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iMac vs Macbook pro - Graphic design!

O

ochopso

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 5, 2011
4
0
hi, im in quite of a debate here ,hoping you guys can help me ,i would say my needs are pretty simple ,i plan on using adobe illustrator/photoshop cs5 most of the time ,also flash/dreamweaver every once in a while ,so i was just wondering what are your thoughts on the ( 13 macbook pro dual core i7 ) vs the (21 imac quad core i5 ) which one would be better for me , i would also like to add i have a 30" external monitor!...i wanna keep this short and simple so if you need any more info just ask ,:)thanks.... 21"imac i5 Geekbench 7185
13"mbp i7 Geekbench 6796
 
also im not going to be playing games on it? just cs5 and surfing the web?
 
ochopso said:
hi, im in quite of a debate here ,hoping you guys can help me ,i would say my needs are pretty simple ,i plan on using adobe illustrator/photoshop cs5 most of the time ,also flash/dreamweaver every once in a while ,so i was just wondering what are your thoughts on the ( 13 macbook pro dual core i7 ) vs the (21 imac quad core i5 ) which one would be better for me , i would also like to add i have a 30" external monitor!...i wanna keep this short and simple so if you need any more info just ask ,:)thanks.... 21"imac i5 Geekbench 7185
13"mbp i7 Geekbench 6796
Click to expand...

Hmm, is the display an Apple Cinema Display? If so I'd probably go with the macbook pro for the portability. I mean the iMac obviously triumphs in terms of screen resolution but the monitor would fix that. Just look around and make sure the mbp's graphics card handles the 2560 resolution perfectly.
 
If you need the portability and have an display already, go with the MBP.
 
Went thru this two years ago with my wife, a graphic designer, when she was pregnant with our daughter, now 19months. I thought the same thing, i.e. "go with the mbp and her 30" ACD at work and her 24" ACD at home"... She would need to be able to go back and forth between home and work so I figured a mbp was the way to go. After almost two years of this I can, with experience, tell you that it was a mistake. Go with the iMac! The mbp IS very portable, but unless you will be working with only the internal 500GB HD and the small screen, there are so many connections that must be made (monitor adapters, FW HD's and external enclosures, macbook power supply, usb hub...etc. that it just isnt practical to just close the lid, throw it in the car and continue working on files) The iMac is way more portable and has only one cable. Its also way faster and better for graphics in every way. My wife's mbp has never, ever, been used as a laptop and is always plugged in and since its such a pia to move it anywhere its a permanent fixture at the office with connections coming out of every orifice.
Anyway, just my two cents! Unless you actually need to meet clients at coffee shops and show them stuff.....naw, that rarely happens, and if it does, use an iPad or iPhone. Get the iMac and dont look back. Or would you like to buy a pristine LNIB mbp??? I have one for sale! ;)
 
i appreciate all info guys ,the portability on the mbp would be nice but i dont travel that much ,but there could be a time i could use the mbp on the go? ,my main concern is the dual core i7 & quad corei5 ,i dont do any 3d work so i was thinking about getting the imac & save some ca$h but ,ya know i feel like i should get the i7 :confused: i dont mind spending the extra cash if it will be worth it? , this is gonna be a hard decision im gonna make tomorrow..........
 
If you don't really need the portability, I would definitely go for the iMac. An iMac will last you for many years and if you ever come in a situation that you really need portability, you can always save up and buy a Macbook, but you'd still have your powerhouse at home.

If you have the money, and don't have to use all of your savings, then I'd go with the i7. You make clear the you lean towards that processor, so if you buy the 'lesser' one, you will probably regret it. Next month I will buy an iMac 27", fully specced out, because I know I always want the best thing available. If you even have the slightest feeling that you would settle with the cheaper one, because you can afford it right NOW, than don't buy it. It's always worth waiting, so save up for a couple of months and buy what your heart really desires.

I think the resale value of the better ones will also stay higher in the future. So see the iMac as an investment. If you ever outgrow it, sell it for a decent price, and buy a new one. But you'll always get more money back than you'd would with a PC. I am currently selling my PC to buy the iMac, and I am really lucky that I've found a friend that still wants to pay a reasonable price for my desktop... Because PC resale prices are really low.
 
ochopso said:
i appreciate all info guys ,the portability on the mbp would be nice but i dont travel that much ,but there could be a time i could use the mbp on the go? ,my main concern is the dual core i7 & quad corei5 ,i dont do any 3d work so i was thinking about getting the imac & save some ca$h but ,ya know i feel like i should get the i7 :confused: i dont mind spending the extra cash if it will be worth it? , this is gonna be a hard decision im gonna make tomorrow..........
Click to expand...

MBP (13" 2011) Intel Core i7-2620M 2.7 GHz (2 cores) 6796 $1499

iMac (21.5" 2011) Intel Core i5-2400S 2.5 GHz (4 cores) 7185 $1199

iMac (21.5" 2011) Intel Core i5-2500S 2.7 GHz (4 cores) 7926 $1499

Benchmark scores are underlined. Your best option given the information you've provided is in bold. I think the Macbook Pro should be a clear no since you really don't need the portability and can get a faster quad-core iMac for cheaper. Quad > Duo for the speed and price here.
 
The only really portable laptop is the Air. I edit a magazine and manage some blogs for folks. It's OK for most graphic work but not fast by a long shot. Hopefully a refresh tmrw.

If you could swing an iMac and Air for graphics you'd be set. But if you can do one I'd do the iMac. It's nice to be portable, but sometimes it's just as nice to not be... like if you want to make a case for working remotely and the place you work at doesn't provide machines :D
 
I felt like iMac would be my next purchase for SURE because of the power but after trying the mobility aspect of the MBP a bit more... I gotta say I'm not so sure. When you're in a funk, changing work locations can really get you out of a rut.
 
iMac first!! Seriously. Hi end iMac is basically a Mac Pro. You can do anything thrown at it. Buy the best u can! After some time, u can save up for basic MBA if u really need or going out often and still need computer.

U'd be sorry to get Macbook pro as your ONLY mac. It's not as powerful as iMac for the same price, yet it's not as light as Air. Connect it to cinema display can cost u haywired connections, magsafe, monitor, usb hub, external hdd and all that.
 
i think im going to go with the i7 mbp ,& in a year or two get a imac so ill have the best of both worlds ,with my my current mac there there have been times when i get tired of just sitting at my desk hunched over my chair all day? so even tho i dont travel much,it would be nice to have the portability of just going to a different room or my bed or whatever ,& still have a powerful computer :D but thanks again guys for all the help ,& does this sound like a good plan ?
 
As a graphic designer myself, I hate using CS 5 with the 13 inch Macbook Pro. The screen resolution makes it a pain to manage all the palettes and windows in PS and Illustrator.

I know it's a few hundred dollars over your budget, but I would strongly suggest looking at a refurb 15" with a hi-res screen.

Last GEN i7 for $1729


Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.66GHz Intel Core i7

Originally released April 2010
15.4-inch LED-backlit antiglare Hi-Res widescreen display (1680 x 1050 pixel)
4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M graphics processor with 512MB of GDDR3 memory
 
pcypert said:
The only really portable laptop is the Air.
Click to expand...

For you, that is. My 15" MBP carries just fine, thank you. I among others need the extra power, you obviously don't. It's all personal pref anyway.
 
yauzers619 said:
As a graphic designer myself, I hate using CS 5 with the 13 inch Macbook Pro. The screen resolution makes it a pain to manage all the palettes and windows in PS and Illustrator.

I know it's a few hundred dollars over your budget, but I would strongly suggest looking at a refurb 15" with a hi-res screen.

Last GEN i7 for $1729


Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.66GHz Intel Core i7

Originally released April 2010
15.4-inch LED-backlit antiglare Hi-Res widescreen display (1680 x 1050 pixel)
4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M graphics processor with 512MB of GDDR3 memory
Click to expand...

sorry but that's a horrible advice. The new sandy bridge macbook pros are night and day difference compared to last year's model.
 
In the last 3 months, I have gone through 3 MBPs before getting my iMac. Here is what I had:

Early 08" 15". Apple Replaced it with the new 2.2GHZ Quad i7 15". I sold that a month or so ago, as I'd rather use the money to get some glass for my camera. I sold it for $2000 and bought a 13" MBP.

Now the 13" MBP was faster than the original 15" MBP that Apple replaced, but I was spoiled with the new Quad i7s speed, but more so with the screen size. I was so used to a 15" for so long. I am getting an iPad, so I really portability isn't as high on my list of needs as it was for so long.

I returned the MBP and got a base iMac. Man, this thing is great, especially for the price and how quick it is. I will add 8GB of ram at some point, but it is much quicker than the 13" MBP and the screen size is crazy! Looking at my photos on a large screen is great!

So if you don't need portability, I would get an iMac.
 
My Hi-Res 17" MBP crapped out on me prior to picking up my current iMac. I thought I'd miss the portability but I haven't so far. My vote is iMac.
 
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MoreAwesomeDanU said:
yauzers619 said:
As a graphic designer myself, I hate using CS 5 with the 13 inch Macbook Pro. The screen resolution makes it a pain to manage all the palettes and windows in PS and Illustrator.

I know it's a few hundred dollars over your budget, but I would strongly suggest looking at a refurb 15" with a hi-res screen.

Last GEN i7 for $1729


Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.66GHz Intel Core i7

Originally released April 2010
15.4-inch LED-backlit antiglare Hi-Res widescreen display (1680 x 1050 pixel)
4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M graphics processor with 512MB of GDDR3 memory
Click to expand...

sorry but that's a horrible advice. The new sandy bridge macbook pros are night and day difference compared to last year's model.
Click to expand...

Night and day in processor speed and thunderbolt port. But original poster mentioned that he/she wasn't using the MBP for anything super processor intensive or game play.

My point was that screen resolution was more important than processor speed in most graphic design tasks.

Horrible advice? Hardly.
 
yauzers619 said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)



Night and day in processor speed and thunderbolt port. But original poster mentioned that he/she wasn't using the MBP for anything super processor intensive or game play.

My point was that screen resolution was more important than processor speed in most graphic design tasks.

Horrible advice? Hardly.
Click to expand...
the guy have a 30" external monitor. Applying effects in large photoshop/illustrator files need all the processing power you can get. Instead of getting a refurbished last gen, he might as well get the base 15" from this year..
 
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