iMac vs iElse

[Sa1en]

Greetings to everyone!

Im new here as writer, but read before for a long time.
My problem is very difficult for me, but could be just ridiculous for you.

Im planning to buy my first Mac and cant decide which one would be better for me.

Long time ago I wanted Macbook Pro 15". After it 13". After it iMac. And now I found, that latest Airs 13" are very awesome.

Im from Ukraine, have a good job and still cant handle two of them, only one. At least for a now. But I wanna unitary.. I mean, only ONE device. Because for a now I have:
PC Computer (C2D, 4GB DDR2, Nvidia 250GT 1GB)
PC notebook (C2D, 3GB DDR2, Nvidia 103M 512mb)
PC netbook (Atom N570, 2GB DDR3, something integrated)
And android smartphone

And really.... its annoying, too much devices.

So, back to business.
Im programmer (still, pls, dont laugh, programmer do not have a good salary at my town), so my tasks are: web, media (films, music), little video-editing, and games, such as CS:S and TF2 and CoD4 (Im very happy, that they are having native versions fo OS X)

Why Im thinking iMac or Macbook? Please, dont tell me "If you wanna portability - go Macbook; else - iMac".
Im not sure what really I want.
iMac - just standing on the one place, but really big awesome screen and powerful for games.

Macbook Pro - I think its still powerful for games (TF2, CSS, Cod4) but Im not sure what will be If I connect external screen and run that games directly on the bigger screen. I think MBP will blow up (get really hot)

And Air... Some my friends telling me, that its really fast. Fastest than MBP coz SSD! But again, no games for me on this thing, yes?

And the last. Somebody told me, that "Take iMac and iPad in future". Guys, iPad <<<<<<<< macbook as a portability device, as for me. iPad for "info_eaters". But Im programmer "info_creator", so need full computer (in Ukraine, iPad costs ~ 8000 and macbook ~ 13000, not really big difference for much better capabilities )

I hope you read all this big stuff and understand me as well. Would be welcomed any advises. Sorry for my English, not my native language

 

[jmpnop]

The Intel HD 3000 in the new Macbook Air's isn't great but descent enough to play games on low/medium. The games you mentioned aren't particularly demanding, they'll run fine. You can see from this review, MBA 13" manages to get around 26fps on COD4 at 1024x768 resolution and 4xAA. If you turn down anti-aliasing you'll get much better performance. Or you can go with the Macbook Pro 13" which is more powerful. If budget permits you can add SSD which will make it a lot more responsive. Seeing you already have a Windows laptop for portability, I feel iMac is a better choice. Any system you choose will be fine for the games you mentioned

 

[Sa1en]

Thx for reply!

Yeah, I know that I have notebook at all, even 2. But for some reason, Im thinking that SOMEWHEN I will go outside and really will need notebook, but I will have non-portable iMac :X

Thats why I not know what to do.

About SSD, I think if I realy will need it - I will buy it.

Aaand, some body in this forum wrote that "macbook pro's are better for future" coz Im planning to buy it on 2-4 years, and iMac (he said) only 1-time thing, if it broken - would be lalala;
or if you wanna upgrade it, you can add only RAM and etc...

 

[jmpnop]

Thx for reply!

Yeah, I know that I have notebook at all, even 2. But for some reason, Im thinking that SOMEWHEN I will go outside and really will need notebook, but I will have non-portable iMac :X

Thats why I not know what to do.

About SSD, I think if I realy will need it - I will buy it.

Aaand, some body in this forum wrote that "macbook pro's are better for future" coz Im planning to buy it on 2-4 years, and iMac (he said) only 1-time thing, if it broken - would be lalala;
or if you wanna upgrade it, you can add only RAM and etc...

Yes, Macbook Pro is more future-proof since it has better hardware and you can replace RAM, HDD and even optical drive! Replacing things in an iMac is quite difficult, that way you're forced to configure system at the time of purchase. This is good article on replacing things in iMac - http://www.macworld.com/article/159956/2011/05/imacharddriveupgrade.html

Since the RAM is soldered onto the mainboard in Macbook Air, you can't replace it (Apple offers a maximum of 4GB RAM in MBA). Macbook Pro is the best choice for you. If you can, add an SSD. They're a lot lot faster than traditional hard disk drives.

 

[robzr]

If you are on a budget and want to play games, forget about the MacBook Air. You can swap an SSD into a Pro (or an iMac) and it will be way more bang for the buck (american saying meaning value).

A comparable priced iMac will be far faster than a MacBook Pro. You pay a premium for portability, as well as sacrificing screen size and comfort.

If you use it from home most of the time, get an iMac. With 4 DIMM slots, it's cheap to upgrade the RAM. The 3.5" hard drive form factor gives you far larger and faster options than a MBP. You can swap (or add) an SSD if you want to go that route. The smaller iMac screen is way larger than even a 17" MBP.

The only reason to go MBP is if you NEED that portability; but it comes at a cost.

Rob

 

[Sa1en]

I see.

But what if MBP 13" & external screen (and probably keyb & mouse) at home?

Isnt it better solution than just a stand-alone iMac?

Could I run games on external screen? Not in Full HD at least.

P.S. And whats would be better: 13" or 15"? For my tasks

 

[Sa1en]

Up guys, still need your advice.

 

[Sa1en]

Thanks guys, my decided to buy an iMac and bought it!

Very happy using it, thank you all again)

In plans for now on to buy iPad (will wait 3) and MBA, become a funboy...