New Imac or Mac pro (desktop)

[GregG26]

I am looking at buying a new mac. I have been editing on my mac book pro with Final cut and Motion and love it. I dont really even us my PC any more. My question is would the Imac be able to handle alot of video edting or should i get the Mac pro? Being that you cant really upgrade the imac i.e video cards, hard drive , and the CPU in 3 year would i need to get a new computer again?

thanks for the help,

Greg

 

[cluthz]

At the moment a quad core iMac offers more performance for the money than the Mac Pro.

 

[a350]

Don't take this the wrong way but if you have to ask which is better for whatever it is you do then you are not serious enough of a user to need the mac pro so get the imac.

The Mac Pro is designed for a certain user and has the features that said user needs. If you needed these features you wouldn't be asking this question you would just get the Mac Pro.

 

[spcopsmac21]

Get this Imac 27" quad core

The Imac quad core is cheaper, has a screen and is a powerhouse for $2,000.
The Mac Pro is over priced and under supported, its very difficult to upgrade the graphics card for a cheap amount. The Imac quad core is the way to go. I once paid $4,000 for a quad core PowerMac G5...3 years ago and now its not even supported and is HORRIBLY OUT DATED!!!!! So do not waste your money on a Mac Pro...a new Mac Pro with the same specs and the Imac quad core and a 27" led display would cost you over $3900...so go with the Imac quad core. Apple figured if it made a power house Imac for $2000 it would make up for the low sales figures on the lower end Mac Pro.

 

[balamw]

While what a350 says is generally true, right now what cluthz said is right. Either quad core iMac should outperform the more expensive quad core Mac Pro in most cases, so it would not be a slam dunk for the Mac Pro.

EDIT: In 3 years you will probably want to replace your computer anyhow. At least with the 27" you can keep using it as a monitor after it becomes "obsolete"...

B

 

[tri3limited]

If you plan on actually getting into video editing your only choice is the Mac Pro. At some stage you'll want monitoring (i suggest tv-bay) as well as an I/O device such as a Decklink/Kona/Matrox card which are Mac Pro only (or MBP with ExpressCard).

That's the only way you'll end up with a proper suite, potentially good enough for clients.

 

[ipodftw]

Go with the imac

unless portabilty is a must!

 

[MacKiddyWiddy]

the quad core imac is infact better then the lower end mac pro (although not upgradable) and so would be a better buy to be honest... even the low end 21.5 is fine for editing... I use final cut on my iMac 20" to edit HD Biking movies and i have no problems.... get an imac, don't waste your money

 

[a350]

Does anyone else get annoyed by people stating that one product is "infact" better than another product but gives no reason why?
I can state reasons why the mac pro is better than the imac.

Facts
4 internal HDD
2 optical drives
Easily upgradable
Supports multiple video cards for up to 8 displays
4 firewire 800 ports
pci slots for future: usb 3.0, lightpeak, etc...
ECC ram, debate all you want, it's better
18x optical drive
Dual Ethernet

 

[parakiet]

Does anyone else get annoyed by people stating that one product is "infact" better than another product but gives no reason why?
I can state reasons why the mac pro is better than the imac.

Facts
4 internal HDD
2 optical drives
Easily upgradable
Supports multiple video cards for up to 8 displays
4 firewire 800 ports
pci slots for future: usb 3.0, lightpeak, etc...
ECC ram, debate all you want, it's better
18x optical drive
Dual Ethernet

it's better if you need it

one who is used to edit with a laptop will gain a performance boost with an quadcore imac.
sure a mac pro is "better" but also much expensive

if you don't need raid, 2 optical drives, pci slots etc..
than again the imac and a costum built mac pro are twee different budgets
imac: lets say $2000 mac pro: $2400 +costum parts ($200-300 gpu, $250 ssd, $300 raid HDDs, $200-400 ram,...)