Top Switching to Mac Questions - Which Mac Should I Buy?
June 16th, 2007 by Mike
Where kicking off a series of Articles called “Top Switching to Mac Questions”, one very common question seems to be…
Which Mac should I buy?
This is a bit of a tough question and the answer is different for everyone. Let’s start off with do you need portability? Keep in mind that portability does come with a bit of a cost premium, not as much as it used to but a Mac laptop will still cost more and give you a bit less than a similarly configured iMac.
If you have narrowed it down to a Laptop then you have two basic choices, a MacBook or a MacBook Pro. Both of these machines have very close actual raw computing power but the Macbook Pro excels in the graphics department with a much improved dedicated Graphics card over the MacBooks integrated Video card. So if you are planning on doing professional Design, Video, Photography or you want to play the latest 3D First Person Shooter then go with a MacBook Pro.
Some other benefits to the Macbook Pro over a MacBook are:
- Slightly faster processor - 2.4GHz vs 2.16 GHz
- Bigger Screen - 15.4 inch or 17 inch vs 13.3 inch
- More RAM - 2GB upgradable to 4GB vs 1GB upgradable to 2GB
- Better Graphics Card - NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with up-to 256MB RAM and Dual Link vs Intel GMA 950 graphics processor with 64MB shared RAM
- Comes with Full Size DVI Out and VGA Adaptor.
- Faster FireWire 800 port.
- ExpressCard/34 slot
- Backlit Keyboard
- Aluminum shell
That said, do you really need anything on the above list, if the answer is no then maybe the more affordable and compact MacBook is the right choice for you.
Well if you decided you don’t really need a portable Mac and are thinking about a desktop model then you have three choices, the Mac mini, the iMac and the Mac Pro.
The Mac mini is a really neat compact Mac but unfortunately at the time of this post it is the most out dated Mac in Apples lineup of computers and for that reason it is not the best value. My only recommendation for the Mac mini would be as an entertainment unit computer. Or in other words to be used like an Apple TV hooked up to your Big Screen HDTV with the advantage over the Apple TV of being a full fledged OS X computer complete with Web Browsing, QuickTime, iTunes, DVD Player, Mail and everything else a full on computer can do.
I most often recommend the iMac as the best all around value for your dollar Mac. iMacs are even somewhat portable and have a very small footprint making them suitable where a Laptop may have only previously been a choice. There are a number of iMac models with varying screen sizes and hard drive configurations but for the most part all of them can do almost all of the same stuff. The exceptions are the base 17 inch iMac having a combo drive burner (Does not burn DVD’s), lack of BlueTooth, no remote and a downscaled graphics card. Likewise the top end 24 inch iMac has an upgradeable graphics card (uses the MXM slot), FireWire 800 and a better sound system with twice the audio wattage of the other iMacs.
If you have money to burn and need a Mac that is outrageously fast with virtually unlimited updatability then you may just be a Mac Pro customer. So what does a Mac Pro have over an iMac?
- Faster CPUs - up-to 8 cores vs the iMacs 2.
- Better Graphics - Can support up-to 8 30 inch dual link monitors (using 4 video Card configuration) vs the iMac with it’s own monitor and one extra non dual link monitor.
- More Hard Drive Space - Mac Pro can hold 4 internal Hard Drives vs the iMac with only the one available internal hard drive.
- More RAM - The Mac Pro takes a staggering 16GB of RAM vs the iMac with up-to 3GB.
There is more the the Mac Pro has over an iMac but it does not beat or even come close to an iMac price wise and I would have to say a Mac Pro is overkill for most people.
Whatever choice you make, be reassured that any Mac you get is an extremely well designed product capable of performing the most intensive computing. Apple makes all of their computers fully capable of utilizing performance and power hungry programs like iLife ‘06 so you can be confident in the fact that everyday Email, Web Surfing and Productivity tasks will be a breeze on your new Mac.
Checkout some of these Online Stores for current pricing and deals on new Mac products.
More Top Switching to Mac Questions:
Author - Michael Kaye
Posted in Articles | Send this to a friend
June 17th, 2007 at 3:35 am
In my case, the iMac (20 inch) seems the way to go. I am holding off buying it at the moment, as I am convinced an upgrade will occur soon. I hope I don’t have to wait too long.
June 17th, 2007 at 11:42 am
I went for the 20″ iMac. I m very happy with it so far
June 19th, 2007 at 2:09 am
Personally, I think one of the great aspects of buying a Mac, is that Apple makes it real easy to choose one! Like the above article illustrates, once you choose between a laptop or a desktop, you’re actually half way there. When you look at certain PC stores and what they offer, Apple makes it a walk in the park to make a comfortable decision.
The more cynical might say, the more choice the better, but in my experience that usually just makes it more difficult for most people to make a choice they feel really good about. So, way to go Apple.
June 19th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
[…] SwitchingToMac.com: Which Mac Should I Buy? This is a bit of a tough question and the answer is different for everyone. Let’s start off with do you need portability? Keep in mind that portability does come with a bit of a cost premium, not as much as it used to but a Mac laptop will still cost more and give you a bit less than a similarly configured iMac. Read more. […]
June 19th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
I reckon portability will be a nice advantage for me. The question is however, will I be able to do basic video capture and editing on a Macbook Pro 17′ (as on the shelf, but with a LaCie 2TerraByte external drive)and can I use both the laptop’s display in conjunction with either a 23 or 30 inch display?
June 21st, 2007 at 12:42 am
@Johan Verheem:
“will I be able to do basic video capture and editing on a Macbook Pro 17′ (as on the shelf, but with a LaCie 2TerraByte external drive)and can I use both the laptop’s display in conjunction with either a 23 or 30 inch display?”
The answer is yes and yes. What you want to do is exactly the market that the 17″ is aimed at. ANY current Mac portable can be used with ANY external display to give an extended desktop (ie palettes and toolbars on the MacBok screen and the main work area on th external display. And you’ll be able to do more than just “basic” video editing on this beast. You’ll find you can do all but the most demanding video work on a 17″ MacBook Pro. You won’t be disappointed, I guarantee.
June 21st, 2007 at 11:06 am
went for the 24 inch imac upgraded with the 250mb video card, 500gb Hard drive, 2gb of ram and of course the best processor. I figured it’s a little costly, but since I use almost all adobe software I might just as well do so. I’ve been dreaming of owning a mac since osX came out in the first place a couple of years ago. I think the advantage over PC resides in the OS, as many shortcuts you don’t get in Windows are really practical and expose itself is one of the best invention on an OS ever!!! Not sure for Vista as I don’t use it and probably never will (I’m actually glad I never upgraded as apparently the new windows, when it came out, was screwing camera raw files… Ouch!).
July 5th, 2007 at 9:10 am
Is there any way to run two identical external monitors (e.g. my current pair of two 22″ Viewsonic) off the graphics card of a sub-$1500 Mac?? I know the Mac Pro’s do this, but I can’t see spending an extra $1000-2000 vs. a PC upgrade to move to a Mac.
July 5th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
Pete,
Supported on iMacs and MacBooks are split screen mode which means the iMac/MacBook built-in monitor and a secondary external VGA or DVI/HDMI monitor. MAcBook Pros can also do this but also have the Dual-Link DVI out which supports ultra high resolution monitors like the Apple Cinema Display 30 inch. Mac minis only support 1 external monitor.
July 5th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
I was looking at the MacBook specs and found the only difference between the $1,500 black MacBook and the $1,300 higher end white one was a 160 gig hard drive on the black one…but if you want a 160 gig upgrade on the white one it’s an extra $75. Doesn’t seem right to pay an extra 115 bucks for some black paint. Any other differences I’m missing here?
July 5th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
Matt, your observations are correct! Think of the Black MacBook as a special edition model, if you don’t think black is worth the extra cost then get the white one and a can of black spray paint
July 7th, 2007 at 8:29 am
I’m looking at purchasing a Macbook Pro ahead of starting school in the Winter of ‘08. My major is biomedical informatics which means heavy on the science applications and a lot of work in Java, bioPerl and C++. Here’s my hesitations:
I’ve used Macs before but I’ve used PCs longer. My current laptop (now non compos mentis) is an HP running Ubuntu Linux and XP in a dual-boot configuration. I know I can run Linux in a VMWare image or something similar. And in my travels I’ve met a handful of developers who use Macs as their primary machine. But I’m curious if there is anyone here who works or studied(s) in an engineering, comp. sci or physical sciences discipline while using a Mac as their primary machine. If so, what was your experience? I’d be particularly interested in knowing the experience of people who study or work in the Life Sciences (if you are a bioinformatics student or professional, all the better) and their experiences using a Mac on a day-to-day basis. Were you able to find software that you needed? If you code, how is OS X as a development environment?
I have my eye on the Macbook Pro 15″ and will probably put 4GB of RAM in it w/ a 160GB hard drive@7200 rpm.
July 7th, 2007 at 10:54 am
Adrienne,
I would post your question in our Switching to Mac Forum, there is a growing community of Mac users who offer great advice and may be able to help with your question.
http://www.switchingtomac.com/smf/
November 25th, 2007 at 10:20 am
[…] This is a bit of a tough question and This is a bit of a tough question and the answer is different for everyone. Let’s start off with do you need portability? Keep in mind that portability does come with a bit of a cost premium, not as much as it used to but a Mac laptop will still cost more and give you a bit less than a similarly configured iMac. Read more. […]