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Replace iMac with a Laptop. What to do?

A

airjuggernaut

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 16, 2007
535
0
Hey everyone.

So as some of you might know, that I have a 20" 2.0ghz Alu iMac, which i bought to replace my (fairly new) Desktop.
Since Apple is kindly accepting returns for any mac products purchased between Oct.31-Dec.24th, till Jan.8, I've been considering returning my iMac.
Now before you say "WHY WHY?"
I have a few reasons.
1. I've been using a PC...ever since i was 2. It's hard for me to adjust to Mac all of a sudden. Personally, I find that using an iMac for work is annoying. Im used to having multiple things open when I'm working, and the dock is annoying place for me to have to goto constantly (I personally think that a bar at the bottom is better than a dock). Also iWork sucks (no offense) and MS Office 04 is slow because of Rosetta.

2. My iMac hums like a mofo. I also am getting annoyed by getting random black screens (not kernal panics) also the Gradient thing isn't an issue now, but when i start taking Comm Tech next semester, where i gotta work in photoshop alot...it might become a pain.

3. Gaming...oh good ol macs and games. Well i can say, that the iMac is way more powerful than my old Desktop, but having to restart constantly when my buddies want to play CS or WoW is a pretty annoying. And then of course, there's Crossover, I dont know about other people here, but playing CS and halflife..I run into this weird mouse lag, thats not even mentioning the random freezes, and exiting issues i run into while using it.


So I've come to the conclusion, that the iMac isnt for me.
But as i don't want to get rid of a mac all together, I want to get something in its place. Because I have to admit, using Mac OSX is amazing. Everything just flows so well. and everyone in my family loves it. (my sister refuses to use the PC's in our house now :p)

So what im going to do now, is return the iMac, get my desktop back, and use it for all the work, and most of my gaming.
but that leaves me with, what im going to do to replace the mac goodness. so here are my options.
1. Buy a NEW SR MacBook from Apple with 2.2ghz Processor
2. Buy a USED non-SR Macbook Pro not from apple, comes with a 90 day warrenty , with 2.16ghz Core Duo processor, a X1600, and 1gb of ram

Now the thing is, since I DO game, and i would definetly like to be able to game on the go. I don't have a Ridiculous requirement. A game that runs at 30 fps would be excellent for me. So I'm wondering, which option would be better for running Games like, CS Source and WoW.
Because i know the X1600 is better for gaming, because it is dedicated, but it is older than the X3100, and the X3100 is still not to its full potential because of driver maturity.

It also comes down to Price, the Used MBP cost more than the new MB.

What do you guys think i should do?
 
The best combo i think is a gaming desktop PC and a mac laptop, i myself have more then 1 mac but my 2 main computers are a gaming PC and a MBP. You do not have to give up on your PC just because you use a mac, get the best of both worlds.
 
That is my combo. I having a gaming PC desktop (butt ugly by the way) and a 2.4 Ghz Macbook Pro with 4 GBs. I store all my data on external Firewire 800 drives for my Mac. I used a Powermac G5 for gaming and I loved it with Mac games. But the gaming PC comes pretty close on my 30 inch display but with a wider selection of games.
 
since you are a heavy gamer maybe a macbook and a pc for gaming is the solution?
 
As no one else has pointed this out -- MS Office 08 will be Universal and so should run better... though I personally haven't had any trouble with it on my non-SR MacBook.

You don't have to access the Dock to switch apps - you can use the F keys to activate Expose, or use the Hot Corners shortcut. You can even use Command + Tab in the same way you'd use Alt + Tab with Windows (Command + Shift + Tab cycles left instead of right)

Also, it seems like you've got a "bad iMac", rather than "iMacs are bad". I don't like the new ones myself though, I'd get the white Core 2 Duo model if anything.

A MBP through Apple should have a 12 month warranty.
Buy the MBP and a DS Lite. :p
 
From what you have said, I say that the Mac is not for you. You might just as well go back to the PC and be happy. Then you will not have to come back here to complain about your Mac.
 
"1. I've been using a PC...ever since i was 2. It's hard for me to adjust to Mac all of a sudden. Personally, I find that using an iMac for work is annoying. Im used to having multiple things open when I'm working, and the dock is annoying place for me to have to goto constantly (I personally think that a bar at the bottom is better than a dock). Also iWork sucks (no offense) and MS Office 04 is slow because of Rosetta."

I usually have between 6 & 8 apps open all the time on both my 2.0 MB C2D and my 2.0 G5 iMac. For me, using my macs is more efficient, especially compared to the Windows machines I sometimes have to use at work. I use Office 04 as well, how is it slow for you? Are you able to type faster than it can keep up? iWork is not supposed to replace Office. Keynote is superior to Powerpoint.

What I read in your posting, is that you really want a better gaming machine. In that capacity, you're probably right. The dedicated vid card will help with that. But I do a lot of photo editing on my iMac and while it's slower than on my MB, the screen is fine. Is that an issue of the G5 iMac vs. the Alu iMac? I don't know.

I've owned and used many laptops, mostly macs but a few windows machines as well and the Macbook is the best all around laptop I've used. I'd strongly recommend getting the MB.

Seasons Greetings,

Coachingguy
 
Apple Accepting Returns?

Why is Apple accepting returns until Jan 8th? I hadn't heard about that. Is there a restock fee?
 
jnc said:
As no one else has pointed this out -- MS Office 08 will be Universal and so should run better... though I personally haven't had any trouble with it on my non-SR MacBook.

You don't have to access the Dock to switch apps - you can use the F keys to activate Expose, or use the Hot Corners shortcut. You can even use Command + Tab in the same way you'd use Alt + Tab with Windows (Command + Shift + Tab cycles left instead of right)

Also, it seems like you've got a "bad iMac", rather than "iMacs are bad". I don't like the new ones myself though, I'd get the white Core 2 Duo model if anything.

A MBP through Apple should have a 12 month warranty.
Buy the MBP and a DS Lite. :p
Click to expand...
The MBP is not from apple, its from a third party but they offer a 90 day warranty. lol I already have a DS :) Thanks for the tip about Alt-Tab I didnt know you could do that :O.

maccompaq said:
From what you have said, I say that the Mac is not for you. You might just as well go back to the PC and be happy. Then you will not have to come back here to complain about your Mac.
Click to expand...
Like I said, I love mac and Mac OSX and I want to have atleast ONE mac, so that means im not going back to Windows completely ever again. Im just not going to use it for things like Work, well atleast until Office 08 doesn't come out. But i will still use Garageband, iPhoto, iMovie, Final Cut, etc. Also rare gaming, if im on the go.

coachingguy said:
"1. I've been using a PC...ever since i was 2. It's hard for me to adjust to Mac all of a sudden. Personally, I find that using an iMac for work is annoying. Im used to having multiple things open when I'm working, and the dock is annoying place for me to have to goto constantly (I personally think that a bar at the bottom is better than a dock). Also iWork sucks (no offense) and MS Office 04 is slow because of Rosetta."

I usually have between 6 & 8 apps open all the time on both my 2.0 MB C2D and my 2.0 G5 iMac. For me, using my macs is more efficient, especially compared to the Windows machines I sometimes have to use at work. I use Office 04 as well, how is it slow for you? Are you able to type faster than it can keep up? iWork is not supposed to replace Office. Keynote is superior to Powerpoint.

What I read in your posting, is that you really want a better gaming machine. In that capacity, you're probably right. The dedicated vid card will help with that. But I do a lot of photo editing on my iMac and while it's slower than on my MB, the screen is fine. Is that an issue of the G5 iMac vs. the Alu iMac? I don't know.

I've owned and used many laptops, mostly macs but a few windows machines as well and the Macbook is the best all around laptop I've used. I'd strongly recommend getting the MB.

Seasons Greetings,

Coachingguy
Click to expand...
Office is slow overall. It takes about a minute or maybe a little less, to start up. The program dosn't keep up to my typing Typing speed. The Auto-Correction correction features suck :| It don't pick up half the mistakes I make while typing. The screen Gradient issue is definitely just an Aluminum iMac issue, so you wont experience it on your G5. Thank you For suggesting the Macbook :D
 
So guys, does Macbook sound good, or would the Used MBP be better?
Remeber, that i still will do some light gaming on the mac. Just WoW and CS Source, nothing more.
 
iWork doesn't suck, it just is different. In order to accept it and like it, you need to give it a try as you first did when using Office

I do not recommend iWork to others but I use it more/more and like it better after each time

Some of the new things are annoying and tough to figure out but I was the same way when trying to learn Office several years back
 
I don't understand where you are having a problem with WoW on your iMac. My last gen, 24" runs wow at 60fps, all options up, only FSG turned off, and holds this frame rate during 25 man raids, while, running vent, safari, and iTunes. 1920x1200 res.

A quickreeboot to play CS Source doesn't seem to be that big of a deal to me.

I actually find it easier to switch between work documents, on my mac than a PC by a long shot, Expose+Spaces=workflow ease.
 
airjuggernaut said:
So guys, does Macbook sound good, or would the Used MBP be better?
Remeber, that i still will do some light gaming on the mac. Just WoW and CS Source, nothing more.
Click to expand...

I recommend the new MacBook from the Apple Store. While the older MBP has a better graphics card, if anything goes wrong outside that 90 day warranty, then your screwed. The MB has a one year warranty and can also have AppleCare added and make it a total of 3 years. If you really want to game on your laptop, you can always save up for a refurb MBP. They are $1700 from the Apple. Sometimes, Apple has the last gen model for $1500 with the X1600 graphics.
 
1. Macs can open multiple apps MORE EFFICIENTLY than Windows. Perhaps you don't have enough RAM? 2GB will work great, 4GB (currently cost about $70) will be better if you need to use rosetta.

Reason for dock:
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/10/10/road_to_mac_os_x_leopard_dock_1_6.html
The dock is much better than Windows if you need to multi task many apps. I usually have open, Email with >10,000 emails, Web Browser with dozens of pages, Photoshop with multiple imags, HTML editor, etc. What you are USED TO may not be the best way and may take awhile to adjust.

Here is how to launch apps fast: Open Activity Monitor (keyboard short cut Command-Space to open spotlight, start typing activity monitor until you see the app (for me "ac" would do), press down arrow, and press enter to launch. Should take a fraction of a second, 1 second at most.

Command-Tab to switch apps, hold Command. You can then tab, use arrow keys or mouse to navigate the list of apps that are open.

2. iMac should not hum. Open Activity Monitor, change filter to "All Processes", and sort by CPU usage. See if anything that you did not open is using high amount of CPU (but don't kill anything if you don't know what it is). Some times errent apps will take close to 100% cpu (resulting in high fan speed making some noise) in that case, just quit process it will be fine.

Otherwise it could be defective hardware. If it's defective hardware, you can get it replaced. iMacs are quieter than PCs in the same price range.

3. About reboot, The problem is not the Mac; the problem is ACTUALLY Windows takes a long time to start, reboot, and shutdown. Why don't you measure how long it takes to restart the Mac using OS X until usable, and measure how long it takes to restart windows until usable? (And measure again in 3 months, when windows will be considerably slower, while OS X maintains its speed).
 
the mb is a well rounded machine, and apple throws everything you need into their computers so you don't have to be a technician. In fact, their was an argument over the whole mac vs pc issue I over heard. and the pc guy said that "macs were so easy and you didn't have to think so you got stupid". He got his ass kicked btw, and while typing this I just forgot my whole point.:confused:
 
lol, just letting everyone know, I got the Macbook. And all I can say is i'm so much more happier with it than I was with the iMac.
 
This thread continues to make no sense.


Games are one of your listed problems with the iMac, so you buy a Macbook...............right good luck with that.
 
Yeah that doesn't make any sense the iMac blows the mb away in gaming but uhhh....whatever you should have gone with the mbp.
 
Sounds like you had a bad iMac. Even at 1 GB of RAM that comes standard it should not take a minute to open office. The thing should be nearly silent and you shouldn't be hearing any noise from the computer at all.

The Macbook will lag somewhat on games since it doesn't have a dedicated graphics card. Since your main problem was using widows games on a mac good luck with that. Plus, you are going to have the same problems in office with your macbook. I don't know how it can't keep up with your typing speed as that makes no sense, but like I said there is something wrong with the computer.

I assume you will be using your old PC for gaming. If not, I guess we'll see you back here again. :p
 
I second that this thread makes no sense. PC mag just rated the MBP the fastest laptop for running vista. How's that for a slap in the face?
 
toomuchstereo said:
This thread continues to make no sense.


Games are one of your listed problems with the iMac, so you buy a Macbook...............right good luck with that.
Click to expand...
Like I said, I dont CARE if i dont get 60+ FPS, as long as the games run decently I'm fine. I also said that my Desktop is going to be my primary gaming machine. IF i happened to be away from it, my MB can still Handle the games I want. I definetly did my research, and the X3100 runs WoW and CS:Source FINE.

pscoble said:
Yeah that doesn't make any sense the iMac blows the mb away in gaming but uhhh....whatever you should have gone with the mbp.
Click to expand...
I know it does, I was quite aware of this.

brop52 said:
Sounds like you had a bad iMac. Even at 1 GB of RAM that comes standard it should not take a minute to open office. The thing should be nearly silent and you shouldn't be hearing any noise from the computer at all.

The Macbook will lag somewhat on games since it doesn't have a dedicated graphics card. Since your main problem was using widows games on a mac good luck with that. Plus, you are going to have the same problems in office with your macbook. I don't know how it can't keep up with your typing speed as that makes no sense, but like I said there is something wrong with the computer.

I assume you will be using your old PC for gaming. If not, I guess we'll see you back here again. :p
Click to expand...
Office does lag. So lets say I were to type up this sentence. I would type the entire thing, and the text would appear a few seconds later, this is called LAG. I also said that my Desktop is now going to be used for my Work.
Like I said above, my Desktop is going to be my PRIMARY gaming machine. The MB is secondary and I am quite aware that it isn't a gaming machine, but for the games I play Its perfect.

Matiek said:
I second that this thread makes no sense. PC mag just rated the MBP the fastest laptop for running vista. How's that for a slap in the face?
Click to expand...

How does the MBP being the fastest Vista laptop have ANYTHING to do with this thread? Did I ever complain about the speed of Vista :|?
 
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