Should I buy iMac or Mac Pro?

[BigBuddhaBelly]

Ok, two friends and my PC is convincing me to switch to a Mac. Now the only question is...which Mac is right for me?

What I will be doing with my new Mac:

I would like to start drawing on a computer using a Wacom Intous tablet, and possibly some version of Photoshop and Manga Studio Debut. Mostly just drawing comics and cartoony stuff.

I use to play World of Warcraft and might pick it back up or games similar to WoW.

Messing with Itunes and surfing the web.

I'm thinking of the iMac 24" or the Mac Pro. Now I read somewhere if I am going to buy an iMac, to wait a little because there might be some new update to them, (but when and what this update is I have no idea.)

Now I can feasible upgrade the Mac Pro way beyond the iMac, but honestly is the iMac "more" than enough for what I am looking to do? I guess I've been just stuck on a PC so long that I am scared if I can't upgrade it a lot, then I can't keep up with newer software and games...I know Macs are different, I watched a video on youtube of an iMac running 40 programs with no lag...shoot I have problems running 6 tabs on my mozilla browser and looking at art.

Mostly writing this to convince myself I really don't need a Mac Pro or something. But wanted to hear what people thought..and also if I should wait a little bit to buy w/e I decide on...or go ahead on buy now...my tax return is burning a hole in my pocket

Thank you in advance for any helpful info.

 

[justflie]

Hey there,

I'm no expert on this subject matter or anything, but I would probably suggest an iMac in this case. A Mac Pro seems like a bit of overkill. Yes, it is true that upgrading most of the hardware in an iMac is extremely difficult (ie video card, processor). You should be in excellent shape for doing what you described with the iMac (tablet, WoW, etc). I have a Macbook Pro and it's a dream in OS X and Windows. iMacs have very similar specs to my MBP. Check out out some posts online where people note how WoW and other programs of interest run on their iMacs/Mac Pros to give you an idea of performance.

In my opinion, an iMac is future proof enough for what you're talking about. If you're REALLY worried about upgradability, keep this in mind: Macs typically have a high resale value. While this is beginning to change with the faster release cycle (thanks Intel!) of products, you can typically still sell your used Mac for a good price. So if there's a certain game a couple of years down the line that you REALLY want to play and the iMac isn't up to snuff, sell it and grab a new machine. Think of it as subsidizing.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll be happy either way.

 

[DesignerOnMac]

Ok, two friends and my PC is convincing me to switch to a Mac. Now the only question is...which Mac is right for me?

What I will be doing with my new Mac:

I would like to start drawing on a computer using a Wacom Intous tablet, and possibly some version of Photoshop and Manga Studio Debut. Mostly just drawing comics and cartoony stuff.

I use to play World of Warcraft and might pick it back up or games similar to WoW.

Messing with Itunes and surfing the web.

I'm thinking of the iMac 24" or the Mac Pro. Now I read somewhere if I am going to buy an iMac, to wait a little because there might be some new update to them, (but when and what this update is I have no idea.)

Now I can feasible upgrade the Mac Pro way beyond the iMac, but honestly is the iMac "more" than enough for what I am looking to do? I guess I've been just stuck on a PC so long that I am scared if I can't upgrade it a lot, then I can't keep up with newer software and games...I know Macs are different, I watched a video on youtube of an iMac running 40 programs with no lag...shoot I have problems running 6 tabs on my mozilla browser and looking at art.

Mostly writing this to convince myself I really don't need a Mac Pro or something. But wanted to hear what people thought..and also if I should wait a little bit to buy w/e I decide on...or go ahead on buy now...my tax return is burning a hole in my pocket

Thank you in advance for any helpful info.

I think you would be happy with an imac. The 24" gives you lots of real estate to work in. The 2.4 or 2.8 Ghz are sweet machines.

I agree that a Mac pro would be over kill for you with what you want to do with the computer. Upgrading things yourself, is somewhat over rated I think. Upgrading the processor and not the motherboard is a waste of effort if the bus speed isn't increased, etc. Your a PC guy so you know what I am talking about.

If you have a chance, go to an Apple store, if one is near you and try out an imac and the Mac Pro. Hands on experiences is always better.

Let us know what you decide!

 

[gazfocus]

It really depends what spec iMac you're looking for.

I was going through this and finally decided on a Mac Pro because it's really difficult to upgrade even just the hard drive as you have to remove the glass from the front of the screen. The only upgradeable thing is really the RAM.

Also, if you are looking to get the 2.8GHz iMac, the quad core 2.8GHz Mac Pro is a very close price and I would therefore buy the Mac Pro.

 

[spork183]

think of it this way. do you want the blonde who has everything and knows exactly what you want, but she may not be to bright and you won't teach her much?

or do you want the brunette who is willing to learn, accepting upgrades as you go?

Short answer, if you have the money, buy the brunette. She'll be worth it in the long run...
wait, what were we talking about?

Apologies to any blonde, brunette, female or stereotype that may have been harmed or offended in the creation of this post.

 

[ChrisA]

I have the white iMac the model just before the aluminum iMacs came out. It is a 24 inch 2.16Ghz model with 2GB RAM.

Right now I'm ripping a stacl of clasical music CDs to Apple lossels in iTunes. It is going at aboout 8X to 10X speed at the same time I'm got tis site and my web mail up in safari and I've got Photoshop CS3. There is no slow down at all. The mac is pretty good at multi tasking

I'd only suggest the mac Pro if you were doing some serious processing like editing HD video or pushing hundreds of photos through a RAW workflow

Drawing programs tend to do almost nothing but wait for the user to move the pen.