07-08-2011, 06:42 PM

Hey all,

So I've been in the market for a macbook pro for a little while now and my plan has been to sell my iMac and buy a macbook pro.

Then I found a guy with a macbook who needed an iMac and we started talking and now we think we might just do a swap straight up.

I think the machines are pretty similar and it's a good deal but I figured I'd run it by some people on here who have much greater understanding of these awesome machines then myself.

My iMac (bought in summer of 2009)
iMac "Core 2 Duo" 2.66 24-Inch (Early 2009) Specs (Early 2009, MB418LL/A, iMac9,1, A1225, 2267) @ EveryMac.com

His macbook pro (bought 10 months ago)
MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.4 13" Mid-2010 Specs (Mid-2010 13", MC374LL/A, MacBookPro7,1, A1278, 2351*) @ EveryMac.com

Do you guys think this is a good fair trade?

The only real difference I can see is bit or processing power and L2 cache (not sure what that is) as well as the different video cards.

I would like to do a little video editing on the macbook pro as well, I have FCP would it run smoothly on this machine?

Thanks so much for any advice and help.

I want to make this swap but don't want to shoot myself in the foot.

07-08-2011, 08:18 PM

That's probably about as even a trade as you're likely to find.

iMac better CPU
MBP better GPU


Think you're going to miss the 24" and end up buying a replacement monitor. Also think you'll want to upgrade the hard drive to a 7200 RPM and larger than the stock 250GB. In the end, I'd guess you're going to spend between $250-$400, but you'll have a portable machine.

FCP should run just as well on the MBP as it does on your iMac (with the drive upgrade).

07-08-2011, 08:29 PM

Thanks for the reply.
I'll definitely miss the 24" but Im going traveling for a year so the 13" will work well for me right now. I don't want to spend any money to upgrade the hard drive to 7200 and I have an external hd so the 250gb is not a problem. Whats GPU?

Do you think ill notice much of a difference with the slower hard drive speed?
Would I notice it only while using FCP or all the time?

07-08-2011, 08:40 PM

GPU - graphics / video card.

Been maybe 3 yrs since I last used a 5400RPM drive. The difference is not bad, but noticeable. If you're really trying to conserve cash for a year long travel - it'll be fine.

Can't speak to FCP with any experience, it could be as little as 6% for CPU intensive tasks - compound that with reads/writes to the drive - maybe a 12-15% max difference. We're talking about differences here that a lot of folks don't even notice.

If you're going to be on the move for a year and not upgrading the drive, I would recommend carrying another external to back everything up.

07-08-2011, 08:49 PM

Thanks for your feedback and speedy replies. It is much appreciated and you have put my mind at ease.

Your recommending I carry two external HDs? One as a backup and one as my main drive?

Again, Thank you.

07-08-2011, 09:02 PM

I'm guessing you'll probably use the external you have as both data storage and a scratch disk.

If you're going to have data you really can't afford to lose, a backup is always the smart thing to do. Am guessing your external is fairly new. Both drives should last another year no problem. But, things can and do happen. If one of them dies, what do you lose? Will you be in a place that getting another drive will be easy or are you screwed? Another $50-$80 for that extra drive - two partitions, one with a bootable backup of your internal and a 2nd partition with a back up of your data drive, could save your bacon.

07-08-2011, 09:19 PM

You make a convincing argument. I will definitely consider it.