Thinking of getting Air + iMac, how to manage multiple Macs

[i0Nic]

Hey guys,

So I"ve come to the conclusion that the Air is probably not quite enough for what I need it to do (gaming, photo editing) so I've decided that instead gf going for the MBA+display combo I'm going to get an iMac to go along with it.

I've never owned two computers to use together before, how do you guys manage it? These days it would seem easier with tools like Dropbox, but I still feel that it could get messy.

Does safari sync bookmarks if you use MobileMe/icloud?

What do you do with your iTunes libraries?

What does iCloud bring to the table to manage multiple Macs? It makes syncing between your mac and iDevices easier but what about mac to mac.

Any experiences of people going from 1 mac to 2 macs, or back from 2 macs to 1? Is it worth the hassle of having 2 macs?

Any advice is much appreciated

 

[Kungshi]

It's really up to you and what you've decided each computers purposes will be. I personally decided my air was meant for my most basic computer needs such as viewing web pages on the go, working on assignments, and traveling. My iMac is my main computer complete with all of my music, games, photos, video, apps, etc.

The air has such a small hard drive you really have to determine what is worthy of that space. Do you have an ipod/iphone? If you do then do you really need your music on your air when a pair of headphones will do? Ask yourself questions like that to determine how your two computers are going to work best for you. You simply don't have enough space on the air to clone everything, and the hassle is not worth it IMO.

 

[Lock]

I’m thinking of buying a 13” air and leaving my 2007 MBP on a desk wired up to a monitor, etc. So this thread is also relevant to my interests.

 

[striker33]

One thing that may be useful is a Thunderbolt cable, which will make any large file transfers much faster when syncing between macs.

 

[Insilin1i]

iMac is pretty much my media hub it has everything. My Macbook Air is just for portability. I use dropbox for files as you mentioned. I did copy some of my music through iTunes (Home Sharing). Not really much, you can stream stuff from your iMac easily enough.

 

[Cynicalone]

Does safari sync bookmarks if you use MobileMe/icloud?

MobileMe does.

What do you do with your iTunes libraries?

It stays on the Mac Pro. I sync my various iOS devices when I travel.

What does iCloud bring to the table to manage multiple Macs? It makes syncing between your mac and iDevices easier but what about mac to mac.

Any experiences of people going from 1 mac to 2 macs, or back from 2 macs to 1? Is it worth the hassle of having 2 macs?

Any advice is much appreciated

No one really knows how well iCloud will work yet. We can hope it will make things easier.

I always use two Macs one desktop and one mobile. Each has it's own purpose. All the heavy lifting is down by the Mac Pro. The light work is done on the Air.

Dropbox is a must have in a two Mac setup.

 

[EasyRider]

Hey guys,

So I"ve come to the conclusion that the Air is probably not quite enough for what I need it to do (gaming, photo editing) so I've decided that instead gf going for the MBA+display combo I'm going to get an iMac to go along with it.

Glad to see someone else trying this. I decided a refurbished 2011 iMac 27" for 1,439 is a way better deal then a $999 27" Display.

Lion's AirDrop and iCloud will help a lot. Seems like iCloud will keep everything in sync (as long as the app is iCloud compatible, which I doubt ever app will be). Dropbox is also great for syncing some files, use it with 1password between 3 computers and it works great.

 

[JasonR]

I use dropbox to sync two computers. Absolutely love it...and I have almost 19 GBs of free space. I use google apps to sync my email, calendars and contacts. I use Chrome to sync my bookmarks. Love this setup.

I don't sync my music, movies and some photos as it's just too much data. I store them on the iMac with a back up.

Dropbox is the ****. Logmein is great as well but I use it rarely...

Also...I can sync my photos in my dropbox folder rather than iPhoto.

 

[i0Nic]

Glad to see someone else trying this. I decided a refurbished 2011 iMac 27" for 1,439 is a way better deal then a $999 27" Display.

Lion's AirDrop and iCloud will help a lot. Seems like iCloud will keep everything in sync (as long as the app is iCloud compatible, which I doubt ever app will be). Dropbox is also great for syncing some files, use it with 1password between 3 computers and it works great.

So you're not getting an iMac with an SSD?

This is the one thing that's bugging me, I feel like if my portable had the speed of an SSD then my desktop should too. Otherwise the 'secondary' computer could feel faster than the primary.

 

[entatlrg]

Dropbox. Done.

 

[EasyRider]

So you're not getting an iMac with an SSD?

This is the one thing that's bugging me, I feel like if my portable had the speed of an SSD then my desktop should too. Otherwise the 'secondary' computer could feel faster than the primary.

I might upgrade the iMac to ssd in the future (actually hoping I can connect it via thunderbolt in the near future, have the perfect desk to hide away external drives).

Plus I dont have my air yet, so don't know what I am missing