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Macbook or iMac... what should I do?

DavidLeblond

DavidLeblond

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jan 6, 2004
2,361
769
Raleigh, NC
Okay, I'm fast approaching time to get my next Mac! Right now I have a G4 iBook, which I love. My wife has a first gen Mac Mini. Right now I'm putting aside my money for a shiny new Mac. But now the question: which one?

I pretty much decided awhile back that I would start saving up for an iMac Core Duo as soon as it came out. Of course, I'm waiting for them to bump them again before I take the plunge, since I bought my iBook 1 month before THEY were bumped. So yeah, I've been talking about the iMac nonstop.

But my wife isn't so sure. You see, right now I have a keyboard hooked up to my iBook and I'm typing at my desk, but this isn't the norm. Usually I take it downstairs and type on the couch and such. Obviously I wouldn't be able to do this with the iMac, not easily anyway. For that, of course, I could still use my iBook. But how often would I then use my iMac?

So my wife suggested maybe I should look at a Macbook. The problem is, I'm afraid it would become underpowered too quickly. Plus I plan on dual booting into Windows so I can play some games that aren't available on the Mac (such as some adventure games.) I know the Macbook will handle them, but my concern then is the amount of hard drive space. Right now I have a 4gb on my iBook and the space is quickly dwindling down to nothing. The lowest you get on the iMac is 250gb and that would be very comfortable.

Lets swing back to another good thing about the Macbook, the price. Much nicer than the iMac there. Nuff said. Note I haven't considered the Macbook Pro. Can't afford it. Would love to, but can't. I'd like to retire with actual money saved one day.

So there I go. Any advice? Oh yeah, I mainly really use my laptop for coding and web surfing. I don't play games on it, but there really aren't many games that the poor guy can run. I'm torn.
 
Get the iMac. You can still play with the iBook for some time. It should still serve you well under Leopard, especially as a machine just to browse with and write with on the sofa.
 
I just bought a MacBook and I will be returning it and waiting for a Core 2 Duo iMac. The Macbooks just have too many problems. You could get lucky and get a good one but why take the risk? Also the MacBook is not a gaming machine. It plays games now but in a year or two... good luck.

If you decide on the MacBook you could get a 160 GB hard drive for it in July... Seagate should have it's Momentous MacBook Compatible.

What it comes down to is games. If you want to play games get an iMac and if you really don't care you could try your luck at getting a problem free MacBook and a monitor.
 
iMac, the iBook really will be fine for a LONG time, as long as its not your main Mac, as it can be used to check stuff from the living room, even when it becomes to old to run the newest OS X, it will be fine running an older one.
 
I say go with the iMac. For the same price, you can get a bigger screen, a faster/bigger hard drive, and better graphics. You already have the iBook for portability.
 
I love my iMac, but only go for the MacBook if you need portability.
 
I debated the same thing and decided to go with the iMac. I was going to wait a while for them to bump the iMac up to a Core 2 Duo, which I heard could happen in August or July even, but then some people (iGary) suggested (or rather insisted) that there would never be a Core 2 Duo in the iMacs, that they would have the Merom (or is that the same thing?), and that it would take 7-8 months, and I need this computer for school this fall. So yeah, I'm cashing in some stock and buying a topped-out iMac this week.

Hopefully (if I REALLY need to) I'll replace the Core Duo with the Merom after it comes out.
 
seenew said:
I debated the same thing and decided to go with the iMac. I was going to wait a while for them to bump the iMac up to a Core 2 Duo, which I heard could happen in August or July even, but then some people (iGary) suggested (or rather insisted) that there would never be a Core 2 Duo in the iMacs, that they would have the Merom (or is that the same thing?), and that it would take 7-8 months, and I need this computer for school this fall. So yeah, I'm cashing in some stock and buying a topped-out iMac this week.

Hopefully (if I REALLY need to) I'll replace the Core Duo with the Merom after it comes out.
Click to expand...

Merom and Core 2 Duo are the same thing. They might be in the iMacs, when, who knows? But it may happen. It is hard to tell because the iMac teeters between consumer and pro, while it is a consumer machine in Apple's line it takes some features from the pro line, namely the x1600.

I think that because it transcends typical classification it is hard to tell what will happen with it. We may see Apple put Merom in the MBP, keep Yonah in the MB and iMac, and maybe offer another iMac model with a Merom.

One thing to keep in mind is that you can pop a Merom into the current mac mini and iMac.

I sold my Powerbook G4 when the Macbook was announced. However, I decided there were too many things about the Macbook I didn't like, so I went with an iMac. When the price of Meroms fall in price I will breath new life into my iMac.

Obviously not everyone will actually attempt to do such a thing, but it will be well worth it I am sure.

As far as what you should do, figure out what you would like have more. It will take some time but if you want to wait, you have that time. Like most have said you still have the iBook for portability. You can get the iMac, and then upgrade the iBook to a Macbook later on.
 
As soon as the next bump for iMac is released, jump on it! You'll still have your little ibook for couch sessions. Here's to great computing
 
seenew said:
I debated the same thing and decided to go with the iMac. I was going to wait a while for them to bump the iMac up to a Core 2 Duo, which I heard could happen in August or July even, but then some people (iGary) suggested (or rather insisted) that there would never be a Core 2 Duo in the iMacs, that they would have the Merom (or is that the same thing?), and that it would take 7-8 months, and I need this computer for school this fall. So yeah, I'm cashing in some stock and buying a topped-out iMac this week.

Hopefully (if I REALLY need to) I'll replace the Core Duo with the Merom after it comes out.
Click to expand...

Core 2 Duo is Merom (mobile processor) and Conroe (desktop processor). :)
 
Wow such great advice! Thanks guys! My couch sessions are usually confined to my web work which is done with TextMate so thats not very processor intensive. :) It would probably not be advisable for me to do processor intensive stuff on the couch anyway, I kinda want kids one day. :)

iMac here I come! So hurry up and bump them Apple! (Waiting for the bump will allow me to cap off my IRA contributions for the year so I'm fine with postponing a tad.)
 
Honestly, why wait for the bump? You can swap out for a Merom down the road if you want. They aren't soldered in like in the laptops is my understanding. If I am wrong, please somebody correct me here.

My iMac is just amazing. I really don't think you will be dissapointed if you buy one now.

Now get off the couch and run down to your local Apple Store.

BTW, be sure to put in 2GB of 3rd-party RAM, and perhaps even get one with the 256MB of VRAM as it doesn't cost much more. The wireless kbd/mouse bundled iMac is fantastic too.

Enjoy!
 
netdog said:
Honestly, why wait for the bump? You can swap out for a Merom down the road if you want. They aren't soldered in like in the laptops is my understanding. If I am wrong, please somebody correct me here.

My iMac is just amazing. I really don't think you will be dissapointed if you buy one now.

Now get off the couch and run down to your local Apple Store.

BTW, be sure to put in 2GB of 3rd-party RAM, and perhaps even get one with the 256MB of VRAM as it doesn't cost much more. The wireless kbd/mouse bundled iMac is fantastic too.

Enjoy!
Click to expand...

The only reason for waiting for the bump is I'd like to 1) finish my IRA contributions 2) save up a little additional money so I don't go into a panic attack when I see my checking account drop down to that low an amount. I'm not waiting for a bump to the Merom, honestly I'm thinking the next bump will just be their typical ".16GHz" bump or whatever. If it IS to the Merom, well thats good.

I'm not sure about the wireless KB and mouse though. Right now I use my 7 year old (damn has it been that long??) Intellimouse Explorer because I need the 3 buttons for using Blender and I use the 2 side buttons for Expose. So the bundled wireless mouse would be of no use to me. And why have a wired mouse with a wireless kb. :)

I'll definitely be maxing it out (well except I'll keep the 250gb hard drive, I haven't even completely filled out my iBook's 40gig.) When I got my iBook I opted for the low-end 14" because I kinda bought it when I really couldn't afford it but couldn't wait and save up because my Windows box was dead. Now I can save up for the computer I want, not the computer I can afford.
 
Yup, just get RAM :p

Lots of it, will do VERY good even for your Windows games ;)
 
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