Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iMac, MB, or MBP?

B

bleedingdonkey

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 13, 2007
8
0
I'm thinking about making the switch with the coming of the new OS. I'm going to use this computer mostly for not-very-hardware-intensive programs. However, I do have a couple things on a wishlist that i'd like to try..

-WoW
I hear WoW can be run just fine on a MB

-Counter Strike


That's all I'm looking in to as far as gaming goes.. I also would like the oppertunity to run Windows Vista, but I don't believe it's worth more than $400 in upgrades.

So I have two questions:
1) Should I get a macbook, macbook pro or an iMac?
2) Should I wait for an upgrade for any of these three products? (Hardware wise)

Thanks
 
If you can wait, wait.

Do you need portability? If not, get the 24" iMac. If you do and you have the money, get the MBP. I got the MB cause I don't game much and its perfect for my needs.
 
phungy said:
If you can wait, wait.

Do you need portability? If not, get the 24" iMac. If you do and you have the money, get the MBP. I got the MB cause I don't game much and its perfect for my needs.
Click to expand...

I can wait, but only reasonably :D.
I've always used laptops and I really do love the portability.. but my laptop's have always suffered from lack of cooling, does this happen on MB's?

Also, my budget isn't that large, I was leaning more towards the $1300 MB/$1300 iMac.

I'd like to do some gaming here and there, but in the end it doesn't mean enough to me to spend $700 on.

Though, I'd like this computer to last at least 4 years, so maybe I should go with the higher specs of a $2000 machine?
 
bleedingdonkey said:
I can wait, but only reasonably :D.
I've always used laptops and I really do love the portability.. but my laptop's have always suffered from lack of cooling, does this happen on MB's?

Also, my budget isn't that large, I was leaning more towards the $1300 MB/$1300 iMac.

I'd like to do some gaming here and there, but in the end it doesn't mean enough to me to spend $700 on.

Though, I'd like this computer to last at least 4 years, so maybe I should go with the higher specs of a $2000 machine?
Click to expand...

Both my Macbooks have not had heat issues (knock on wood) but I'm sure many many Macbook/Pro owners have not, there are a select few though which of course is posted and may seem like there's a major issue.

If you're going to be playing WoW and CS, the MB isn't a bad choice. The iMac may get a graphics card upgrade so you may want to wait for that too. It's a tough decision...if I didn't need portability I would have totally gone for the 20" iMac.

Looks like you eliminated the MBP :p
 
phungy said:
Both my Macbooks have not had heat issues (knock on wood) but I'm sure many many Macbook/Pro owners have not, there are a select few though which of course is posted and may seem like there's a major issue.

If you're going to be playing WoW and CS, the MB isn't a bad choice. The iMac may get a graphics card upgrade so you may want to wait for that too. It's a tough decision...if I didn't need portability I would have totally gone for the 20" iMac.

Looks like you eliminated the MBP :p
Click to expand...

Yea, it looks like I have to decide how much portability means to me.. :confused:

I don't bring my laptop with me many places (since it has an hour long battery life), but iwth the 3 hours and 30 minutes the MB has..
Though, even with this laptop I do like to bring it with me around the house and not be stuck in one spot.

Lol, I guess I kind of thought out loud there >.>, but I'm 99% sure I'm going with the macbook.

Is there any rumored upgrade of the macbook?
 
phungy said:
Both my Macbooks have not had heat issues (knock on wood) but I'm sure many many Macbook/Pro owners have not, there are a select few though which of course is posted and may seem like there's a major issue.

If you're going to be playing WoW and CS, the MB isn't a bad choice. The iMac may get a graphics card upgrade so you may want to wait for that too. It's a tough decision...if I didn't need portability I would have totally gone for the 20" iMac.

Looks like you eliminated the MBP :p
Click to expand...


Im in a similar situation as the original thread starter, and from what you say, just a regular MB would run WOW and CS just fine... I was under the impression that if i wanted to do a little gaming on a macbook, it would have to be pro...
 
if you're gonna be gaming I would go with the 24" iMac, and there is no reason not to buy one now, today as a matter of fact.

i play fps on my powerbook 15" and the screen is just too small.
 
Oh the airport is amazing and extreme (Hence the name, Airport Extreme). Two situations: First, at the apartment, the Airport detects about 24 other routers and I recognize a few to be over 300 feet away. Second, in class, AP connects to the school's wireless with ease. I sit and chuckle as I watch those with Windoze struggle to connect. :)

I can view my MB just fine on the lowest brightness. With no wireless and BT, I can squeeze out over 5 hrs of battery life. With wireless on, about 3.5 to 4 hrs with lowest brightness again (No gaming, no watching movies/DVDs, just word processing and chatting).

Taking a wild guess, new Macbooks won't show up until 3rd quarter.

Oh, I'd suggest getting 2GB of RAM for either machine. Yes, 1GB is fine but highly recommend 2GB.
 
phungy said:
Oh the airport is amazing and extreme (Hence the name, Airport Extreme). Two situations: First, at the apartment, the Airport detects about 24 other routers and I recognize a few to be over 300 feet away. Second, in class, AP connects to the school's wireless with ease. I sit and chuckle as I watch those with Windoze struggle to connect. :)

I can view my MB just fine on the lowest brightness. With no wireless and BT, I can squeeze out over 5 hrs of battery life. With wireless on, about 3.5 to 4 hrs with lowest brightness again (No gaming, no watching movies/DVDs, just word processing and chatting).

Taking a wild guess, new Macbooks won't show up until 3rd quarter.

Oh, I'd suggest getting 2GB of RAM for either machine. Yes, 1GB is fine but highly recommend 2GB.
Click to expand...

MacBooks in 3rd quarter may be a wild guess, but I'm betting it's a good one. I'm looking to see Intel release the Santa Rosa platform in early April, a Leopard release in late April, iMacs and MBP sometime in May, WWDC in June, which puts the MacBook in late June, July, or August (though I'm betting before school begins in the fall). With Santa Rosa out, this means the MacBook will likely get the new graphics, which I haven't really researched but have heard are significantly better than the current integrated graphics.

To the OP:
This also means you will have quite a wait ahead of you, if you do intent to wait for an upgrade. However, I wouldn't say it would be a mistake to buy something now. You will still get a very good machine whether you decide on the MacBook or the iMac. :D
 
Hm..

I've decided to wait until at least march/april, even the summer to buy my macbook.

The only thing I'm wondering now is how often do they do the "back to school" offer, where an ipod is included with your iBook? Since my ipod just recently died and I'm looking to replace it, that would really work out great.

If there's not a likely chance of Apple doing that promotion this year, then i'll probably get the mac book around april
 
bleedingdonkey said:
I've decided to wait until at least march/april, even the summer to buy my macbook.

The only thing I'm wondering now is how often do they do the "back to school" offer, where an ipod is included with your iBook? Since my ipod just recently died and I'm looking to replace it, that would really work out great.

If there's not a likely chance of Apple doing that promotion this year, then i'll probably get the mac book around april
Click to expand...

I'll be waiting until about June to buy my new Macbook. I'm going into Engineering at Iowa State. I think they do the free iPod thing during the summer so that is what I am waiting for and for Leopard.
 
MBP or MB. I'd stay away from the iMac. Stationery computers are so yesterday (except for the Mac Pro). If you can splurge for the 17" MBP -- go for it! The 15" MBP is not much bigger than the MB (maybe 1" on either side, and it's thinner), and the 17" MBP is not that much bigger than the 15"
 
I agree, go for the 17" MBP cause it is not like the iMac is very upgradable. It is basically a stationary MBP.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back