iMac vs MBP????? One last question before purchase

[sammyman]

I am about to purchase an iMac or a MBP. The last deciding factor is using an external hard drive for future expandability. I need a fast hard drive for recording audio. Would a firewire 800 from the iMac be better than the PCI slot on the MBP when connecting external hard drives?

Thanks!

 

[koobcamuk]

I am about to purchase an iMac or a MBP. The last deciding factor is using an external hard drive for future expandability. I need a fast hard drive for recording audio. Would a firewire 800 from the iMac be better than the PCI slot on the MBP when connecting external hard drives?

Thanks!

In all honesty - do you need to be portable? Yes, MBP. No, iMac. Firewire 400 is on both (and I thought 800) and it's very fast and will suit your needs from what I can tell.

 

[Denali9]

The express card of the MBP would offer you a faster communication than a FW 800. But e-sata card and drives are rather expensive and FW 800 for an iMac or a MBP will do the job nicely for almost everybody and will feel as fast as the internal drive.

The main questions are do you need mobility or not and what $$ are you willing to pay. Performance wise the MBP is very close to the iMac.

Good luck

 

[Aea]

But e-sata card and drives are rather expensive.

Not necessarily, prices have been going down and down, many manufacturers make eSata cards for the MBP, but don't advertise them as being mac-capable so you need to do some research.