One small choice...

[apple411]

Hey every1,

I am currently a pc user (yes i sold my soul). Although all that is about to change, I really want to go out and buy an imac now, although i fear that in a few weeks (January 6th) there may be an updated imac or leopard on imac (takes like 4 weeks to ship to Australia after that) should i wait?.

Next thing is, being a student it has taken me a long time to save up $3,500 in between movies and god knows what lol, i have the choice between 24inch imac 2GB ram updated graphics and external HD (no way am i paying an extra $2-- for 250 GB) and updated graphics (7600GT) or macpro which comes stock standard and comes with nothing extra for same price. Is it an obvious choice?, can my imac handle Final cut and motion?????.

If anyone can add to this that would be awsome, (all help is good help... )

Cheers Apple 411

 

[atszyman]

Hey every1,

I am currently a pc user (yes i sold my soul). Although all that is about to change, I really want to go out and buy an imac now, although i fear that in a few weeks (January 6th) there may be an updated imac or leopard on imac (takes like 4 weeks to ship to Australia after that) should i wait?.

Leopard won't be out until probably second quarter of 2007 so you shouldn't have anything to worry about. As for an updated iMac, I doubt you'd see anything much more than a slight speed bump on the processors since Intel hasn't released any great new processors recently. There is the Macworld Expo in early January where they might announce some product updates but even if they don't announce an update there, that doesn't mean that they won't do a speed bump a couple weeks later.

The general consensus here is to buy now if you need it. With all technology you need to bite the bullet at some point and just buy what's available and brace yourself for the inevitable update the day after you receive it.

I'd probably go with the stock Mac Pro just because you have some upgrade paths, and since it's stock you have some window to return it (I believe 14 days) with non BTO systems. That being said there are a lot of rumors of an 8 core Mac Pro making it's debut at the Macworld Expo so you may want to wait until after that to see what changes in the lineup.

 

[emptyCup]

What type of student are you. Your interests seem more oriented to movie making than games. What will you use this computer for now and how do you hope to use it in the future? I ask these questions because you mention the money issue and there is a good chance that you do not need such an expensive machine. One of the best things we can learn is the difference between what we want and what we need. Best wishes.

 

[SRSound]

If you're not going to use the full power of the mac pro or if you wont be using it to generate income, as a student, your money would probably be better spent (or saved) elsewhere. I'm guessing the imac should be more then sufficient.

 

[pianoman]

If you're not going to use the full power of the mac pro or if you wont be using it to generate income, as a student, your money would probably be better spent (or saved) elsewhere. I'm guessing the imac should be more then sufficient.

seconded.

also remember that the iMac comes with a monitor and the Mac Pro does not. so you'll have to add that cost in (i'm not sure if you did but you didn't mention it in the original post). i think this is a no-brainer. go with the iMac.

 

[Sherman Homan]

I third it.
Spend the money on as much ram as you can. Sounds like the MacPro would be overkill.

 

[Xenesis]

I honestly think that on that budget the Mac Pro isn't worth it. You've basically got to gimp it to afford it. For the same price you're getting a 24" monitor, built in wireless + Bluetooth, A better video card and much, much much more HD space. All you're losing is the processor (which we must all admit is speedy) and future expandibility.

Remember that the Mac Pro doesn't come with a monitor either. So, unless you've got something kickarse lying around I'd definitely consider the iMac a worthy contender.

 

[paintballer]

I would go with the Mac Pro just for the fact that its upgradable and will last you a while. The iMac will be outdated in a few years and you won't be able to upgrade it so you will have to drop another few thousand dollars into a new computer.