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One Mac or two ? What's ideal, the debate continues ...

The new MacBook Airs make it appealing to have a two computer set up, goes good with an iMac or Mac Pro.

Still, I'd agree working from one main computer is the easiest to stay focused and organized. If you needed mobility and ability to do heavy lifting tasks probably the 15" with and ACD would be a good choice.
 
entatlrg said:
Still, I'd agree working from one main computer is the easiest to stay focused and organized. If you needed mobility and ability to do heavy lifting tasks probably the 15" with and ACD would be a good choice.
Click to expand...

You've got a number of computers and I've seen you comment about the Air as a primary machine..

Right now I have an Air - thinking of a bigger Dell monitor for home, to make it a desktop.
Mine is a 13" ultimate though.

Most people seem to be wanting iMac/11'Air combos if anything. I can appreciate the combo, but even with dropbox I've found it limiting. Music and media have to remain with the desktop (usually). Too annoying to have it in both places.
 
Since originally posting in this thread, I still only have my Mac Pro (slightly upgraded since '09) as my main computer, and while I still have the iPhone for quick internet access, the iPad (version 1, and now up to version 2) has quickly become my "laptop" of choice.

When I'm out and around, I don't really need full laptop capability, just a good email/web client, and of course a few good apps (Beejive, Photogene, Logmein Ignition, etc.)

One day I may end up buying myself a MBP, but I think that day is still pretty far in the future.
 
hmm you just cant have enough Mac's around you , having more then one Mac is important for multitasking at a "think different" level 😉
and its cruel to have only one Mac . Mac's have feelings too and they enjoy the company of other Mac's they can talk to 😉

I have 16 by now and maybe in the next couple days come another 2 white iMac G3's 😀
 
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To answer the OPs original question, i think it can only be judged on a case-by-case basis. If the same thing was ideal for everyone we would all do it, so i think you need to simply find a computer setup that suits you.

Until a few years ago i basically just had a single iMac with a single external drive for time machine, wirelessly connecting to a basic wifi router. At the time i wouldn't have had use for anything else. As time went on i moved out of my parents house and decided to digitize everything i could including media. It caused a number of issues i had to work past such as storage capacity, faster networking for streaming etc. One computing device just didn't seem like enough to accomplish what i wanted to do.

I own a few different Macs today and they all have their own purpose:

1. 21.5 inch iMac with second screen - Its my general workhorse computer and server. I remote access from work alot. It's got about 14TB of storage in the form of a Drobo and extra drives which contains a bunch of file shares and media server applications for sharing to iPad, iPhone, other macs and WDTV. It also contains space for backups of other macs. It also donates spare cpu cycles to folding.

2. 15 inch iMac G4 with USB2 - Runs Leopard but is pretty slow. I mainly use it to listen to music in the kitchen as it still supports the latest versions of iTunes and Spotify. I also use it to share out a printer/scanner over my network.

3. 466Mhz iBook Clamshell (Graphite model) - It was mainly a gift as my girlfriend knew i wanted one as a teenager. Spec is completely max'd out and in perfect condition. It wasn't bought with a purpose as such but i've ended up doing most of my word processing on it (the keyboard is awesome) Currently using it to write my wedding speech....gulp!

All the machines and IOS devices are synced up with my everyday files using cloud storage (namely Dropbox and iDisk) They also all use Mobileme and sync email, calenders, bookmarks, notes and keychains.

In short i think it's best to work out what you need from your own setup as everyone has their own needs!
 
It's the same old story since this thread was started over two years ago. And it isn't a Mac only issue.

A desktop system gives more bang-for-buck and superior ergonomics.

A notebook system gives superior accessibility.

I'd have a hard time getting by without my MacBook, which I use in several locations around town and on vacations. However I'd go crazy if it were my only system. It's just too difficult to use compared with my 27" iMac with a second monitor and mammoth 22 year old Northgate Omnikey keyboard.

Only problem with both is keeping them synchronized, and of course the additional cost.
 
I have a mini that i use as my itunes server for my apple tvs. It has a big portion of my itunes music collection as well as my main movie machine. I also use to mix my music in logic and it has most of my vsts on it.

My 13 inch macbook pro is my production laptop and i use it to sync my iphone 4 and my apple tv 1 too.. It has a different set of sounds in logic in it and i have maschine connected to it...
 
GoKyu said:
...the iPad ...has quickly become my "laptop" of choice.

When I'm out and around, I don't really need full laptop capability, just a good email/web client, and of course a few good apps (Beejive, Photogene, Logmein Ignition, etc.)
Click to expand...

+1. I'm going with the iMac and iPad route. I've had my MBP for 5 yrs now and it spends most of it's life attached to an external monitor on my desk. When I do take it out, I never end up doing anything of significance on it. Mostly to watch movies or email, while traveling, but the iPad is (in my opinion) better for those tasks anyway.
 
I tried having just one laptop, but laptop screen too small, etc. So I sold the MBP 15 2.3 ghz and instead got a Mac Pro 6-core, and a macbook pro 13 for travel, etc. Syncing files can be annoying, but I like having 2 machines incase one breaks or other problems.
 
entatlrg said:
What's you preference, to work from one computer, or two?

I'll often read in forums that it's best to work from ONE computer, this way all your data is in one place easy to organize you can use an external display etc ... If you're away from a desk at all and using one computer you'd have to use a notebook.

Others prefer TWO computers, a permanent desktop and a notebook, a set up like that can be had for cheap or you can go all out and buy a top the line iMac or MacPro and an Air for a notebook I guess. But you'll have data, shortcuts, preferences like at different settings so it's a little more work to keep in sync..

If you had the choice what would your ideal set up be? A 15" macbook pro, or a combination of a macbook and desktop, (or pc?< bad word I know 🙂

Interested to hear comments/opinions.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

It's all about rutine. Once you learn to force yourself to commit to a strict data policy it'll just fly away.

My all time favourite setup would be:

My current MBP...............Router...............Powerful Mac Pro near max out.
:
:
:
Daisy chained external drives
that are also accesible via
internet connection.
(Lacie Little Big thunderbolt??)

Dots are supposed to come down from the router to the daisy chain... apparently the forum is reformatting my post.

I dunno exactly how it would be set up, but I would of course find out if I ever get the dough to build this setup hehe.

The MBP is acceptable for my needs at the moment, but as i progress I would long for a higher amount of efficiency and speed. Therefore I view a desktop mac or pc as indispensable. Price can never mean more to me than efficiency.
Unfortunately this setup is totally dependent on the Lacie thunderbolt drive. Anyone who has tried working with share drives will agree with me that their speed is a joke. I've tried quite a few and never found one I found remotely satisfactory.

Some will call this being spoiled, but I can only defend myself saying that I'm not a patient guy, and in my day to day work I get by best if everything is running smoothly and as fast as is possible. 🙂
 
Im probably in the minority, but I have 15 Macs, of which I use 7 Daily:
Mac Pro - Video Editing, Audio Editing/Recording and Graphics creation using CS5.5, Final Cut Studio and Logic Studio
MacBook Air - Main Laptop - goes to all of my CS classes to make notes and let me get lecture notes etc.
MacBook - Secondary Laptop - goes to all of my Math classes, so I can use Mathematica in the lectures.
PowerBook G4 - Used as a desktop for audio production - sits around running Sonic Visualiser and a couple of other useful tools for audio monitoring
PowerMac G4 Dual - Server and used as a test machine (I mess with the terminal a lot, and tend to try xyz on here first so I dont mess up one of my main machines)
PowerMac 7500/132 - Old I know, but I use this to use some legacy audio programs from the OS 9 era that I havent found OS X replacements for
PowerBook 1400/133 - Best. Writing. Laptop. Ever. (Love the keyboard, its superb for writing documents out, and with AppleWorks 6 both on this and my Mac Pro, I can still use it perfectly for document creation.
 
chrismacguy said:
PowerMac 7500/132 - Old I know, but I use this to use some legacy audio programs from the OS 9 era that I havent found OS X replacements for
PowerBook 1400/133 - Best. Writing. Laptop. Ever. (Love the keyboard, its superb for writing documents out, and with AppleWorks 6 both on this and my Mac Pro, I can still use it perfectly for document creation.
Click to expand...

Holly cow! It's just insane that those machines still work!
 
Bernard SG said:
Holly cow! It's just insane that those machines still work!
Click to expand...

No, whats insane is the amount of time I spend keeping them working, as well as the 8200/120,8100/100 and spare 1400 I keep around just in case the worst should happen and my main 7500 or 1400 should break... 😀
 
even though I attempted two

One is much better for me.

I realized having to sync and upgrade more than one machine is a p.i.a.

I cannot wait until the iPad no longer has to sync with a computer, my home needs have decreased so dramatically over the past 9 months, so it would be wonderful just to have one little portable that does it all.

I'm ditching my iMac whenever my sister comes back to visit, probably will replace it either with a 13" MBA or a Mac Mini, but I really do hope I can cut the ties with a full blown computer sooner rather than later.
 
I have a 2011 MBP and an iMac that I use all day in my home office. Was going to buy the new iMac but the Apple Store Sales Rep talked to me about just buying the Apple Cinema Display. What to do? I love the big screen on my iMac and the larger internal drive (also faster) than my MBP. I read the ACD is old and could be refreshed soon. My iMac is always on and includes my complete iTunes Library. BTW, I also have a MBA for travel. the issue came up when I was talking about keep Aperture in synch so I could work on the same library on either my iMac or MBP. I now use Dropbox to host my Filemaker and Aperture files along with Bento. I've made it work but now have to decide what to buy! Thoughts?
 
Use the CODE tag ("#" in the menu).

legreve said:
My all time favourite setup would be:
Code: 
My current MBP...............Router............Powerful Mac Pro near max out.
                                :                                        
                                :                                       
                                :                                        
                   Daisy chained external drives
                   that are also accesible via
                   internet connection.
                   (Lacie Little Big thunderbolt??)
Dots are supposed to come down from the router to the daisy chain... apparently the forum is reformatting my post.
Click to expand...
 
During the last couple of years I've had and used the iMac, Mac Mini, MBP, MBA, MB and iPad in various combinations. Most recently I've only kept the MBA 11" and plan on complement it with an iMac which will be my main machine. That is the perfect combo IMO.
I will use the iMac for everything while home and the MBA for writing at school and leisure while away from home.
I could never just have a laptop, I need to have a server (a PC atm) for keeping files and downloads organized and always accessible. I will probably let the iMac do that when I get it in the summer.
As mentioned I had the iPad and while I liked it, it was mostly used by my gf playing games. Didn't fulfill my needs as the only portable machine so I didn't bring it with me when I had to take the laptop as well. The MBA on the other hand is exactly with I want in a portable machine, tiny but useful enough.
 
makingmusic said:
I have a 2011 MBP and an iMac that I use all day in my home office. Was going to buy the new iMac but the Apple Store Sales Rep talked to me about just buying the Apple Cinema Display. What to do? I love the big screen on my iMac and the larger internal drive (also faster) than my MBP. I read the ACD is old and could be refreshed soon. My iMac is always on and includes my complete iTunes Library. BTW, I also have a MBA for travel. the issue came up when I was talking about keep Aperture in synch so I could work on the same library on either my iMac or MBP. I now use Dropbox to host my Filemaker and Aperture files along with Bento. I've made it work but now have to decide what to buy! Thoughts?
Click to expand...

What do you use your MBP 15" for? Do you feel the difference in performance between the iMac and MBP? Do you need both the iMac and the MBP?
 
I use the MBP when I'm on the road. The usual stuff plus iMovie, Logic, etc. There is a small difference in speed between my MBP and 2009 iMac with the MBP being faster. However, I do need both as my iMac is host to my external drives. I can access these when I'm on the road and forget a file. The bigger question - do I sell my 2009 imac and get the new iMac or wait another year. I think I've convinced myself that I need 2 computers.
 
makingmusic said:
I use the MBP when I'm on the road. The usual stuff plus iMovie, Logic, etc. There is a small difference in speed between my MBP and 2009 iMac with the MBP being faster. However, I do need both as my iMac is host to my external drives. I can access these when I'm on the road and forget a file. The bigger question - do I sell my 2009 imac and get the new iMac or wait another year. I think I've convinced myself that I need 2 computers.
Click to expand...

Since you can leave the big tasks to the iMac anyway, what do you need the power of the 15" Pro for?

I also need 2 computers (indeed, I do!), but only one of them has to be a Mac, though.
 
I have two 15" Macbook Pros. One that I use exclusively for schoolwork (2.2GHz Santa Rosa) with, and another that I use for personal use and work (2.66 GHz i7).

I don't store any files locally, I have a file server accessible by VPN which allows me to keep my work up-to-date between the two machines.
 
FOUR Apple computers. Yes, four. Soon to be three though, but still.

2010 iMac - the ultimate one. Only thing it doesn't have is a SSD which I've found not to be necessary with this much raw power. This is basically my center controller. It manages all of my various hard drives, external and USB/SATA/IDE drives, collected over nearly a decade of computing. It's helped with duplicate reconciliation and reorganizing. End goal is to have a single drive of some high capacity that holds all of my content. Tried a NAS but they're not fast enough. iMac is also my processing machine for videos as then I can record high def video and let the iMac do the the rendering while I'm not at home. iMac is also my backup if I'm working on the Big Apple and it's down for the count - upgrading something or some other - I can still compute on the iMac.

2011 17" MacBook Pro - the 2.2 version, maxed out RAM. The "Big Apple". SSD. It's my primary computer. It goes with me to work and I use it on appointments. Could it do the tasks of the iMac? Sure. But tethering a bunch of USB drives to a laptop is clunky. Also the Big Apple handles the VM demos I have to do for my job very nicely.

2010 11" MacBook Air. Base model with 128GB drive. Like the form factor, but the poor thing is SEVERELY underpowered, so I'll be selling it to a colleague at work here in the next couple of weeks. Before that it was my mobile "quick notes" machine, go to a customer site and pop it out to jot down some notes. Too much money for a limited use case, which is why it's getting sold.

2010 13" MacBook Air. Ultimate model. It is bigger than the 11" and that does bother me a little, but the raw power helps. Now I can use it to power occasional quick demos or development or if I'm going on a plane ride, I can use that in the airplane tray instead of fighting with getting the Big Apple to fit. I'd still take the Big Apple as my primary workhorse, but now I can bring the Air along for the one-offs where it's not practical to bring Big Apple out.


I've been on the fence about needing three and the reality is I don't NEED three. But the Big Apple and the iMac are both critical in my workflow. The Air is a "nice to have handy" type of machine.

Some might say...
"why do you need the Pro if you've got the iMac?" Power on the road.

"Why do you need the iMac if you've got the Pro?" Delegated tasks that are better suited for a desktop computer (i.e. share management, storage consolidation, raw file processing where it will take over 20 minutes, etc), watching movies on the larger screen while working on the Pro, etc.

"Why do you need the Air if you've got the Pro?" I don't really. But it helps in certain situations where carrying the Big Apple doesn't make sense, i.e. quick visits to a customer site. I'm still a little on the fence about the Air though. In theory I could go with a 13" MacBook Pro, high end, throw a SSD in there and still come out higher spec than the Air. I might very well end up going that route. But in summary, it's nice to have the third, smaller, lighter machine for the one-off stuff, the powerhouse mobile for the heavy lifting on the road, and the powerhouse desktop for the delegated tasks.
 
@revelated - I have a similar setup except only have one 13 MBA and the 2009 iMac. My MBP is my work horse when I need that capacity to travel. Some trips require only the MBA which makes my bag nice and light. My iMac is connected to all my external drives and I can log in when I'm away to find a file I forgot to put in DropBox - so helpful! I would like the 2011 iMac, not because I need it but I like to have the latest Apple "toys" Waiting to see if my 2009 iMac will sell - no luck in the past with eBay too many scammers! So, trying for word of mouth.
 
makingmusic said:
I use the MBP when I'm on the road. The usual stuff plus iMovie, Logic, etc. There is a small difference in speed between my MBP and 2009 iMac with the MBP being faster. However, I do need both as my iMac is host to my external drives. I can access these when I'm on the road and forget a file. The bigger question - do I sell my 2009 imac and get the new iMac or wait another year. I think I've convinced myself that I need 2 computers.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you have decided. 🙂
 
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