Dexx

I'm considering leaving the PC world behind and getting a Mac, just not sure if I should get a desktop (iMac) or a laptop (Macbook Pro)

I replace my desktop PC with a Macbook Pro, how would I go about accessing the internet without having to be connected to a fixed location (with my current setup my wireless router is connected to my desktop PC and it is connected to the DSL cable plugged in to the wall)

Anyone have experiences with either of these products that can comment one way or the other?

While the iMac seems to have more power (without add-ons) at a lower cost, the portability of the Macbook Pro would be nice for doing video presentations/recording using the laptop as a teleprompter etc.

Hrmmm....thoughts?

~Dexx

Marty S

Hey Dexx.

I think your question has more to do with portability than which platform, however you can always dock your laptop onto an iMac sized monitor.

http://i.ehow.com/images/a05/5l/mq/c...or-200X200.jpg

I have an iMac, and will be getting a MacBook as well this week probably, but I am glad I started with the iMac. Best monitor ever and I love it for making videos.

Marty S

Also, with connections any Mac will find anything wireless that is nearby. No hard wires needed.

Negotiator74

I replaced my PC with a MacBook Pro years ago and won't look back. Of course there are passions on both sides of this question, but for me, a Mac is a better all around product.

As for connectivity, with either options (the iMac or MBP) you won't have a problem accessing the internet with wireless connectivity.

Have fun!

Dexx

Wowza! I had no idea it could do that!

Well really it seems like the MBP is the better value (given the portability) and if I want the feel of a desktop PC I can just connect it to a larger monitor and a wireless mouse/keyboard?

Is this correct thinking?

Negotiator74

When I go to my office I have an Apple wireless keyword (really like it), a standalone mouse, and a 23 monitor.

Yes....your thinking is correct.

Dexx

Awesome! Macbook Pro it is! =)

Thanks!

~Dexx

richieu

Worth saying that buying a Mac (I have both MBP and iMac), you don't have to leave the PC world behind.

I have yet to find an application (specifically games) that now don't work excellently under BootCamp - You will have to buy Windows 7 (home edition costs about the same as a Forex Robot LOL!) or similar.

After some real teething troubles with Vista and the old drivers, it all seems really stable now.

I run all my IM PC based stuff under Parallels on OSX and have yet to encounter any issues.

You may hate the interface for a few days, but once you get used to it I'd be surprised if you wanted to go back.

ATB
Rich

Marty S

I am still using XP with mine. Is the W7 a memory hog for you on your Mac?

Scott Lundergan

Hi Dexx,

I am typing this from a Macbook Pro during break on a video shoot and have an iMac at home and G5 Dual Screen in the studio.

I do love the Macbook Pro, but I along with MANY web developers I know talk about the ergonomics with the wrist.

If you are going to get a Macbook Pro, I would recommend an external keyboard or buying one of the gadgets that at least lifts your keyboard up so your wrists aren't positioned against the edge of the Macbook Pro.

Having an external monitor is kind of cool if you're going that route.

For surfing the web and site-based stuff, it's iMac. For video editing, it's iMac (smaller projects) and G5 dual screen for major workflow/clips) and Macbook Pro for when I don't have access to the other two.

Hope that helps. I also thought I'd chime in because you're a fellow Headway user, so now you can have a great experience surfing the web AND creating content with Headway

Scott

Dexx

Hrmmm interesting Scott!

I'll mostly be using the Mac for editing the short videos I shoot for Offline Clients (30 sec - 3 min clips) and maybe my own stuff as well (planning to purchase a chromakey/lighting kit studio)

One thing I plan to use the Macbook Pro for also is as a teleprompter when recording videos...something that might be hard to do with an iMac without standing 80ft back so it doesnt look like I'm reading from the screen...?

I would def have a wireless keyboard/mouse at desk tho, I'd think it'd be a pain to carry them around with the MBP all the time tho...no?

Or for what I'm looking to do would an iMac be a better solution?

~Dexx

Scott Lundergan

Hey Dexx,

That makes sense. What are you editing with? iMovie 09 or Final Cut (Final Cut Express is only around $99 and flies on the new iMac or Macbook Pro. FCP Studio 2 works great on either as well.

On location, I use this software for running teleprompter off Macbook Pro with the teleprompter we attach to our Sony XD Cameras. They have a 30 day trial.

Download Trial (just loaded one up actually)

Or you can get this alternative specifically for what you're doing.

Free Teleprompter application

You're correct about carrying the extra stuff around all the time. Most web people I know just have one for long sessions when at their desk and leave them there.


All the best,
Scott

Marty S

Nice links Scott.

Dexx I am inclined to think the iMac is for you, but am unsure because of your portability requirements. If the portability is for certain tasks, you may just want to get a cheaper PC laptop - you can probably buy 3 for the price of an MPB! Or wait a couple weeks for the iPad which I am sure will have teleprompter APPS, since they already exist for iPhone.

I do a LOT of video editing on my iMac and just really appreciate the screen size too. So if that is your MAIN use, take it into consideration as your workhorse. Also, the TB storage on an iMac is better than the max 500gb for the lap top. For video work, you will be using a lot of HD space.

I use GarageBand, Keynote and Screenflow for my videos and have those programs open like 90% of the time on my iMac. Indispensable IMHO.

Extra note - I am only buying the MacBookPro so that I can use it on the beach or the library if only to get away from my fridge at home during the day and get more work done. I will be getting that new anti-glare screen as well for outdoor work.

Negotiator74

Keep in mind that we are talking about 30 second to 3 minutes videos. The MBP will be able to eat through those without a problem. If your videos were much longer (and you were going to make a lot of them) I would go iMac. But Dexx, for the needs you have identified the MBP is a great choice.

Marty S

This is mostly RAM dependent though, and both the iMac and MBP come standard with 4GB, so little diff in that regard really.

I am more or less talking about spending hours in front of a computer doing video editing and I could not imagine doing that with a MBP and enjoying nearly as much as on an iMac screen/keyboard. Your work space ergonomics will come into play eventually here.

richieu

No, I found Vista ate memory quickly, but I'm running W7 just fine under Parallels.

ATB
Rich

Alessandro Zamboni

Hi Dexx, I'm 28 years old, and I always used PC.
No other platforms.
But one day, when my Notbeook screen start to blink, and tired to see hardware not working properly and software that was killing my OS, I decided to pass to a Mac.

Well, after the first week of transition, I can say you that Mac with Safari is the best platform oactually on market.
You will find every software you search, and for the software you need but you can find on PC, with an emulator you can use all of them better than on PC.

So I strongly suggest you to get an iMac, if you work at home.
Otherwise, if you prefer to always have the Mac with you, take a MacBook Pro.
You will get 90 days of phone support and 1 year guarantee.
And you are sure that for a paur of years there will be no more Macs on market.

Thanks and goodbye,
Alessandro Zamboni

ChrisHeggem

Hey Dexx,

Welcome to the Apple family. :-) I actually worked for Apple for several years, and I'm happy to see you're making the switch. If there is an Apple store local to your location, I highly recommend taking advantage of their personal shopping program.

You reserve an employee who will go over all the hardware and software configurations to give you the machine that best fits your needs and budget. Service is completely free and is very helpful to get you started.

Dexx

Wow guys, thank you all so much!

Marty brought up a great point which really opened my eyes in the fact that really most of the time I'll be working out of my office except when I shoot videos (at which point I'd require a teleprompter) I never even thought about the possibility of using the iPad as I don't have an iPhone and wasnt aware of a teleprompter app.

If I'm able to use an iPad as a teleprompter and watch the occasional marketing-related video on it, then that'll be great...I'm assuming I'd even be able to use an iPad for Powerpoint / Media presentation to Offline Clients? Bonus!

I was initially leaning more towards the Macbook Pro as I had heard others say it was possible to add additional memory/ram to the MBP to give it more power/space than an iMac, but it seems I can customize an iMac before purchase if I need something strong...is that correct Chris?

There is an Apple store in my City, so perhaps I'll pop by there next week or so and take a look at all the options I have.

Would an iPad also allow for a video camera to record directly to its hard drive like you can with a Macbook Pro? (so I could record video without having to transfer it via SD card) not a big deal but a nice to know.

The other thing that now has me leaning towards the iMac is that I looked up the price for an external screen for the MBP and it'll cost me $999 on TOP of the $2,300 for the MBP to have a 24" screen...which is a large price to pay just to shoot some videos (don't require a laptop on the go...I usually bring a notepad to take notes...maybe the iPad can replace that?)

Thanks again everyone! Any additional feedback is welcome also =)

~Dexx

Marty S

There is a keynote version for the iPad.

There is a teleprompter for the iPad - just found it here:
The ProPrompter Portable Teleprompter. Affordable Mobile Teleprompters | Bodelin Technologies

Its a great place to shop and if you are new to Mac, some of those Mac kids will be able to help. But for the things you are trying to figure out here, I would have to say MOST Apple store Kids will not be able to give you professional advice. When I go in there now, there is rarely anything I learn from them, and in fact, most are uninformed or outright mistaken with software questions, especially outside of the APPLE family products.

From what I can tell so far, this is a big NO WAY, but again for presentations, it would be awesome and a lot of people would be VERY interested in seeing a keynote presentation on an iPad. Would def show you know your stuff too.

Absolutely.

Scott Lundergan

I feel the same about screen size as Marty does.

With iMac, I can be lazy and just have tons of windows, browsers and editing programs and get to any of them without being lost.

There is also a function called "Expose and Spaces" that many webmasters use where you can use a keystroke to tell your Mac to go to which screen.

You just set it up in System Preferences where you can tell the Mac how many screens you want to switch between and which apps you want in those screens.

Especially if you're doing video editing, you can go playback, viewing and zoom in to more detailed audio/video edits in milliseconds with iMac.

That iPad Telepromputer is pretty cool. I remember seeing that site when I was looking for one for my iPod

Scott

Cixxtynine

IMO, iMac are the best if you compare price & specs. You can do everything and it's uber clean on your desktop, almost no wire.

Dexx

Ok, well now that being said, is there a "big difference" between the 24" iMac and the 27" iMac?

~Dexx

kmg

Hi Dexx

Unless you absolutely have to have a laptop because you do so much travelling, you should start with an iMac. (You'll soon fall in love with it and wonder how you managed without it. One thing you will just love is the wireless keyboard and Magic Mouse. Then you'll start saving for a MBPro, and an iPad, and...)

The basic iMac will be fine for what you want to do, but if you have the money obviously the bigger screen and top specs would be better. (I have a 24 inch, but I think your choices are between 21.5 and 27 inch now.)

As Scott mentioned, Macs allow you to multi-task so gracefully that it is common to have dozens of windows, browsers and editing programs all open but still be able to get to any of them without being lost or crashing, so a larger screen helps.

One thing that I don't think anyone has mentioned that I think you should consider is adding a Time Capsule for automated backup and more. Unless you are different to most people, backup is one of those things that you are planning to do next and never get around to... and the value of the Time Capsule lies in it just doing it automatically every hour, every day quietly in the background. While the Time Capsule is not perfect, it is way better than any other backup system I have ever tried and it has improved a lot recently.

Time Machine (the Apple software that connects to your Time Capsule) actually allows you to retrieve an earlier version of a document or email from a specific time in history - surprising how often that's useful.

You should definitely go and talk to one of the people in an Apple store and have a play with an iMac (and a MBPro) to compare screen size and more. There are a huge number of things you can customise in the system settings too and it is helpful if someone shows you what they all mean.

Hope that helps.

Dexx

Awesome KMG, thnx for the heads up! =)

I've heard some people talk that the Magic Mouse isnt very comfortable for extended periods of time and they prefer the connected Mouse (the one that the 24" has)

Has anyone found that to be true?

~Dexx

White Dove Creative

Scott,
Speaking of wrist ergonomics... If you haven't done so already, you can change the glidepad setting so it accepts a finger "tap" in addition to a physical push click. This does wonders for saving wrists.

White Dove Creative

Dex,
I've got an iMac and a Macbook (notebook) ...and while I love the Macbook, it does lack processing power as compared to the iMac. If you plan to do any video editing, then for speed & power you'll want to go with an iMac.

kmg

Dexx

The shape and style of mouse that works best for you is a very personal thing, but I absolutely love the Magic Mouse.

Use any mouse or keyboard (or do anything else) for too long repetitively and you can end up with problems. I have MacBreakZ for Mac OS X: Healthy Computing Made Fun installed to remind me to take regular breaks. It drives me crazy, but stops me getting Repetitive Strain Injuries.

Hope that helps.

Writer

Make sure you test the glossy screen vs the matte finish on the MacBook Pro. BIG difference. I prefer the matte screen available on the 15" MB pro.

Michael Nguyen

I heard once you go mac you do go back? Wonder how true that is?
Am still a PC user but I've been eyeing up the iMac 27"

Dexx

Rumor has it Steve Jobs has stated there's some big changes coming to Mac computers in 2010, so I think I'll be waiting till after the Apple developers conference June 7 - 11...thats the same time they will announce the changes to the upcoming iPhone 4

Two complaints I've heard of the existing iMac 27":

1) Sharp edges on the CD/DVD slot cause easy scratches to any discs if not placed in a very cautious / surgical manner

2) No blu-ray ability (for such an amazing screen) ... blu-ray is almost common know amongst iMac's PC-counterparts

So I'm hoping maybe a blu-ray ability for the next iMac?!

~Dexx

Marty S

Wow. Getting into over-analysis now. I bought my last truck in a couple of hours!

Razz. GL.

Dexx

Haha! My friends say that to me all the time, I research purchases to death =P

On the plus side, I rarely have buyer's remorse! =)

~Dexx

James Campbell

Apple has already said it will not be adding blu-ray to its product line.

Sorry

Makes me sad too.

James

Dexx

What!!?!

Ugh! That's like them and their no-flash policy! Booourns!

I dont understand their logic, as if it hurts anyone to just put a drive in that reads blu-ray as well dvd/cd's...

EDIT: This answers some of the "Why?"
http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/60208


~Dexx

White Dove Creative

Dexx,

First keep in mind that all release dates are top secret, and nobody knows (not even Apple Store employees) until the very day the product is announced and shipping.

A bit of a warning here. Apple always has new stuff on the horizon. And if you wait for a newer version of something to be released, then shortly after it's released you'll start to hear rumors of the next version! At some point you just gotta go for it. Myself, I found myself waiting for new iMacs. (I was buying multiple machines btw) I sat on my hands for almost 4 months and finally they came out. And I purchased. Not long after that, there were rumors of yet newer machines coming out, with LED displays. (those are out now) It's a never-ending cycle.

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com (Mac Buyer's Guide: Know When to Buy Your Mac, iPod or iPhone)

The above site (high-ranking Alexa btw) shows product cycles for Apple products (iPhone, iPod, iMacs, etc) including past release dates, and projected future release dates.

The site will recommend waiting (because a new release is due) or to buy now. (because it will be some time before the next release)

An Apple Store employee told me that virtually every employee watches the macrumors site religiously.

Slaughter

Hey Dexx.

I have an iMac 21.5" and lemme tell you, you won't get a better machine than this. (PS. my personal opinion)

If you have a budget, get an iMac 27", with a hard graphics card (default one sucks) and no other upgrade.

Karan

White Dove Creative

There are 2 21.5" iMac configurations, and 2 27" configurations. The lower priced 21.5" configuration has an "NVIDIA GeForce 9400M" graphics card, which is what I believe Karan was referring to by "sucks". Actually that graphics card doesn't suck, it is solid and bullet-proof. It's just slower than the others. It's the same card you'll find in the Macbooks (notebooks).

If you want watch TV shows from Hulu.com on your television (by cabling your Mac to your tv's HDMI input) then the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M won't give you best quality. If you'll be doing tv out, or video editing, then I agree with Karan, don't purchase the iMac ith the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M. Instead purchase one of the other 3 iMac configurations.

Ray Erdmann

I've been "strongly considering" moving over to the "Mac" arena now for the last few years but I'm a die-hard user of ergo keyboards, specifically the Microsoft Natural Keyboard 4000 (Or whatever the 'official name' is)...seen here:

http://www.ergoptions.com/images/426-Microsoft4000.jpg

So, that being said, if I were to decide to move to the Mac platform, would I have to give up on using this or similar ergo keyboards?

BrianMcLeod

Macs can use any standard USB input devices - Keyboards, mice, tablets, trackballs, whatever...

If your keyboard/mouse/tablet is USB, it will work with a Mac.

However, if it has a special driver for additional functions and buttons and so forth, those "shortcuts" likely won't work without a Mac driver.

Brian

Scott Lundergan

Hey Ray,

I have tried that Microsoft one before and it is okay. I opted for the Logitech ergo wired one rather than a wireless that is hooked up to my iMac.

Slaughter

I have the same machine bro! And I tried to play the game Prototype. Even on the lowest video setting, the frame speed was horrible!

Ray Erdmann

Brian/Scott - Thanks for the feedback regarding ergo keyboards...much appreciate it! I'll remember this when the time comes and finally get a Mac!

White Dove Creative

Hi Karan,

I've had many buying experiences (for myself, my business, and helping 2 family members and a friend buy a Mac) and each time, the Apple Store employees, and the phone order center people, took a lot of time to ask what you're going to use your Mac for, then make sure that the model you have in mind is equipped to do what you need. And if you're looking at the lower-end machine with the 9400M graphics card, they're straight forward in explaining that the lower-end notebook with the 9400M graphic card isn't recommended for game playing or serious video editing.

I'm curious, did you get that type of service when you purchased?

green_agent

Nothing beats Macbook pro for mobility, well it depends on your needs.