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danielsemper

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 24, 2012
4
0
Sydney, Australia
Hi guys,

I am interested to compare pros and cons of:

rMBP (15 inch, 512GB) vs. MBA (13 inch, 128GB) + iMac (21.5, 2.7GHz)

I have MacBook Pro with Retina Display 15 inches, I recently bought it in Sydney, Australia (July 21). I bought it in my local Apple Store, mainly it has:

2.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
8GB RAM
512 GB Flash Storage


Here it costs $3199 AUD, but I got it with student discount at $2979 :)

I am very happy with the rMBP 15", the retina display is great, the CPU speed is perfect (I need to use latest Photoshop, Flash and 3 browsers with 40 tabs open each). What I don't like so much is that it is quite heavy to carry, I mainly use it in my room, is not confortable to take it to classes. Other think that I don't like is that for example when I use Photoshop I feel more confortable using the big screens, like in the old iMacs at University.

My rMBP has 3 months of use, so I dont think I qualify for an Apple refund, so maybe I can re-sell it in eBay or in the university boards (UTS) at something around $2600 AUD (I hope).


Doing some numbers, if I get that money I can buy a MBA 13" 128GB and the new iMac 21.5" (the cheapest). Both cost $1350 + $1429 = $2779 AUD.

With student discount both are: $1299 (MBA13) + $1379 (iMac 21.5 2.7GHz) = $2678 AUD

Should I sell it to buy those two?

- I will be loosing the retina display, the MBA and new iMac dont have it.
- I will be loosing a i7 CPU. The iMac has an i5.
- I will be loosing the 512GB in SSD, for just 128GB SSD in the MBA. I dont like HDD, they are noisy and unreliable.

- I will be winning a big screen to work at home, more confortable for media software.
- I will be winning a lot of portability (specially in the weight) with a MBA, but loosing screen size in laptop.

- 8GB of RAM is in both, rMBP and iMac.

What do you think? I bet I am not the only one thinking to sell a new rMB for an iMac and MBA, or considering wich options be better to buy.
 
Last edited:
I wouldn't give up the Retina Display for anything. If I were you I'd just spend a few hundred dollars and get an external display for your rMBP for using at home.
 
Good advise. Thanks

I wouldn't give up the Retina Display for anything. If I were you I'd just spend a few hundred dollars and get an external display for your rMBP for using at home.

Probably you are right, Retina screens are the future and I shouldn't go out of that line once I am in (I looove to see my HD photos in this screen). I think that you gave me a good advise, I will just save some money to get a new monitor :)

Another advantage of the rMBP is that if I have to travel for a few days to work in another country, I just have to bring it with me (all my files and CPU power will travel with me).
 
Probably you are right, Retina screens are the future and I shouldn't go out of that line once I am in (I looove to see my HD photos in this screen). I think that you gave me a good advise, I will just save some money to get a new monitor :)

Another advantage of the rMBP is that if I have to travel for a few days to work in another country, I just have to bring it with me (all my files and CPU power will travel with me).

This will do your desk justice: http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/82969
 
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