Imac or Macbook Pro??? help me decide

[applemike]

hi its my birthday in a few days and i want an imac
i recently converted my parents into mac fans and they will get me one
but i cant decide what to get wether to go for the 24 ins imac
or the 17ins wide macbook pro
i am a photographer and student studying computer science and i would like to know what you think will be the best for me to use and own

thanks for the advice that may follow
mike

 

[Telp]

If you are a student in college, I presume, you might want to lean towards the MacBook Pro for it's portability, the iMac would work too, but not something you could pick up and take to class, or something like that.

 

[FuuFuu]

a 17 inch mbp won't be as mobile, its actually really heavy. i'm also a computer science major, sophmore in college.

this is what i suggest

macbook with a monitor
or
mbp(15)

depending on if you have the money

 

[Telp]

a 17 inch mbp won't be as mobile, its actually really heavy. i'm also a computer science major, sophmore in college.

this is what i suggest

macbook with a monitor
or
mbp(15)

depending on if you have the money

Yes, Macbook Pros are no Airs, but you can't deny that its less mobile than a desktop . That is a good idea though. You could buy a macbook and connect to a nice cheap Dell monitor. Also, a 15'' is only 1.5lbs less. It doesn't make it that much "less portable."

 

[DJAznSensation]

definitely the MacBook Pro

IMO the differences that I take into account between the 15in & 17in, are the screen size and the power of the graphics card.

ur photographer so u can get away with the low-end MBP , and if you want a little more power under the hood you can get the mid-level model. The 17in might be overkill

plus u can also custom build to ur particular needs

DJ Asian Sensation

 

[TopGear300]

The main thing you need to decide it the portability. I actually went through the same problem but chose the iMac for two reasons. The first is it is freakin amazing and the second is because I don't need portability yet. One recommendation I may advise you to do is go for the 15" strictly for portability. The 15 is much smaller and lighter, and fills the role of portability better. But I still recommend go for the iMac. You will not be disappointed!! ( either way)

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

I would choose the MacBook Pro base model and a cheap dell 24" monitor so you don't miss out on the pixel real estate. But for me, I would choose just the MBP, since it is more portable than an iMac, but I would recommend the 15" not the 17" since as someone already said, it is an overkill. The mid range model has the same GPU as the 17", just a tidbit lower processor.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Ultimately, it's your decision but it seems me to come down to the twin issues of screen versus portability. You must ask yourself which feature you need more. For myself, I'm a recent switcher, and I love my MBP, which also serves as my main computer and is good enough to do so. In your case, the iMac has an amazing and absolutely stunning screen, but no portability at all, whereas the MBP has a superb screen for a notebook, and (as Telp points out) while it is no MBA, it is still very portable; considerably more so, I'd imagine, than the 17" screen version. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Cheers.

 

[Aoleus]

Personally, I'd also grab a 15" MBP and a decent 24" Monitor. That way I'd have the best of both worlds, reasonable portability and plenty of screen real estate when I don't need the mobility.