Another soon to be mac owner needing advice

[tulipemcgee]

I just finished my bachelor of fine arts and will (finally!) be purchasing my first mac. It's main use will be editing video with Final Cut Pro, but for now just in DV, not HD. Price IS an issue for me; I'm on a fairly tight budget but need a computer to continue editing video on.

I have been planning for a while to buy the 20" Core 2 Duo imac, but I have the opportunity to buy a slightly used 17" Core Duo Macbook Pro with 2 gb ram for around the same price. I've always drooled over the macbook pros, but the new C2D ones are out of my price range. The portability would be super nice, but I'm not sure about spending long nights in front of a laptop (I've never owned one before).

My question: Would there be a significant difference in performance between the 2.16Gz Intel Core 2 Duo 20" imac (is it important to upgrade to 2gb ram?) and the 2.16Gz Intel Core Macbook Pro (2 gb ram) in editing? Which computer would you buy?

 

[techshellmacbook]

How much is this macbook pro?

 

[tulipemcgee]

1800 Cdn

 

[AutumnSkyline]

1800 Cdn

Have you looked at the refurbished models at apple.com??

 

[tulipemcgee]

Yeah, they're going for a lot more. 2300 cdn with only a 1 gig HD. I think $1800 is a pretty good deal, I'm just not sure if I should buy it or an imac!

 

[swwack91]

if you NEED the portability, then just get the MBP

but if you NEED the performance, get whatever can get you the highest specs for the lowest price

i dunno how comparable the iMac specs are with the MBP's ... i've never looked at them

 

[theBB]

Unless you need the portability, I'd go with the bigger screen and the better specs of iMac. It probably would be better in terms of ergonomics as well.

 

[McGarvels]

I say go for the 20" iMac. Your eyes will thank you later. However, if you really really really need the portability then the Core Duo MBP will be fine. Just remember though, the iMac will be a Core 2 Duo and will take full advantage of Leopards 64-bit goodness. By the way, congrats on the soon to be Mac.

Cheers!

 

[odaiwai]

Yeah, they're going for a lot more. 2300 cdn with only a 1 gig HD. I think $1800 is a pretty good deal, I'm just not sure if I should buy it or an imac!

No one is selling any kind of Computer with a 1Gig HD these days. (Unless it's a classic from the 1980's/early 1990's or a handheld.)

Please check the disk sizes again. It's most likely to be 100G.

 

[nateDEEZY]

No one is selling any kind of Computer with a 1Gig HD these days. (Unless it's a classic from the 1980's/early 1990's or a handheld.)

Please check the disk sizes again. It's most likely to be 100G.

LOL, he meant ram

 

[bmcgrath]

My question: Would there be a significant difference in performance between the 2.16Gz Intel Core 2 Duo 20" imac (is it important to upgrade to 2gb ram?) and the 2.16Gz Intel Core Macbook Pro (2 gb ram) in editing? Which computer would you buy?

Not much of a difference to be honest. I have a 24" Imac with the core 2 and when I compare it to my MBP I dont see much of a difference. Now I dont know much about Final Cut Pro I only use CS2 and Aperture but to me there speedy on both machines. And for video editing you will benefit a lot from 2gb of ram

 

[tulipemcgee]

Yeah. Meant Ram. Oops!

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to buy the 20" imac with an added gig of ram! Yay!