Upgrade Time - 15"MBP i7 or 27" iMac i7

[zoomzoom3]

It's that wonderful time of the year - upgrade time. Usually it's a pretty easy choice to make, but this time I'm left scratching my head so I'm looking to you guys for advice.

Presently I have a 24" 2.8Ghz iMac as my main machine & a prev generation 13" MBP for work and going mobile. I'm looking at either the i7 iMac or i7 15" MBP with a high-res screen upgrade. If it wasn't for the screen problems with the iMac I'd be all over that - especially since you get the true quad-core. The laptop is kinda winning me over at the moment b/c it's more serviceable (SSD upgrade in the fall) and there seems to be a lesser chance of getting one with problems than the present iMacs. I've got a separate 24" screen I could run the MBP off of until I get a 24" LED Cinema Display. The most intense programs I'm going to be running are Photoshop and InDesign.

Can you suggest which is the better way to go or if there is something major I'm overlooking. Thanks a bunch

 

[miles01110]

Do you want portability or not? Assuming you're on some sort of budget,

No/Don't care = get the iMac
Yes = get the MBP

 

[zoomzoom3]

Portability is a grey area... I do need it in some capacity - either a laptop or external drive + iMac so i can take my files to and from work.

 

[lasuther]

I have a 27" iMac and 13" MBP and that is definitely the way to go. If you end up up going for a new MBP, I would go for the 17" over the 15". You get the same screen resolution as your 24" iMac and an expresscard slot.

 

[EasyJW]

get the imac

the screen problems seem to have been resolved and overall it will be more useful, especially when you have your 13" mbp too

 

[Appelsap]

Get the iMac and an iPad That's what i am going to do.

Currently own an MacBook Pro. Going to sell it, when the iMacs get an update.

 

[zoomzoom3]

I thought about the iMac + iPad combo, but the pad just can't do what i need it to. If the screen problems with the iMac have been fixed, I'm totally going that route once they do the refresh. If I was to get a dud screen on a CTO iMac, is there any restrictions to sending it back for a replacement?

 

[hobes270]

I also would go for the imac + ipad combo. I currently have a 17" macbook pro. I will be selling it for a quad imac and 3g ipad. I work at an Apple Reseller store. If you get an imac that has a screen problem, you can return it for a replacement. We had a ton of returns in the beginning with screen problems, but we have not had many in the past few months at all.

 

[maclearning]

iMac + iPad = Everything you need. The quad core i7 27" w 8GB RAM outperforms the Mac Pros. Sync w/ the iPad and you're ready for pretty much everything, unless you have a great need to render video while on the go.

 

[zoomzoom3]

Hmm... good to know the returns are pretty straight forward. This will be my fourth major Mac purchase since I switched sides, and all my machines have been perfect out of the box. So fingers crossed the trend continues...

As much as I like the theory of the iPad, I do need content creation on the go. If I do go with the iMac, my 13" MBP might see a RAM and SSD upgrade just to give it a bit of a boost.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, they're appreciated