real point to owning two Macs. I've long since gotten rid of the MacBook, and I'm getting ready to upgrade my set-up to a 15" MacBook Pro (when the next refresh comes along).

As for practical reasons, the MacBook Air can't be upgraded. You can order a kit to replace the Blade-style mSATA SSD drive, but it's pricey and voids your AppleCare. Your RAM is soldered onto the logic board, so that's not getting upgraded at all. Similarly, you can only upgrade the RAM on your iMac. Even if you were to gain physical access to your hard drive on your iMac, you'd still be unable to use anything other than an Apple-OEM part as the replacement. The MacBook Pro lacks both of these problems. It also lacks the heat dissipation problems of the current iMac design, which leads to increased unreliability. This is a problem that the Thunderbolt Display does not have. So unless owning two Macs versus one is how you like to have your computer set-up (it's not for me, but if it works for you, then more power to you), I'd highly recommend against it and for your second option.

As for an iPad, I don't feel like an iPad necessarily makes a MacBook Pro, or even a 13" MacBook Air silly as they do different things entirely. I think that even if you go the route of a MacBook Pro and a Thunderbolt display, an iPad is a wonderful thing to have around as it is infinitely more portable than any Mac, and in some cases, that's all you need to take around. I imagine that I won't take my soon-to-be 15" MacBook Pro around to anywhere near as many places as I currently take my iPad around to, but so it goes. That said, if you are the type to take your MacBook Pro everywhere and you have something like an iPod touch or an iPhone that you also take around everywhere, an iPad might be extraneous to you. But that's entirely subjective.

 

[lucky773]

I would go for the MacBook Pro and the Thunderbolt Display

It depends a little what you are going to do.

If you use both workstations differently (for example: you use iMac for video editing and the Macbook for documents) then you should go for the first option.

If all your work is going to be the same with no difference between the computers go to number 2.


In my opinion I would definitly buy a Thunderbolt Display and a Macbook Air (in your case, a Macbook Pro) because of the simple fact that all your files will be stored on only one MAC. Which means that when you are at home you can access your files and use your Mac as a desktop which is very helpful knowing that the screen size is 27inch and it has USB ports, Internet cable, microphone, camera and it also charges your MAC. Then if you're outside your house you can always have your documents with you just by removing the monitor cables.

I'm goint to say again it depends on what you do in each machine if you are going to make different stuff or just want do save in different places your work go for 1, if you prefer to have everything on the same place go for 2.

--
lucky773
(Sorry if there is any bad english)

 

[mtmac]

If Apple would have come out with a new thunderbolt display with the Mac Pros like everyone thought, I would have recommended that new model. The current extremely outdated thunderbolt display while as a monitor it is still great, as a hub it's way out of date. You can buy the same panel for under 400 bucks from mono price. It even has the hole in the glass and a socket on the board where the camera would have gone had Apple bought these units. While still glossy, They are coated with a good no-glare (unlike Apple) that works, but still gives the color depth of a glossy. They're all metal frames which look great, but the stand and base are cheap , but replaceable with good cheap VESA mounts. For the price of a used or refurbished Apple, you could buy this same panel new, with a 5 dead pixel 1 year warranty + a TB1, USB3.0 and HDMI hub (if you want a hub) and a VESA stand. If you just really need the monitor now, you could buy the monitor and wait for Apple to come out with the Thunderbolt replacement, if you ultimately want a two cord connection, then have 2 identical panels, but both in different metal housings. With the current Thunderbolt, you're going to have to plug in multiple items. If you haven't switched over to USB 3 in your externals, once you get a new machine you'll want to. You can recycle 2 of your current drives in cradles for less than $25. With so much performance to be gained from existing equipment, if you need a hub, you need a better hub than apples. So wether or not you need a hub this still makes more sense. Others also like the $600 dell with the matte screen housed in plastic, but this is the best bang for the buck and still looks good when used with an aftermarket stand.

http://www.monoprice.com/Product/?c_...t=1#largeimage

I am planning on buying one but CES starts the 7th, so I want to see if anything else comes out first, or sometimes existing models will drop their price. Monitors and TVs are good buys in January.

I also like the MBP idea as you just have to maintain one computer and it's cheaper to upgrade one computer as well. You could buy a lot of RAM for the extra price you save on the MonoPrice versus a Thunderbolt .

 

[PicnicTutorials]

I too may of gone the macbook and Thunderbolt Display route if the display wasn't so outdated. I'm sure they will unveil the newer display this year unfortunately I could not wait.

 

[Chevelle]

I've been debating a similar situation. My last couple of computers were 15" macbook pros and I was always happy with it. Now that I'm out of college, I was considering something different. I bought a 13" retina MBP and an iPad air. The 13" screen was cramped so I exchanged it for a 15". I took the iPad air back because I really didn't like it.

I've considered doing an iMac with a macbook air to take to work and stuff but I love having a 15" screen. I don't have to strain my eyes to read text or small pictures. So I think I'll stick with this 15" and get a Thunderbolt display or something similar for working with Photoshop and Lightroom.