iMac or Macbook Pro?

[Mainbeam]

Hi,

My early 2011 is unfortunately coming to the end of its life. I have upgraded the hard drive to SSD, RAM to 16GB and 2nd hard drive in place of the optical drive. I have loved this computer but it is showing signs of failure (random shut downs when not plugged into power).

I wanted to ask the iMac owners whether I should buy an iMac or buy a new MBP? I like the convenience of the MBP but understand the iMac is a more powerful machine for the same money.

Hard decision to make.

Cheers,

Paul

 

[mja1228]

What do you use your Mac for? And do you want portability?

 

[fathergll]

To me the biggest annoyance would be coming up with a easy docking solution. I'm not up to date on easy docking solutions for Macs but I don't think they are anywhere as good as PC makers.

 

[mja1228]

To me the biggest annoyance would be coming up with a easy docking solution. I'm not up to date on easy docking solutions for Macs but I don't think they are anywhere as good as PC makers.

What kind of monitor are you looking to hook it up to? What else do you need to plug into a docking station? Most peripherals are now thhunderbolt or wireless.

 

[fathergll]

What kind of monitor are you looking to hook it up to? What else do you need to plug into a docking station? Most peripherals are now thhunderbolt or wireless.

I'll just throw an example out there. Lets say I have 3 of these monitors. Are there easy dock solutions for Macbooks that you can just dock in and thats it? Ideally it would also allow thunderbolt to ethernet as well once docked.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1090259-REG/dell_u2415_24_ultrasharp_led_monitor.html

Connectivity 1 x 3.5 mm Output
1 x USB Type-B (USB 3.0) Input
5 x USB Type-A (USB 3.0) Output
1 x DisplayPort 1.2 Input
1 x DisplayPort Output
1 x Mini DisplayPort Input
2 x HDMI (MHL)

 

[mja1228]

I'll just throw an example out there. Lets say I have 3 of these monitors. Are there easy dock solutions for Macbooks that you can just dock in and thats it? Ideally it would also allow thunderbolt to ethernet as well once docked.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1090259-REG/dell_u2415_24_ultrasharp_led_monitor.html

Connectivity 1 x 3.5 mm Output
1 x USB Type-B (USB 3.0) Input
5 x USB Type-A (USB 3.0) Output
1 x DisplayPort 1.2 Input
1 x DisplayPort Output
1 x Mini DisplayPort Input
2 x HDMI (MHL)

I don’t believe there are any easy dock solutions for that type of setup. Having said that, you’ll spend a small fortune on adapters and cables to hook everything up to the MacBook. The MacBook doesn’t have a port that you could connect to a dock (like a Lenovo). For what it’s worth, you’re better off with a 27inch iMac. Obviously you lose the portability, but Apple does a great job of pigeonholing you into their adapters and dongles.

 

[fathergll]

I don’t believe there are any easy dock solutions for that type of setup. Having said that, you’ll spend a small fortune on adapters and cables to hook everything up to the MacBook. The MacBook doesn’t have a port that you could connect to a dock (like a Lenovo). For what it’s worth, you’re better off with a 27inch iMac. Obviously you lose the portability, but Apple does a great job of pigeonholing you into their adapters and dongles.

Ok. Im not the OP I do have a iMac but I was wondering what type of docking solutions are out there for Macbooks. My work uses HP Elitebooks and the docking stations are great with multiple monitors and ethernet connections. It seems that a robust official Apple dock is a pretty obvious need for users and isn't sold by Apple(I've read some third party manufactures with mixed results.

 

[mja1228]

the new MacBooks only have the usb-c connection. So I believe you would at least need to get the usb-c to ethernet adapter and a usb-c to mini display port. I have a similar 4k dell monitor at work, and it only has HDMI and that funky display port (neither of which are in the MacBook).

I don't know much about the third party dock solutions, but if you're reading mixed reviews, then I would lean towards not buying it.

 

[Glmnet1]

Hi,

My early 2011 is unfortunately coming to the end of its life. I have upgraded the hard drive to SSD, RAM to 16GB and 2nd hard drive in place of the optical drive. I have loved this computer but it is showing signs of failure (random shut downs when not plugged into power).

I wanted to ask the iMac owners whether I should buy an iMac or buy a new MBP? I like the convenience of the MBP but understand the iMac is a more powerful machine for the same money.

Hard decision to make.

Cheers,

Paul

I'm in the same situation with my 2011 slowly dying and I thought a lot about this recently. l realized that for the price of a 15" MBP and a decent 4-5k monitor I could buy a base 27" (with SSD instead of fusion) and a decent smaller and more portable laptop such as the base MB or maybe even just a MBA.

For me that's a perfect solution because 95% of the time I'm docked at a desk and the few times I need to carry my laptop I'd much rather have something less powerful but small and light. Plus the laptop will serve as a much needed backup to the iMac to prevent interruptions in my work.