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MBP 15 vs IMAC 27 ?

T

Thyro

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 30, 2011
4
0
Need some help decide.:confused:

Time for a new computer after many years of service. Always had a desktop maybe it's time to try a laptop for change. Here's my two choice for my budget :

MBP 15, quad core i7 2.0GHz, no upgrade, one-to-one, apple care= 2327 $ cad
Imac 27, quad core i5 2,8GHz, no upgrade, one-to-one, apple care= 2397 $ cad

So, for almost the same price i get portability vs massive screen. I want something to last for many years as possible. Never had a laptop before. Scare of the fragility of it with two young twins at home, but love the fact of being able to bring it anywhere.

I will use it mainly for web browsing, music/photo/video library + editing, office.

Thanks for your help

P.S. sorry for my bad english, not my first language....
 
Very simple :)

If you don't need the portability, get the iMac! iMac's are without a doubt the best value Macs and with a 27" screen included you won't beat that price.

If you do need the portability, get the MacBook Pro...

:D
 
First off, I've never broken a laptop to the point where it stopped working (I cracked plenty of cases and/or hinges). The MBP with their aluminum casing is one of the strongest laptops on the market. Yes if you drop it from high enough, the screen will still crack and/or hard drives will fail, but I've knocked one off my coffee table before with no damage to the unit (probably a half meter drop).

Second, I have 27" iMac and I love it. The screen is beautiful, but frankly it means I have to bury myself in my office to use it. This means that I am away from my family every time I use it. Oh sure they will come visit, but more often then not I have to leave to see what is going on. That's why I went MBP, I wanted to be "in the action" at all times. Sure, I will still use my iMac occasionally when I need the screen real estate, but most of the time any more it is just used as a secondary monitor for my laptop.

Obviously, a lot of this depends on your living space. If your iMac will be in the living room, then the part about having to bury myself in my office, doesn't pertain to you. And maybe your twins are little hellions who grab everything and break everything, but otherwise I hope this info helps at least in some little way.

P.S. if you decide imac, do wait until the refresh....
 
MBP 15, quad core i7 2.0GHz, no upgrade, one-to-one, apple care= 2327 $ cad
Imac 27, quad core i5 2,8GHz, no upgrade, one-to-one, apple care= 2397 $ cad

That particular MBP is going to outperform that particular iMac. That said, don't buy an iMac right now, as the new ones are coming, and you'll kick yourself because for the same money the new iMacs are likely to get a pretty big horsepower bump over the current ones.

So, for almost the same price i get portability vs massive screen. I want something to last for many years as possible. Never had a laptop before. Scare of the fragility of it with two young twins at home, but love the fact of being able to bring it anywhere.

Just be careful with it. I considered some of the same things before buying another MacBook Pro. I have a 1.5yr. old at home. And yes she likes how shiny it is and will bang on it if left alone with it, so I just don't leave it where she can get at it.

I will use it mainly for web browsing, music/photo/video library + editing, office.

Either will be fine for this, but it sounds like you want portability, so don't fool yourself into thinking you'll be happy living without it. I tried that a month or two ago. I bought an iMac, and ended up returning it and got the new MBP. The iMac screen is very sweet, but to me portability and upgrade-ability make the MBP the winner for me. By upgrade-ability I mean good luck opening up the iMac yourself if you want to upgrade or replace the harddrive yourself. Also picture lugging the iMac to an Apple store for service vs. bringing in your MBP.
 
Thyro said:
What about future proof ?
Click to expand...

Both systems (especially if you wait until the imac refresh), will be pretty future proof. However, I do feel as a world we are going more portable, so that is something to consider....
 
MBP 15 vs IMAC 27 ?

Thryo,

I agree with Design-is. Portability MacBookPro; No portability iMac. Be careful with twins because we get into everything :).
 
I am also in a similar quandary, I am also going to buy a new iMac but not sure whether to get a MBP or MBA to go with it
 
I bought a separate monitor to hook up with my MBP, thus the best of both worlds. There are a number of good ones in the $300 category.
 
Well I personally would go for the MacBook Pro. Me starting college, portability is a must for me, although this might not apply to you now, there might be some time down the road where you want to bring your computer somewhere.

Being able to take it with you in the bedroom to surf the net or watch movies, being able to take it to work if you're going to have some downtime.... hell if you want a bigger screen, you could just get the minidisplay to vga/dvi port and hook up an external monitor of your choice.

That way you can have two screens, one however the size of the MBP and the other all the way up to 55 inches. Granted you're going to have to spend a bit for the screen but... monitors are pretty cheap now a days (around 300) and the portability might come in handy down the road.

In terms of breaking, as long as you don't drop the thing off the desk the laptop will be fine, of course they are made of aluminum so even if you do drop it, there is no guarantee that it will break.
 
iMac but only after they refresh it which is soon according the the buyer's guide. It is a more satisfying experience in the home or office compared to the MBP. I do give the MBP a plus for swapping out the hard drive that is easier.
 
carlgo said:
I bought a separate monitor to hook up with my MBP, thus the best of both worlds. There are a number of good ones in the $300 category.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with this. Currently the MBP has better specs + Thunderbolt while the iMac is yet to be refreshed. And these days you can get a decent monitor for a few hundred dollars (US$) or even hook up your laptop to most HDTVs. I hook my 2008 MBP 4,1 to my HDTV and it's fanfreakintastic. Still, some people prefer a dedicated desktop and have no need or desire for a souped up portable, so like everyone's said it's all about you think will work out best for you.
 
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