Thinking of buying a Mac, What to go for - iMac or Macbook Pro ?

Had not heard of an 'i7' before - hard to keep up with chipset changes, as they don't mean all that much to me

*Personally*, I'd probably save a bit of the money and buy one generation back from the current - meaning but locally from craigslist or possibly ebay. Just look for whatever was the current stuff 6-9 months ago and get that. But that's just me...

imac vs macbook - this just comes down to whether you want to be mobile or not. The macbooks are nice machines, but if you aren't mobile, the desktop version will probably be a bit nicer for you. Perhaps get 2? Get a nice desktop, then get a cheaper used macbook to have for portability on the occasions that you need it. I've got an early 2008 macbook that I use all the time - if I wasn't so mobile I might get a desktop one (might still get one next year) but I like to hold the laptop in my laptop and swivel around in a chair. There's still no good keyboard which replicates the laptop and trackpad experience, which I've grown used to.

The only problem about the macs is that it cannot be upgraded . I don't travel much. The thing that persuades me is the new configuration. Hmm getting both is a good idea. A new desktop and a used notebook, not bad mate . Thanks for the suggestion

G'day,
Akky

Why you aim on Mac. Why not Window PC?

Go for the 17" MacBook Pro - you will never regret it.

I was a desktop man all of my computer life, and the switch was amazing.

- John

Buy a laptop without any OS and load Ubuntu. You will be just as happy and save about 800 dollars for a Mac equivalent.

I'm currently running a MacBook standard from about a year ago. I spent 1200 on something I should have only spent 400 on. Take my advice, man, if you want a sleek OS go for Ubuntu, it will fulfill all of your needs.

The mackbook pro .For me its work like a charm rather than winodws vista .

My macbook pro rocks.

It was a bit of a change from Windows, but by far the superior computer.

I'm going for windows 7. I'm a PC and windows 7 was my idea. lol

I've got one of the white matte-screen 24" iMacs that's 3 yrs old. I only wish I could put more than 3GB of RAM into it. The latest iMacs that were just introduced will let you go up to 32GB, and most come standard with 4GB. I have a second 21" wide-screen monitor plugged into it.

I recently purchased Logic Pro Studio, which comes with 55GB of stuff. I only had 40GB of free space on my HD, so I upgraded it to 1TB. Replacing the HD is a bit of a pain, but this one only came with a 250GB drive. The newest ones are 500GB up to 1TB if not more.

Something I discovered that is not talked about anywhere -- in fact, it's even very difficult to find on Apple's web site -- is that the audio interfaces built into iMacs, and I think the laptops as well, are all 24-bit / 96KHz capable, AND ... get this ... both the 1/8" audio input and output plugs are optical S/PDIF enabled! Also, the newest generation of iMacs are 24-bit / 192KHz capable. (Surprizingly, nobody I've talked with at my local Apple store is even aware of this. Nor do Apple stores even sell the mini-plug S/PDIF cables needed to take adantage of this. I do have such a cable, and I've verified this myself. It's for real.)

Frankly, I don't understand why people think Windows vs. OS X is an "either/or" proposition. You just load up Parallels, VMWare Fusion, or Bootcamp into your Mac, along with whatever Windows OS you want, and viola! You've got BOTH! When I got my iMac, I cloned my Windows laptop's HD into a Parallels VM and it works just fine. Strangely, I have apps that quit working on my laptop, but still work inside of the Parallels VM.

One argument for getting a NEW Mac rather than a USED one is that the new one will come with iLife '09 pre-installed. (They always include whatever the latest version is.)

BTW, there's a persistent rumor that software for Macs is more expensive than equivalent software for PCs. I challenge anybody to PROVE that! From my experience, I've found WAY MORE VALUE in Mac software than with Windows software. I'll give some examples if anybody cares.

(Windows users like to complain about the high prices, and then turn to "cracked" software from warez sites, which is about as smart as using dirty dishes and utensils fished out of the trash for your meals. Then you wonder why you get trojans and viruses... You'd think that getting software from a site where people are smart enough to "crack" software, they might also be smart enough to embed keyloggers and trojans in the same software that are undetectable to anti-virus scanners?)

I've also got some experience with Linux, and while it's true there's quite a lot of free open source software around for it, you usually don't get any meaningful support for it. OR Linux. For techies, that's fine. But the average consumer needs to have access to decent support channels, or their "free" Linux OS and apps are going to turn their computer into a door-stop. Oh, wait. You can PAY FOR SUPPORT. Right.

So your choice is either, "Pay for software and get free support" or "Get free software and pay for the support". Techies have a 3rd option: "Free software and free DIY support".

-David

David, sure, what's your main points that you prefer mac's over windows?

I'm a Microsoft Certified Engineer, so my first was naturally a PC. I always figured that mac's was not fully compatible with win' soft', and would restrict ones use for software apps since most soft developers aim at windows apps.

And what's the story behind those weird icons on the keyboard, looks like Steve Wozinak was abducted by aliens or something to come out with those weird looking symbols