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Laptop vs. iMac Speed? Geeks only, please.

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xrayvision

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 22, 2007
21
0
Hi all-
I am getting ready to replace my "old" 1Ghz G4 17" PB, and I am looking at another laptop versus an iMac.

I was in my nearby Apple Store comparing the 2.4 MacBook Pro and the 2.4 iMac. Subjectively, the iMac felt a lot faster to me. The sales rep assured me that they are the "same speed" therefore I must be hallucinating (again). So I tried once more, opening their Photoshop demo and applying some obscure/complicated filter to one of their demo images. STILL the iMac was noticeably faster. Again - this was totally subjective, so I'm not trying to say it's a fact.

Given that they have the same processor speed, is the bus speed or logic board or memory (or whatever) faster on the iMac? If so, is it a big enough difference to be noticeable upon routine use, or was I just dazzled by that big, built-in display?? :eek: Alternatively, do the Apple stores tweak the computers in some way to enhance performance on the floor models?

My need for portability has decreased, so this could be a deciding factor for me (more bang, less buck!).

Insightful comments much appreciated!
-XRV
 
xrayvision said:
Hi all-
I am getting ready to replace my "old" 1Ghz G4 17" PB, and I am looking at another laptop versus an iMac.

I was in my nearby Apple Store comparing the 2.4 MacBook Pro and the 2.4 iMac. Subjectively, the iMac felt a lot faster to me. The sales rep assured me that they are the "same speed" therefore I must be hallucinating (again). So I tried once more, opening their Photoshop demo and applying some obscure/complicated filter to one of their demo images. STILL the iMac was noticeably faster. Again - this was totally subjective, so I'm not trying to say it's a fact.

Given that they have the same processor speed, is the bus speed or logic board or memory (or whatever) faster on the iMac? If so, is it a big enough difference to be noticeable upon routine use, or was I just dazzled by that big, built-in display?? :eek: Alternatively, do the Apple stores tweak the computers in some way to enhance performance on the floor models?

My need for portability has decreased, so this could be a deciding factor for me (more bang, less buck!).

Insightful comments much appreciated!
-XRV
Click to expand...

They both use the same internal parts.
 
mkrishnan said:
A 7200 RPM 3.5" drive is also faster than a 7200 RPM 2.5" drive for that matter. And the video cards are not the same. Also do you know that they had the same amount of memory?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I checked the memory (same). But the hard drive speed difference is a good thought! Has anyone else had this experience?
 
The difference you felt between the two machines can likely be attributed entirely to the iMac's 7200 RPM 3.5" hard drive. It really does make a difference.

Customizing a MacBook Pro with a 7200 RPM (2.5") hard drive would help, but it still won't be quite as fast to access and write to the hard drive as the iMac. Keep in mind that Photoshop can make hard drives thrash like few other 2D applications.
 
I found another thread on this (MacRumors) website called something like ATI 2600 vs. Nvidia 8xxx... Anyways, it echos what you have all said here. Thanks all for the responses!

Now I'm totally convinced it's the hard drive AND the video card that Really Do make it faster... haha, I think I've talked myself into an iMac. :cool:
 
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