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Tin-Cup · Sep 29, 2004, 08:08 AM

i dont use the portability of my powerbook as much as i thought i woul (hardly at all)

i do alot of photoshop and some final cut... dont really play games
i would have the 20 inch with 1gb ram, and have got rev c pb 15 inch 512 ram,

what do you guys think?

just cant decide...

Randman · Sep 29, 2004, 08:42 AM

If you can sell your PB, you'll get a slight bump in performance improvement, but you'll lose money on the PB and spend more for the iMac. But if you just added ram, you'd also be close in performance.
And don't forget that the iMac is rev a, likely to have more problems.
You could always add a second monitor to your setup now, include mouse, keyboard and external drive for less than the iMac and still have a pretty spiffy desktop setup.

Tin-Cup · Sep 29, 2004, 08:48 AM

i can sell my powerbook... and for the money (im in uk btw) i can get a 20inch iMac g5 bluetooth kb and mouse 1gb ram and airport extreme

d.fine · Sep 29, 2004, 08:59 AM

I'd keep the PB, add more ram and takes Randman's advice : get an Apple display if you want a bigger screen, or any other screen. Don't think those 300MHz are going to make a huge difference.

You never know that 'portability' might after all come in handy ....

Tin-Cup · Sep 29, 2004, 09:16 AM

yeah i know what your saying... but that mean dropping another grand (gbp) on a screen and the more money on the other stuff... but i could straight swap my second hand powerbook for a brand new iMac with 1gb ram

see my dilemma

d.fine · Sep 29, 2004, 09:34 AM

It's your desicion. We're just sharing points of view.

If you think this is the right choice for you, then go for it. Just remember, as mentioned earlier, the new iMac G5 is a Rev A product ... it's the first of its kind.

As PB's don't loose their value too fast, maybe you can wait for a Rev B iMac G5 ? Just a thought.

Tin-Cup · Sep 29, 2004, 09:49 AM

yeah, and thanks for you opinions... i didnt mean any offense...

thanks

iREZ · Sep 29, 2004, 11:30 AM

Why not upgrade to a 17" PB, that way you'll have a 17" screen just like the midrange iMac but still have portability. Just get an external keyboard, mouse and iCurve (or any other stand) and voila great looking setup that's only a little, and I do mean little, less powerful but you'll still have a FW800 and PCI slot, not to mention a better GPU. All this would cost a couple hundred more but it's a way better option in my opinion than just sticking with the iMac.

davisrg · Sep 29, 2004, 12:18 PM

Originally posted by iREZ:
Why not upgrade to a 17" PB, that way you'll have a 17" screen just like the midrange iMac but still have portability. Just get an external keyboard, mouse and iCurve (or any other stand) and voila great looking setup that's only a little, and I do mean little, less powerful but you'll still have a FW800 and PCI slot, not to mention a better GPU. All this would cost a couple hundred more but it's a way better option in my opinion than just sticking with the iMac.

Excellent suggestion. I fully agree!

d.fine · Sep 29, 2004, 02:37 PM

Originally posted by Tin-Cup:
yeah, and thanks for you opinions... i didnt mean any offense...

thanks

None taken, don't worry about it. All I wanted to say is that no one here can decide for you, you're the one who has to 'close the deal'

A 17" upgrade may be a good idea. But I think the point of the PB - iMac swap is that there are no extra costs, I think he's trying to avoid paying extra.

Maflynn · Sep 29, 2004, 05:44 PM

if you take a look at Barefeats benchmark it shows the PB slightly faster in the graphic tests.

If you don't need the portability facet of the PB, then go for it. The iMac is a nice machine, I'm sure you will be happy with it. One recommendation is to test drive it at your local compusa or apple store to make sure it is everything you hope it to be.

Mike