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Should I consider a MP or iMac? Help me make up mind

rgarjr

rgarjr

macrumors 604
Original poster
Apr 2, 2009
6,820
1,052
Southern California
Okay so I currently have a PC and ever since I got my MB (like a month ago) I really enjoyed it that now I want a Mac for my desktop.

I have 2 22" Viewsonic displays so I dont know if going from that to just an Imac would be good.
 
rgarjr said:
Okay so I currently have a PC and ever since I got my MB I really enjoyed it that now I want a Mac for my desktop.

I have 2 24" Viewsonic displays so I dont know if going from that to just an Imac would be good.
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You can always Craigslist a monitor if you have to. You can use an external monitor with the iMac.

The iMac basically uses laptop parts with a desktop hard drive and the Mac Pro is a whole other level of computing power.

What do you do with the computer? That should decide it.
 
Yeah I really don't need the power that the mac pro has. So I don't know maybe I'll just get the Imac and put it on a desk right next to my current setup.
 
Hello,

If you choose the 24in iMac, you're going to throw away those 2 monitors... The quality of the IPS screen will blow your mind! :-D

Loa
 
I was in a similar situation as you awhile back. I was always a windows person, My main computer was running Windows Vista. My dad has an Imac running Leopard so every time that I was over his house I got to use it.

Lets just say that I loved coming over his house! There was something about using a mac that was much more enjoyable. So I decided to get a mac, but which one?

A Mac Pro or an Imac? I did some research and was told that for what I'll use my computer for then an Imac is all that I need. So I decided on an Imac.

I used it for 1 week, after that I returned it and purchased a 2.66 ghz Quad Core Mac Pro which I've been very happy with every since. Why did I return it?

Well the first reason is because I'm a person who likes a speedy computer, even if I'll never use it to it's full potential I like it powerful.

The Imac was a bit too slow for my taste. It became sluggish at times. The second reason is because it's not upgradeable like a Mac Pro, I like having that ability.

The Third reason is just a personal taste but it was important to me, I like having a tower attached to a monitor as apposed to a computer built into the monitor.

I've got a stunning 24" Apple Cinema Display to go along with it which I love. To be honest I had always had my heart set on a Mac Pro.

I would go with what you would be most happy with. Don't let other people persuade you from getting a Mac Pro if that's what you really want.

Don't let people tell you that if you'll never use it to it's full potential then you don't need it (like in my case).

Hope that helps!
 
I think you're all forgetting that little Mac called the Mac Mini.

You get to use your monitors and you have OS X. Best of both worlds.
 
SimD said:
I think you're all forgetting that little Mac called the Mac Mini.

You get to use your monitors and you have OS X. Best of both worlds.
Click to expand...

True, although if you use it more than just occasionally, you will want to put in 4GB ram and a 7200rpm hard drive.

Even with those upgrades, it's still the cheapest option.
 
In my opinion, if you don't need the full power of a Mac Pro now, it depends on how long you want to keep your computer before upgrading/replacing it. And whether there is some use for an older iMac when you do replace it.

If you don't want to worry about finding an use for the iMac in 2 years (with integrated monitor), it is an incentive to buy a Pro which if an iMac is sufficient in the short term, will still be sufficiently powerful in 2 years.

In my case, a year ago I went with the Pro, 8 cores (the iMacs today still only have 2 core). The only limiting factor for me is a mistake I made when I first installed things. I should have bought an additional hard drive and dedicated it to Boot Camp/Windows. When I have heavy disk usage in both Windows and Mac, things bog down even though I have plenty of CPU speed. If the Windows was on it's own drive, it wouldn't conflict to much extent.
 
SLR2009 said:
I was in a similar situation as you awhile back. I was always a windows person, My main computer was running Windows Vista. My dad has an Imac running Leopard so every time that I was over his house I got to use it.

Lets just say that I loved coming over his house! There was something about using a mac that was much more enjoyable. So I decided to get a mac, but which one?

A Mac Pro or an Imac? I did some research and was told that for what I'll use my computer for then an Imac is all that I need. So I decided on an Imac.

I used it for 1 week, after that I returned it and purchased a 2.66 ghz Quad Core Mac Pro which I've been very happy with every since. Why did I return it?

Well the first reason is because I'm a person who likes a speedy computer, even if I'll never use it to it's full potential I like it powerful.

The Imac was a bit too slow for my taste. It became sluggish at times. The second reason is because it's not upgradeable like a Mac Pro, I like having that ability.

The Third reason is just a personal taste but it was important to me, I like having a tower attached to a monitor as apposed to a computer built into the monitor.

I've got a stunning 24" Apple Cinema Display to go along with it which I love. To be honest I had always had my heart set on a Mac Pro.

I would go with what you would be most happy with. Don't let other people persuade you from getting a Mac Pro if that's what you really want.

Don't let people tell you that if you'll never use it to it's full potential then you don't need it (like in my case).

Hope that helps!
Click to expand...

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! What a great testimonial! You will find these Mac forums just full on people "telling" you don't need or really want a Mac Pro. What you really need and want is an iMac. You'll will be perfectly content with an iMac.

The iMac may be a perfectly good computer for a very large group of computer buyers, but if you want (and most people don't truly "need" a computer) a certain type computer, then it's your money and you should buy what you want.

Now if you ask, and need help in making a decision, then that's a different story, but the person buying the computer should be making the decision by evaluating the advice people give when asked.
 
grue said:
…so will the glare on the godforsaken sheet of glass
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Can't say it's much of an issue on an iMac. It's pretty bad on a unibody MB/MBP, but that's because those screens are smaller and usually tilted in an angle that picks up lights from the ceiling. An iMac 24" screen will be pretty much vertical on your desktop, and the backlight is strong and always maxed out. I don't even think about the glare, and my iMac is about 2 feet from a window on the sunny side of our apartment... but I had a look at an MBP 17" the other day, and the glare was positively jarring. How that design choice survived all the way to manufacturing I'll never know.

Roy said:
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! What a great testimonial! You will find these Mac forums just full on people "telling" you don't need or really want a Mac Pro. What you really need and want is an iMac. You'll will be perfectly content with an iMac.
Click to expand...
I think that kind of talk is a result of Apple trying to convince everyone (including themselves) that the all-in-one design is the only right choice for consumers. Apple's dictates tend to be echoed by the fan base. They adamantly refuse to build a 'headless' model for consumers because they put all their eggs in the iMac basket many years ago, and backtracking at this point would be a huge loss in prestige. They've decided that you hate cables and separate units (computer, monitor, speakers) and that an iMac is therefore what you must have.

You'll probably be happy with a Mac Pro, the bummer is that you'll have to pay for server-grade components (Xeon processor, etc), when consumer desktop-grade components (Core i7 processor, etc) would give you the exact same speed for what you do with your machine, with none of the iMac's bottlenecks...
 
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