I'm a college student emphasizing in graphic design, and back in August I really didn't hold back on money and bought the 27' iMac I've been dreaming of getting since I started high school. I spent around $3,500 dollars on it, and it has just about everything an iMac could wish for. But ever since college started I've now realized the luxury of having a portable computer. Seeing all the other students around me with their MacBook Pros really makes me second guess WHY I bought an iMac. I need some advice. Should I keep my beautiful iMac, and maybe get a PC or something to carry around and do my work on? Or should I somehow sell my iMac? (and if so, tell me how I can for the most money) I just feel like I'm not getting the use out of the iMac that I thought I would because I'm never able to be around it. With a MacBook I could have it everywhere to do my work on.
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Should I sell my 27' iMac for MacBook Pro?
- Thread starter Brittanydavie
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I would say don't sell it. Maybe start saving up for a macbook, just a basic macbook, not macbook pro. Then you'll have something to carry around. I would keep the imac. You can have an imac and a macbook, the best of both worlds. Truth is, if you sell the imac, you won't get the return on it that you're hoping for, and you could lose a lot of money that way. Best to just keep your beautiful imac, and save up for a nice little macbook that will help you in your school. If you want to buy a PC to save money, that's okay too, but if you want to stay with macs, that's the cheapest way.
Good luck in whatever you decide.
Good luck in whatever you decide.
coryndiego
macrumors regular
I agree with Applefangirl. You could get a low end macbook or MBP at the school bookstore for a discount on top of a student discount (depending on where you go to school). I got my MBP at the university bookstore for $800! they are probably trying to unload the Core 2 Duos in stock with the introduction of the i-series
That big screen will come in handy for those graphics projects...and it makes a good movie screen too.
just my opinion.
Honestly, I am much more productive on a desktop. So if I were you, I would keep the iMac for serious work, and pick up a macbook or a macbook air to carry around with you. This way you can have the best of both worlds.
I think I will definitely keep the iMac. In a perfect world I would love to have a 15' Macbook Pro as well, I guess I will just have to keep saving up and see what happens. Thanks for all of your advice!
MacHamster68
macrumors 68040
keep the iMac , if you really need a portable then the question is for what you need it , the MacBookPro is alright if you dont have a iMac at home or if you need desperately all the processing power it offers which is less then a iMac has on offer , a good compromise would be to get a used MacBook in good condition if you dont need the processing power of the Pro , if you even need less then i would just get a msi wind u100 netbook and put snow leopard on it , works like any MacBook , i had one , sold it to a student who happened to be blind , as he did want "voice over" , because he said microsoft is charging £800 for a similar program to voice over , but voice over is free and included in every version of OSX , and a MacBook would be overkill already for most things he needs a portable for at university , and it serves him well , he was so happy about the little netbook and its performance with snow leopard and voice over that he bought himself a iMac for at home
so don't overestimate your needs on a laptop , and if you could be happy with a iPad screen size , but want more processing power and want something cheaper , a netbook is the ideal solution , at least if you choose a msi wind u100 or dell mini 10v as these are the 2 where its known to be nearly as easy to install snow leopard as it is on a MacBook , i mean the Blind student did buy my MSI wind and did the installing himself again as he did want to know how its done just in case , and he had no trouble whatsoever after i explained him that he need to swap the alt and windows key around in order to have alt and cmd at the same position as on a MacBook or Mac in general as it will make it easier for him to have all keys where they should be
the msi wind gets even recognized as MacBookPro by OSX 😀
so don't overestimate your needs on a laptop , and if you could be happy with a iPad screen size , but want more processing power and want something cheaper , a netbook is the ideal solution , at least if you choose a msi wind u100 or dell mini 10v as these are the 2 where its known to be nearly as easy to install snow leopard as it is on a MacBook , i mean the Blind student did buy my MSI wind and did the installing himself again as he did want to know how its done just in case , and he had no trouble whatsoever after i explained him that he need to swap the alt and windows key around in order to have alt and cmd at the same position as on a MacBook or Mac in general as it will make it easier for him to have all keys where they should be
the msi wind gets even recognized as MacBookPro by OSX 😀
100Teraflops
macrumors 6502a
You can buy a cheap laptop for $300-$500. Of course, I am assuming you have the extra cash to buy another machine. Hey, didn't another Apple 'device' launch yesterday? 😀 Food for thought.
kuebby
macrumors 68000
Definitely keep the iMac. I've personally used a MacBook, 15" MacBook Pro, and 20" iMac in a college setting (although not for graphic design), and the iMac is my favorite by far.
I love having the extra screen space so I can have 2 documents, PDFs, whatever next to each other. When I first got the iMac I had a netbook for taking notes in class but I recently switched to an iPad which I like much better.
I love having the extra screen space so I can have 2 documents, PDFs, whatever next to each other. When I first got the iMac I had a netbook for taking notes in class but I recently switched to an iPad which I like much better.
I hate to disagree with everyone above, but are you doing design work on a computer in your classes? Having just finished a masters degree, it was invaluable to be able to take my macbook to class and work with the tools on my computer rather than some PC desktop the school had. Then come home, hook it into 22" monitor and work on a bigger screen - it was the perfect situation. Now i'm done with school and have no need for this underpowered machine so I am giving it to my wife and buying a more powerful iMac.
If all your going to be doing is taking notes, then get an iPad, but if you actually have to photoshop, indesign, etc, etc in class - my preference would be to have my own computer in class to work on those things rather than USB flash drive all my work back and forth. But that is me. Also, if your almost done with school, just stick as well.
If all your going to be doing is taking notes, then get an iPad, but if you actually have to photoshop, indesign, etc, etc in class - my preference would be to have my own computer in class to work on those things rather than USB flash drive all my work back and forth. But that is me. Also, if your almost done with school, just stick as well.
I agree with the observations from mkitchen. If all you're doing in class is taking notes and non-design work, just get an iPad with a Bluetooth keyboard.
Otherwise, maybe do sell the iMac and get a powerful MacBook Pro and a big Cinema display to hook up to back in your apartment.
Otherwise, maybe do sell the iMac and get a powerful MacBook Pro and a big Cinema display to hook up to back in your apartment.
Another good thing about the iMac. It can plug in and not eat batteries (except for the Magic Mouse)when you are doing those graphic design projects.