Need Help with my Decision - Please

[Foreverbfc]

Hello All -

Trying to decide whether or not to sell my iMac for something more portable. I work at a desk all day long at work, so I have found that I rarely use my iMac. I find myself preferring to sit on the couch or at a table with the rest of the family in the room.

I do light photography work and some video work, nothing heavy duty.

I purchased this machine new about 13 months ago and have only used it a hand full of times, so it's in mint condition. I have an offer on the table for $1,390 and was considering purchasing a laptop as a primary work-horse, which would allow me to be more portable and have the option of working anywhere.

Here's the specs of my iMac:
27" display
2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 with 6MB on-chip shared L3 cache
12GB memory 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
1 TB Hard Drive, DVD SuperDrive

Here's what I'm considering:
Either a 13" or 15" rMBP from Apple's Refurb store

Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.5GHz Dual-core Intel Core i5 with Retina Display
13"
8GB of 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
128GB Flash Storage

Intel HD Graphics 4000


Refurbished MacBook Air 2.0GHz dual-core Intel Core i7
13.3"
8GB memory
256GB flash storage
Intel HD Graphics 4000

Help me make my decision!!!

Thanks.

 

[wlossw]

Hello All -

Trying to decide whether or not to sell my iMac for something more portable. I work at a desk all day long at work, so I have found that I rarely use my iMac. I find myself preferring to sit on the couch or at a table with the rest of the family in the room.

I do light photography work and some video work, nothing heavy duty.

I purchased this machine new about 13 months ago and have only used it a hand full of times, so it's in mint condition. I have an offer on the table for $1,390 and was considering purchasing a laptop as a primary work-horse, which would allow me to be more portable and have the option of working anywhere.

Here's the specs of my iMac:
27" display
2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 with 6MB on-chip shared L3 cache
12GB memory 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
1 TB Hard Drive, DVD SuperDrive

Here's what I'm considering:
Either a 13" or 15" rMBP from Apple's Refurb store

Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.5GHz Dual-core Intel Core i5 with Retina Display
13"
8GB of 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
128GB Flash Storage

Intel HD Graphics 4000


Refurbished MacBook Air 2.0GHz dual-core Intel Core i7
13.3"
8GB memory
256GB flash storage
Intel HD Graphics 4000

Help me make my decision!!!

Thanks.

I am very pleased with my rMBP 15". i would stay away from the 13" as it is underpowered.

The 15" in any config is a worthy desktop replacement. By adding a Thunderbolt
monitor later on you will have 99% of the upside of your iMac with the portability of a notebook, and the retina screen is really gorgeous.

 

[r0k]

I have a late 2011 hires antiglare MBP. I use it as a desktop and almost never take it anywhere. I have an iPad mini when I want something for "the road". My MBP is somewhat underutilized as it sits down in the basement so I use my iPad mini about 12 times as often. It's still worth having the MBP because there are things I like doing on a full keyboard.

I really like the rMBP but I wanted to save money so I picked up last years' model new in box from Microcenter for $200 less than Apple was charging for the same model in their refurb store. I use a ~$99 1080p external monitor plugged in to a vga to displayport adapter (uses thunderbolt port). I use firewire for my external HDD and USB is used only rarely now that I have a built in SD card reader. I also hardly ever touch my Logitech V470 bluetooth mouse because I'd much rather use the time-saving gestures available on the MBP built in trackpad.

I moved up from a 13 in Macbook to the hires 15 in MBP. I would think either the 13 or 15 in rMBP could work fine if you use an external monitor. Just remember you don't need a Thunderbolt monitor as Apple sells displayport to vga or dvi adapters. They take up the Thunderbolt port but that's no great sacrifice these days as TB peripherals are so overpriced. But wait. I think you don't get a FW port on the rMBP so just check to make sure you have 2 TB ports so one can go for TB or FW (with adapter) peripherals and one can go for your external monitor (either TB or displayport to vga).

 

[Pharmscott]

If you're going rMBP, go for the 15". The screen size in combo with the resolution on the 13" makes for a significantly reduced viewable area. Size and weight wise, sure the specs on the 13" show a difference but after you use it for a few days, you'll forget the difference.

I wrestled between the 13" and the 15" and I'm so glad I went 15".

 

[Yebubbleman]

Hello All -

Trying to decide whether or not to sell my iMac for something more portable. I work at a desk all day long at work, so I have found that I rarely use my iMac. I find myself preferring to sit on the couch or at a table with the rest of the family in the room.

I do light photography work and some video work, nothing heavy duty.

I purchased this machine new about 13 months ago and have only used it a hand full of times, so it's in mint condition. I have an offer on the table for $1,390 and was considering purchasing a laptop as a primary work-horse, which would allow me to be more portable and have the option of working anywhere.

Here's the specs of my iMac:
27" display
2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 with 6MB on-chip shared L3 cache
12GB memory 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
1 TB Hard Drive, DVD SuperDrive

Here's what I'm considering:
Either a 13" or 15" rMBP from Apple's Refurb store

Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.5GHz Dual-core Intel Core i5 with Retina Display
13"
8GB of 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
128GB Flash Storage

Intel HD Graphics 4000


Refurbished MacBook Air 2.0GHz dual-core Intel Core i7
13.3"
8GB memory
256GB flash storage
Intel HD Graphics 4000

Help me make my decision!!!

Thanks.

I'd go with a 15" non-retina. Retina is gorgeous and obviously the future of the MacBook Pro line, but it's way ahead of itself; software support for it is still very limited and the economy hasn't leveled out enough to the point where a $2100+ computer that can't have its RAM replaced or have upgradable drive capacities is an easy thing to stomach...at least, not for most people. For your needs, I don't think you'd be upset with a 13" MacBook Pro, though I will second the notions against a 13" retina, and moreso than I would a 13" non-retina; the 13" retina offers the worst battery life (according to Macworld) of all of Apple's currently shipping laptops, as well as the worst bang-for-buck.