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Sell my awesome 3.06 imac for an unibody mbp?

G

glowjangles

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 19, 2008
17
0
I love my 3.06 2008 imac. I got it for a great deal and it has served me well.

Recently, I've switched jobs and have been doing a lot more freelance. Now I need portability. (the hackintosh just isn't cutting it lol)

I know I can sell the imac, get the 2.8 ghz mbp + an external, but the reviews I've read all show that the 8800gs in this puppy still outperforms the current mobile competition.

I frequently have Adobe ps, ai, and the occasional dreamweaver/aftereffects open and running.

So now, the options are:

Sell the 24" beast, purchase a new 2.8 mbp + external
or
Keep the beast, and buy a refurb/craigslist unibody macbook

Please help! Thanks in advance.
 
I am in a similar situation. I sold my Unibody Macbook before coming back to the US, and here I just have an iMac (2007 Aluminum, 20"). I am also debating between selling it and getting a MBP only, and if so which size.

My thoughts on the situation: if you can get a good price for your iMac, then go ahead and sell it and get the 13" MBP. When money is no longer as tight, either repurchase an iMac or get a good external display (like the 24" ACD or 30" ACD) along with a laptop stand.

That way you have a good system to take with you for your projects (and yes the MBP can do what you want it to) and later at home you can take advantage of having a nicer display. Win-win, the way I see it!
 
I'd try and keep the iMac and find a portable myself. You sound like you really like it and I might end up missing it if I were you... I luckily have an iMac and a MBP (and no life as I can't afford one, but hey), and I wouldn't like to JUST have the MBP because I do love having the bigger screen.

Yes I could hook it up to an external but I've been there and done that and bought the annoying t-shirt. Doesn't suit me :)
 
I think having 2 machines is better because if one goes down, you have one that you can use. Although, machines nowadays dont do that as much.
 
munkees said:
I would keep that iMac, then look for a cheaper portable for the on the go. Personally I like the bigger screen of the desktop.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Imo its much more comfortable to use the imac screen than a smaller laptop screen. You would probably miss the screen real estate.
 
Get the MBP - it is a great computer - and get an external monitor with it. I'd also suggest that you consider refurbs, as they are individually tested, have Apple's warranty and come at a considerable discount.

Cheers and good luck
 
J&JPolangin said:
...one is better than 2?... tell that to my 6 machines (Dell 8100, Toshiba 1905-s303, Sony PCG-TR3A, eeePC1000H, 20" iMac and an Nvidia whitebook):p
Click to expand...

Okay, "always" is wrong word :) What I meant was if OP works with his computer (eg word processing, photo editing) it easier to have 'em in one computer than half and half. And personally, I like to have one great machine that does my all the hard work. Of course that's everyones own thing.
 
I believe I read somewhere that the extra vram with the 2.8 unibody mbp (512mb) versus the 2.66 (256mb) will help push the external monitor. Was I dreaming or delirious?

The price difference ends up being almost the same:

Sell my 3.06 - pay an additional $400ish for the 2.8(new) or $300ish 2.8 or 2.93 (refurb) + $300 for a nice, color accurate monitor

or

spend $800ish for a refurb.

Many of you are saying that I'll miss the beautiful screen, but won't the external fill that void? Most of the work I do, I usually copy to my portable WD external anyhow, backing it up to my home base externals about once a week.

So I guess it comes down to convenience and speed. Having two separate computers is somewhat of a hassle in terms of syncing, but having to dock all the cables each and every time I move brings up the same argument.

Will the 2.8 mbp (9600M) + external run as fluidly as the 3.06 (8800gs) when handling huge photo files in Lightroom, large print pieces in AI, or 3 to 4 adobe programs while blasting Chromeo on Pandora?

Many have stated the Adobe suite performance is dependent on ram, and I'm assuming even the late 08 refurb will be able to take up to 8gb of ram, given the DDR3. Again, correct me if I'm assuming too much.

Thanks again, you're feedback is really helping!
 
I went from an iMac 24 to a mbp. I have to say I miss my iMac and the screen. The iMac felt faster and people here told me that's probablyb due to the fact it has a desk top hard drive.
 
Have you considered MobileMe?

I have an iMac on my desk, a MacBook Pro that travels hundreds of miles with me, and I work on PCs at work too. MobileMe has the latest versions of my files without me needing to so much as press a button - the initial sync is slow, yes, but from then it's fine for my work files. Maybe it'd be more of a chore with bigger files though.
 
If you're going to get a 15" MBP, buy one of the models from March 2009.
 
glowjangles said:
I believe I read somewhere that the extra vram with the 2.8 unibody mbp (512mb) versus the 2.66 (256mb) will help push the external monitor. Was I dreaming or delirious?

The price difference ends up being almost the same:

Sell my 3.06 - pay an additional $400ish for the 2.8(new) or $300ish 2.8 or 2.93 (refurb) + $300 for a nice, color accurate monitor

or

spend $800ish for a refurb.

Many of you are saying that I'll miss the beautiful screen, but won't the external fill that void? Most of the work I do, I usually copy to my portable WD external anyhow, backing it up to my home base externals about once a week.

So I guess it comes down to convenience and speed. Having two separate computers is somewhat of a hassle in terms of syncing, but having to dock all the cables each and every time I move brings up the same argument.

Will the 2.8 mbp (9600M) + external run as fluidly as the 3.06 (8800gs) when handling huge photo files in Lightroom, large print pieces in AI, or 3 to 4 adobe programs while blasting Chromeo on Pandora?

Many have stated the Adobe suite performance is dependent on ram, and I'm assuming even the late 08 refurb will be able to take up to 8gb of ram, given the DDR3. Again, correct me if I'm assuming too much.

Thanks again, you're feedback is really helping!
Click to expand...

iMac's monitor is very good IPS paneled. You would have to buy 24" LED display to get same quality.

2.8 MBP is performance wise almost same as 3.06 iMac, no noticeable difference.

I run Photoshop CS4 with 4Gb of DDR3 with absolutely no problems and I usually have Aperture, iTunes, Safari etc opened at the same time.

Only early 17" and new MBPs can officially take 8Gb but that costs over 700$. '08 Models can take 6Gb unofficially.
 
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