[icruise]

I hope this thread is different enough from the discussion going on in the "official" MacBook Pro thread that it won't be locked. And I know the "portable vs. desktop" topic has been done many times, but there are some things about these new releases that change the situation somewhat.

I've already placed an order for the higher-spec MacBook Pro, which would be replacing my current PowerBook (a 1.25 Ghz 12" PowerBook). I use my current PowerBook almost exclusively as a desktop machine connected to my 23" cinema display. The reason I have a PowerBook instead of a desktop is that I wanted it to be portable if I should need to take it somewhere and because I need dual screens for the work that I do (I'm a translator). My current PowerBook is still very usable, although I could always use more speed. My main complaint about it is that the screen is too small, too low resolution, and too dim compared to the cinema display next to it.

Now here is my dilemma. I just found out that the new iMacs have DVI and also support using an extended desktop on an external display (aka "monitor spanning'). Previous iMacs only had VGA out (so you couldn't use them with a Cinema Display) and extended desktop was not possible without using a hack. This is huge news for me and it's got me thinking about canceling my MacBook Pro order.

Factors in favor of the iMac:

• Bigger screen (not sure if I would get the 17" or the 20", but either is bigger than the MacBook Pro)
• More ports
• Larger hard disk
• Dual-layer DVD burner
• Cheaper (and comes with a keyboard and mouse that I could sell, since I already have ones that I like better)
• Could be faster than the MBP if I get the 2Ghz model
• Available now

Factors against the iMac:

• Not portable
• Not as cool as the MBP (subjective)

Even though I like having the option to go portable, the fact of the matter is that 90% of the time I am at my desk. Also, if I was saving a significant amount of money by buying an iMac instead of the MacBook Pro, I think I could afford to keep my current 12" Powerbook as a separate portable machine.

So I guess what I am asking is, am I overlooking anything about the MacBook Pro that would skew the argument back in its favor?

[t_hah]

Well... at this point it is really up to you. I am really just going to repeat what you said, but maybe it will help you reading someone else's words.

You could get the Intel iMac and have a pretty fast desktop computer, with the older G4 as your portable solution. This would be cheaper as you said, with the only disadvantage that on the road your computer would be somewhat slower. If you don't need that much speed on the road, then this is probably a good idea.

If you got the MacBook Pro, you would have a faster portable solution, which you could aslo use as a desktop machine. You could probably sell your other PowerBook that way.

The MacBook Pro won't be out for another month or so.... the iMac is available already in some stores...

[mduell]

I'd get the iMac and keep the PowerBook. Better performance on the desktop, and a nice small laptop when you want a portable.

[SShoot3r]

iMac, You save so much more money, and they rock.

[uicandrew]

i also agree. the iMac (esp 20") is great on the eyes and your neck will thank you because of the natural angle that you would be looking at a normal monitor. Plus, there's less chance that something will go wrong with a rev A iMac than a rev A MacBook. They squeeze so much stuff into a MacBook. Also, they are not even telling people what the battery life. There's so much unknown about the MacBook.

Besides, when you truely need the portability, you'll love carrying the 12" that you can afford to keep more than a bigger 15"

[icruise]

It seems like there aren't many differences between the MacBook Pro and the iMac at all. In terms of speed, ports, graphics card, they are pretty much identical, are they not? There's no way to add FW800 to the iMac as there will be with the MacBook Pro (via the Expresscard/34 slot) but that doesn't bother me. Does the MacBook Pro have anything that the iMac doesn't (leaving out the obvious portability-related features)?

As for using the iMac with the Cinema Display, it seems from looking at the dimensions of the iMacs and the 23" Cinema Display that the 17" iMac might be the best match. The 17" iMac is 16.9" tall and the 23" Cinema Display is 17.7" tall. I want to avoid something like what is shown in the picture below (from Apple's site). I can't tell which model of iMac and display these are, but I don't like having the iMac stick up so much taller than the other display. Of course it might just be an optical illusion.



The 17" iMac is just a hair over half the price of the price of the MacBook Pro (which is the one I ordered). That's an amazing difference, although I will have to get more RAM for the iMac.

[mduell]

Think about saving $500 and getting the Dell 24" HD LCD instead... it has a telescoping stand so you can get it at the height you want (as well as some other goodies like multiple video inputs and a card reader).

[icruise]

Originally Posted by mduell

Think about saving $500 and getting the Dell 24" HD LCD instead... it has a telescoping stand so you can get it at the height you want (as well as some other goodies like multiple video inputs and a card reader).

How would that save me $500? I already have the cinema display.

[zoetrope]

The real question is, how often are you on the road or away from home and using your laptop? I'd say if its less than 30% of your total computing time, the iMac is certainly the best buy. If you're traveling quite a bit and more than 50% of your total computing time is while you're mobile, then the laptop is really what you need. Laptops are convienent for those times while traveling, but if you're away from home very little, the 12" should be adequate.

EDIT: Woops I didn't read the whole post. 90% of your time at your desk? Well, it doesn't look like there should be difficulty at all. The iMac is the way to go. Look at your lists of pros and cons, and that right there should tell you what to buy.

[hickey]

sometimes it helps to have other people tell you what you want to hear, therefore making your decision making process easier. Go with the iMac, I bought a powerbook because I thought I would take it around with me a lot. But its only left my desk about 3 times. And those iMacs are rock solid machines, and as others have said you can keep your 12" pbook around for those few times you need it on the road.

Make sure to load it up with RAM though if you get the iMac.

[harrisjamieh]

Yep, I think you should get the iMac, as you can still keep the PB for those times you are on the road. You could even do remote desktop into your iMac from whereever you are with your PB, so you can still access all your iMac files from where ever you are with your PB and internet connection

[jamil5454]

I think it depends really on the type of user you are. I personally would sell the PowerBook and get the MBP, mainly because it would be a pain to keep two machines in sync with all my settings/documents/apps etc. Plus you'll get to have all that power on the road, too.

But on the other hand, if your work is easily synced between two Macs, then it wouldn't hurt to have two machines. Just remember to upgrade whatever you get to the 256Mb VRAM option. You'll be thankful you did when you hook up that second display.

[Coug-it]

By the way, if anyone preordered an iMac it's probably too late to cancel it. I tried doing this
with the iMac that I preordered just for fun and they wouldn't let me. Said it was being
built. Hope that means it might ship before the indicated Jan 18th date.

Since the notebooks aren't shipping until February, I assume that won't be a problem for you.

[jmgriff]

The iMac is probably better value if you don't really need a portable all the time. If you're concerned about the display height, consider a VESA arm for either the ACD or the iMac, or even both. (Or go low-tech and stand the ACD on a book or monitor stand).

An additional benefit of going with the iMac and keeping the Powerbook is redundancy ... if you have both computers, and the iMac develops a problem, you can hopefully hook up the PowerBook and carry on working.

[icruise]

Originally Posted by jamil5454

Just remember to upgrade whatever you get to the 256Mb VRAM option. You'll be thankful you did when you hook up that second display.

I don't really think that's necessary. My current PowerBook only has 64MB and it drives the Cinema Display just fine. And I already have a gaming PC, so I probably won't be playing many games on it.

[zed57]

I think the iMac video ram upgrade to 256MB is less than a hundred dollars. The wisest money you could spend, you cannot upgrade later and this will add to the longevity of your machine. Applications are steadily requiring more and more of the video card.

[harrisjamieh]

Im 99% sure the new iMacs wont take a VESA mount

[HazelGirl]

you can't lose either way...it all comes down to do you want the portability or not.

[icruise]

Originally Posted by zed57

I think the iMac video ram upgrade to 256MB is less than a hundred dollars. The wisest money you could spend, you cannot upgrade later and this will add to the longevity of your machine. Applications are steadily requiring more and more of the video card.

Two points: you can't upgrade the 17" model -- only the 20". And you can only upgrade if you order directly from Apple.

I haven't entirely decided between the 17" and 20" models, but assuming I was getting the 20" there is a pretty big difference in price between getting it at Apple and getting it at Amazon (for me anyway). I would save around $120 in sales tax getting it through Amazon and I also have an Amazon VISA card which would give me a $50 Amazon gift certificate if I bought it there. So we're talking an additional $170 before I even upgrade the video card for $75 more. All together, it would be $245 more than getting the stock machine from Amazon, and I'm not convinced that it's worth it. Especially since I tend to get a new computer every couple of years.

[icruise]

Well, despite what I said above, I decided to order from Apple for a couple of reasons. First, I don't know when Amazon is actually going to get stock of the new iMacs. Their shipping estimate is in mid-March, which I am sure is wildly inaccurate, but it could still be several weeks. Secondly, I decided to get the 20" model, making it possible for me to get the video RAM upgrade. I got it with one 1GB chip installed, and I will probably get another in the future when the RAM is more commonly available (Crucial is out of stock for the moment).

[crouchingtiger]

It seems to me this decision is a no-brainer -- iMac all the way! You already have a Powerbook for portability.

The flip side is that selling your current Powerbook would get you a good way to the difference in price between the iMac and the MacBook. But then you'd end up with only one computer...

[mrmister]

Good choice.

[powerbook911]

Hi.

I had this same question!! I love Mac portables. They may be the most beautiful machines ever created by man. ha-ha.

However, I love the form factor of my 12-ich Powerbook, so I'm going to wait on a new Intel portable and get an iMac Core Duo 17-inch. I can connect it to my ACD, and have a beautiful desk setup, but for around the house and on the round I will have the smallest Mac notebook ever, so a good compromise I think.

[icruise]

I'd like to explain my reasoning for choosing the iMac over the MacBook Pro a bit more. I love PowerBooks and I chose my current setup (PowerBook + Cinema Display) because I thought it gave me the best combination of features. I needed dual screens, so my only options were a PowerMac or a PowerBook. The PowerMac was too expensive for me (especially since it meant buying two separate screens) and I liked the option of having portability so I went with the PowerBook.

However, after using this setup for more than a year, I've come to the conclusion that while a PowerBook is a great desktop replacement, it wasn't really very portable. It's a pain to have to eject my external hard disks and remove everything I have connected to the PowerBook (audio out, mini-DVI adapter, USB, firewire and power). And my applications resize themselves to fit the PowerBook's small screen when I unplug it, which means I have to spend time reorganizing things when I plug the monitor back in. So unless I felt I really needed to, I almost never removed the PowerBook from the desktop.

Of course, if I were limited to just one computer, I would take the PowerBook no question. But I think having two will free up the PowerBook to be more portable. I wonder how much the combination of an Intel iBook (MacBook?) and an Intel iMac would be in comparison to the MacBook Pro. You might be able to get a 17" iMac and a low-end iBook for about the same price as the MacBook Pro. It's something to think about if you don't necessarily need the absolute fastest computer available when on the go.

[powerbook911]

Does anyone have suggestions to keep all photographs, music, videos, documents, etc. in sync between Macs? I know there is syncing, but it just does the basics.

[mjames]

lcruise, I'm in the same boat. I have a 1.25 Ghz 15" PB and a 20" cinema display. My PB rarely leaves my desk because of the same problems. I have been going back and forth between MacBook and iMac (in fact, already placed and cancelled two orders).

For now, I'm waiting until I can get one in my local Apple Store. I like to have my computer at coffee shops, whenever I travel (rarely), and mainly the comfort knowing all my work can go with me at any time. However, the iMac would be the better choice 90% of the time. And since I already have a PB and new Dell Inspiron, I don't really need a third laptop. I could get a nice 20" iMac for the price of the slower 1.67 MacBook Pro, and the better bang for your buck is too hard to pass up on.

Of course, then there's the 17" vs. 20" debate. I already have a cinema, so the 20" is not necessary, but it sure would be sweet. In person, the 20" has a "wow" factor to it, whereas the 17" is pretty boring in comparison.

At this point, I'm probably going to get an iMac, and I keep flip-flopping on which size. Depends on the bank account. The longer I wait, the better I can get.

[photoeditor]

If you choose to go with the iMac, absolutely get the 20 inch display -- it is vastly superior for photo or video editing. The panel is an S-IPS panel similar to the 20 inch Cinema Display whereas the 17 has a TN-type panel with much narrower viewing angles and consequently less color accuracy. Seems to me the VRAM upgrade would be useful if you plan to run a second display but probably not with just the one.

[mjames]

Just got back from the Apple Store with a 20" iMac with the 256 MB of VRAM (only one they had with it), BUT only 512 MB of RAM. They were sold out. I have to take it back and get another 512 installed, or do it myself. Now, off to open to box!

[icruise]

I'm jealous! Too bad we don't have an Apple store anywhere near us or I would have gone that route. I like that they have some of the upgrade models in addition to the standard configs.

[powerbook911]

Sorry to ask again, but how do you plan to keep everything synced up between the two machines? I'm going to have to do this myself. Keep all my photos, music, etc. the same on both machines? Would Backup work for this?

[icruise]

Well, I don't really plan to keep everything synced. .Mac will work for my bookmarks, and I have IMAP for my mail. Other things will just be on my iMac. Do you really need all your music and photos on both machines?

[icruise]

Well, I'm sure you're all probably getting tired of my indecision by now, but I thought I should give you one last update. I was a little unsure that I had made the right decision about where to get the iMac and which model to get, and something I learned today clinched it for me. Amazon not only has the 17" model listed as "usually ships in 2-3 days" and they are also giving a $125 rebate! I've never seen them do that with a new Apple product before. I'm not sure what it means.

But in any case, the difference between the stock 17" model and the custom 20" model I was going to get from Apple (including tax) was $821 ($856 if you include the gift certificates I'll get from my Amazon VISA). That's pretty huge. I'll have to get some extra memory for the stock Amazon model, but still, we're talking over a $700 difference, and I don't think it's worth that much to me.

I called Apple and they said the custom iMac was already being built, but that I could just send it back with no penalty. I was surprised by this, since Apple's return policy seems to exclude CTO items, and I even asked if that would be a problem and they said no. I'll just have to trust that they knew what they were talking about. But since they did tell me that straight out, I think I have a good case if they try to back out later. They are supposed to be sending me a return label by email.

I originally started out planning to get a MacBook Pro, so I sort of budgeted $2500 for it. Since this computer will only end up only costing me $1200 or so after getting the memory, I'm going to set aside the rest for the rumored 13" MacBook.

[Dog Like Nature]

Wow -- what a rollercoaster ride this thread was! I feel dizzy!

[icruise]

Heheh...