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Should I swap my MacBook for an iMac? (need to know within 15 hrs)

one1

one1

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 17, 2007
1,176
29
Chattanooga, TN
Have a situation coming up tomorrow where I am being offered an iMac for my MacBook. I've heard the iMac has flaws (like the MacBook) however I have shipped my MB back to Apple earlier this year and all the Rev A flaws were fixed. It's been literally flawless since. They re-cased it, put a new DVDRW in, few other things, and gave me a new power adapter.

My MB is upgraded nicely compared to stock, also.

MacBook 1.83 gig
Combo replaced with DVD Superdrive
RAM boosted from 512mb to 2 gig
40 gig HD replaced with 160 gig HD
Completely re-cased
New power adapter


iMac 2007 2.4 gig
320 gig HD
4 gig ram

This would be a small machine for my office upstairs and I'm not sure I need the portability of the MacBook since it doesn't really go many places, but is the iMac going to hold it's value? They seem to get cheap..... quick.
 
The iMac would definitely be a nice upgrade to your MacBook as it specs are way better and it is newer, but you do seem happy with your MacBook so it's really hard to tell in this situation.
 
well you need to ask you self one question really, and that's "how badly do you need a portible computer", if you really dont NEED one then go for the imac
 
one1 said:
Have a situation coming up tomorrow where I am being offered an iMac for my MacBook. I've heard the iMac has flaws (like the MacBook) however I have shipped my MB back to Apple earlier this year and all the Rev A flaws were fixed. It's been literally flawless since. They re-cased it, put a new DVDRW in, few other things, and gave me a new power adapter.

My MB is upgraded nicely compared to stock, also.

MacBook 1.83 gig
Combo replaced with DVD Superdrive
RAM boosted from 512mb to 2 gig
40 gig HD replaced with 160 gig HD
Completely re-cased
New power adapter


iMac 2007 2.4 gig
320 gig HD
4 gig ram

This would be a small machine for my office upstairs and I'm not sure I need the portability of the MacBook since it doesn't really go many places, but is the iMac going to hold it's value? They seem to get cheap..... quick.
Click to expand...

If its Aluminum with 2600HD graphics I would take the trade and buy an updated laptop later if I needed it.

Cheers,
Tim
 
Just for another perspective: you might also ask yourself if you're willing to be stuck at a desk in exchange for the faster iMac. After having laptops for several years now, I now hate being chained to a desk to use a computer. I will never go back to a desktop as a primary machine. Even if I don't take the laptop out much (I rarely need to), I use it all over the house - wherever I happen to be, and wherever is comfortable. I'm currently typing this post while lounging on the bed. Way more comfortable than sitting at the desk in the other room. ;)

The only "desktop" I plan to buy in the near future is an updated Mac mini for use as a home server that will be running 24/7 - something that's not well suited to a portable machine. I don't see that ever changing unless I were to have a specific business need for a much faster machine, and then I'd skip the iMac altogether and get a much more capable Mac Pro. For the stuff I do, including some fairly intensive hobbyist video work, the better specs on an iMac don't justify the lack of mobility.

That's just me. You may feel differently as many people do. Just something to consider.
 
Almost forgot! Also, I went from 90 apps to 134 apps on the iphone, might as well change that too. LOL. :)
 
mixmacface said:
if you need the portability, keep the macbook. if you just mainly use it as a desktop, go with the imac. they're GORGEOUS. my school has labs with imacs, and they look so pretty. :)
Click to expand...

Yea here at college our 'computer labs' in the basement of the library are full of iMacs... looks great.
 
Although I have a MB - and I love it - I would have bought an iMac if I didn't have to travel. I always had iMacs before - loved them.

Congratulations
 
Thank you. :)

Something is different with this iMac. Apple says the 2.4 20" iMac should have the ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT graphics processor with 128MB of GDDR3 memory.

This one however has the ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO graphics processor with 256MB of GDDR3 memory, which is supposed to be in the 2.66 model.

It also has the 320 Gig HD that is supposed to be in the 2.66.

http://www.apple.com/imac/specs/

(not that I am complaining!) It explains why I am seeing such a big difference in video performance over the 2.4g iMac I was playing with earlier this year in the Kennesaw store in Atl. Combined with the 4 gig of Apple ram, this has turned out to be quite a performer.

Quite pleased.
 

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one1 said:
Thank you. :)

Something is different with this iMac. Apple says the 2.4 20" iMac should have the ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT graphics processor with 128MB of GDDR3 memory.

This one however has the ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO graphics processor with 256MB of GDDR3 memory, which is supposed to be in the 2.66 model.

It also has the 320 Gig HD that is supposed to be in the 2.66.

(not that I am complaining!) It explains why I am seeing such a big difference in video performance over the 2.4g iMac I was playing with earlier this year in the Kennesaw store in Atl. Combined with the 4 gig of Apple ram, this has turned out to be quite a performer.

Quite pleased.
Click to expand...

The reason this is because this is an older model than the current iMacs from Apple. This is the 2.4ghz before iMacs newest revision.
If you look in the refurb store you can find the 20" 2.4ghz with 2600Pro graphics and 230gb hdd. It is the higher-20" model of the previous generation. Glad your liking the machine :) You got a great deal!
 
This was purchased at the end of last year so I knew they made a very slight revision, but it looks like they downgraded them rather than upgraded them since the larger vid card doesn't show as an option this year. It's still got a bigger HD than they show offering last year, though I know they can sell them with upgraded options. This one just appears to have all the upgrades.

Regardless, either way I dig it. :) I wonder if I can bump the video card in it even higher.
 
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