Trying to decide which notebook/display combo

[Tygoeser]

I am currently looking into converting my current work computer (iMac, early 2011) into a more mobile situation and also get some speed while I'm at it. I work with Photoshop and quark press and occasionally illustrator. Usually I'm working with large files with several layers and at times enlarging photos for projects.

I was looking at the MacBook Air at first because it is very portable because of its size. I was going to go with the 13" and max out the ram and do a 128 or 256 flash storage. In addition however, I still need a bigger display to work on at the office so I was going to add in the Apple Thunderbolt Display and use the one thunderbolt port form the mba for that. I also want to start keeping all these files on an external thunderbolt drive.

My second option would be to spend a little more on the notebook itself, and go with a MacBook Pro 13" and max the ram as well and same options for the flash storage and instead of the Thunderbolt Display, take advantage of the hdmi output and purchase one that isn't apple for the larger display.

The Apple Thunderbolt Display seems nice, but worth the money? Which option would be best?

If you actually read all this, thanks. I appreciate the input.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Thunderbolt display not worth the money. Buy a good thunderbolt 2 dock and a 4K display for less

The 13inch machines are only dual core so you will be moving from a quad to dual core which will slow down your photo editing etc.

I will be honest you will probably be fine with the 13 inch rMBP but once you max one out you are looking at nearly 15 inch money and there you get a great quadcore and much better graphics for your cash.

 

[maflynn]

I think the quad core processor in the 15" MBP may suit you better, the other advantage to the 15" MBP is that it comes with 16GB of ram and 256GB of storage.

I agree with Samuelsan2001 about the thunderbolt display. You can find a better less expansive model. You don't need a thunderbolt dock however. Just get a display that has a mini display port interface. You can plug that directly into the thunderbolt port and it will work

I have an older LED Apple Cinema display that is uses the mini display port and that works for me (plugging into the thunderbolt port)

 

[Samuelsan2001]

I think the quad core processor in the 15" MBP may suit you better, the other advantage to the 15" MBP is that it comes with 16GB of ram and 256GB of storage.

I agree with Samuelsan2001 about the thunderbolt display. You can find a better less expansive model. You don't need a thunderbolt dock however. Just get a display that has a mini display port interface. You can plug that directly into the thunderbolt port and it will work

I have an older LED Apple Cinema display that is uses the mini display port and that works for me (plugging into the thunderbolt port)

I know he doesn't need the dock but if he is spending that sort of money and wants external HDD's etc then the dock is an elegant solutuion.

 

[Tygoeser]

Thunderbolt display not worth the money. Buy a good thunderbolt 2 dock and a 4K display for less

The 13inch machines are only dual core so you will be moving from a quad to dual core which will slow down your photo editing etc.

I will be honest you will probably be fine with the 13 inch rMBP but once you max one out you are looking at nearly 15 inch money and there you get a great quadcore and much better graphics for your cash.

Yeah, after going back and forth so much and researching what matters for what I'm doing, I realize that although I want to be more mobile, I can easily sacrifice the power I need by doing that. Basically I want to be able to keep up with invoicing/emails/ and be able to send what I call "proofs" for work which I do via quarkxpress or indesign. Another idea I had would to be to spend it on an older but more "loaded" Mac Pro and then use whatever left to get a simple laptop for those more menial tasks. If you wouldn't mind checking out this link and let me know what you think of this and the price.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Apple/MB879C32W1TS/

Is it worth getting an older one? Seems I can get more for my money. Except it won't have the thunderbolt for the external drive which I think is nice.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

I wouldn't buy it not because of the thunderbolt (I agree I like my thunderbolt) but because of USB 2, crappy graphics, slow RAM and a quadcore Xeon that can be worse in single and dualcore threading than the 13 inch rMBP although beter in multithreaded apps. Also at pushing 7 years old just how long will you get out of it??/

See here for benchmarks processors vs 13 inch rMBP

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Xeon-W3580-vs-Intel-Core-i5-5287U/m9673vsm25610

 

[AFEPPL]

rMBP, 15 or 13, hmmmm depends how much time you spend doing things that would benefit from a quad core processor vs mobility. I'd certainly not go with the MBA.

 

[Tygoeser]

I wouldn't buy it not because of the thunderbolt (I agree I like my thunderbolt) but because of USB 2, crappy graphics, slow RAM and a quadcore Xeon that can be worse in single and dualcore threading than the 13 inch rMBP although beter in multithreaded apps. Also at pushing 7 years old just how long will you get out of it??/

See here for benchmarks processors vs 13 inch rMBP

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Xeon-W3580-vs-Intel-Core-i5-5287U/m9673vsm25610

Thanks for the link! I'm checking it out, and yeah I do agree with the age. Thank you again

 

[Tygoeser]

rMBP, 15 or 13, hmmmm depends how much time you spend doing things that would benefit from a quad core processor vs mobility. I'd certainly not go with the MBA.

Yeah after some research, mba is out of the question. I would be spending money on much less graphics and power and an over priced Thunderbolt Display. It's definitely between which mbp to go with or if I should look at investing in a good desktop and a cheap laptop for the small mobile tasks I'm looking to complete. Thing is, I have a budget, but it's a little flexible. I'm at a growing pint of the small business and will be working on much bigger things or more things at a time. I don't want to get something that would stunt that. I think it's always worth spending a little more on something that can offer more as you grow. I work hard, so I need my set up to work just as hard. I don't want to have to worry about changing it in a year or two just because I didn't get what I needed. For a desktop, it would be an iMac, but then I'm back to where I'm at now, just faster.

I would love to complete this all with the mbp and a larger display for when I'm not on the road. And I'd rather carry a 13" around vs a 15". But like I said I don't want to hinder future work or growth because I can't do it all from a 13". Aghhh! Haha stupid decisions..

 

[Samuelsan2001]

If you are looking at desktops then the new imacs are certainly worth a go with fantastic screens huge colour gamut and all the quadcore processing you could need for teh same price as that pro.

 

[Tygoeser]

If you are looking at desktops then the new imacs are certainly worth a go with fantastic screens huge colour gamut and all the quadcore processing you could need for teh same price as that pro.

Hey I appreciate all the input. I honestly am leaning towards a new iMac 27. I don't want to sacrifice power and graphics for my work. I won't be on the road till around March coming up, maybe by then I can afford to add a mba 11" base model for the road. I just need it for accounting and email stuff. Also for Photoshop, but just to check image specs and sizing and resolution for jobs, not for editing. I also would use quarkxpress on the road to just send a proof of cropping, which doesn't take much. I believe a little guy like the mba could manage that, being there's no editing involved or huge tasks. I'm going to go over everything, and compare the mbp with a bigger display route vs the iMac route with a small mobile laptop. If I were to go with the iMac, I would definitely max the ram to 32. Would I need to make any processor upgrades? I'd rather spend that on a flash storage and thunderbolt external drive. Do the processor upgrades make a difference?

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Well the only processor upgrade worth having is the i7 which give you hyperthreading unavailable on the desktop i5's, so they can make a large difference in hyperthreaded apps and no real difference in apps that don't use hyperthreading.

Yep an SSD is certainly a must for any modern computer in my opinion.

Maybe a second hand retina macbook for when you need it next year, retina loveliness on a,very thin light machine may be a good compliment to the iMac.

Do remember the 27 inch iMac still has upgradeable RAM and a 16Gb kit (2 x 8GB) added to what you already have in there (8Gb 2 x 4Gb) will give you 24Gb which will be more than enough for you and save you buying 32GB.

 

[Tygoeser]

Well the only processor upgrade worth having is the i7 which give you hyperthreading unavailable on the desktop i5's, so they can make a large difference in hyperthreaded apps and no real difference in apps that don't use hyperthreading.

Yep an SSD is certainly a must for any modern computer in my opinion.

Maybe a second hand retina macbook for when you need it next year, retina loveliness on a,very thin light machine may be a good compliment to the iMac.

Do remember the 27 inch iMac still has upgradeable RAM and a 16Gb kit (2 x 8GB) added to what you already have in there (8Gb 2 x 4Gb) will give you 24Gb which will be more than enough for you and save you buying 32GB.

Awesome, when you say it is upgrades me, are you referring to buying the ram elsewhere and installing it myself? I did that on my last one and that's a great idea. Thank you

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Yep the only 2 apple computers left with user upgradeable ram is the 27 inch imac and the mac pro.....

 

[Tygoeser]

Yep the only 2 apple computers left with user upgradeable ram is the 27 inch imac and the mac pro.....

Hey, again thanks for the help. I ended up going with the mbp 15", so I can take it with me when I need to and not worry about ordering a second computer. When I got into the different models of the 15" I noticed that only the top model offers the extra graphics! Which I would want, but also don't want to pay for. So I added it all up what I would ideally want, 512 flash storage, processor upgrade, and the rest comes with the full ram and top graphics for the mbp. It was a bit out of my budget, however I found the same exact model from this year with the same exact upgrades, that I don't want to pay for, in the refurbished for $400 less!

Hopefully I won't have to make this decision until a good while from now.

Peace

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Hey, again thanks for the help. I ended up going with the mbp 15", so I can take it with me when I need to and not worry about ordering a second computer. When I got into the different models of the 15" I noticed that only the top model offers the extra graphics! Which I would want, but also don't want to pay for. So I added it all up what I would ideally want, 512 flash storage, processor upgrade, and the rest comes with the full ram and top graphics for the mbp. It was a bit out of my budget, however I found the same exact model from this year with the same exact upgrades, that I don't want to pay for, in the refurbished for $400 less!

Hopefully I won't have to make this decision until a good while from now.

Peace

Cool man they really are good computers for a portable and unless you are a big gamer will handle anything you throw at it fine.