09-30-2008, 02:04 AM

I bet you all are getting tired of me asking these questions. I apologize in advance.

I am sure you're all aware that I have my iMac up for trade for a MBP, if you didn't know that, now you do Go check the BST if you're interested.

Anyways, I have been a little iffy about trading the iMac because it's my binky, and I have only had it for a year. I have absolutely no problems with it and I love the spacious screen. Editing graphics and video is a breeze. Unfortunately I need a portable at the same time as having a desktop system.

That is the whole reason for even considering trading the iMac for a MBP. Just because of the portability, if I was going to trade the iMac I would need something just as powerful as the iMac to replace it, since the portable would be my everyday machine from now on.
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Here we go. I have some offers for my iMac. I am finding it very hard to come to a decision. I think it's because I kind of have an emotional attachment to my iMac. (nerdy, eh?)

First offer : 2.16 ghz core 2 duo Black MacBook 4gb ram 160gb hdd + maybe a little cash (not sure about how much though)

2nd offer : 2.0 ghz core duo MBP 15'' Glossy Ram and HD uncertain- I would asume 512 - 1gb for ram and HD 80 - 100 gb.

3rd offer : 2.33 ghz core 2 duo MBP 15'' Matte 2 gig ram 120 gig hdd brand new battery.
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What do you think would be the best option. I'm torn between the Black and the 2.33 MBP. The 2.33 seems like it may be the better deal over all because of the GPU, but I'm not sure, because the BlackBook is pretty solid spec wise as well.

I would love everyones opinion. This is really hard for me. I'm pretty knowledgeable about the specs and pricing of all Apple products, but when it comes down to actually trading one that I have no issues with and would prefer to keep, it makes it hard to decide what I should do.

For reference, my iMac is :
20'' - High end AL iMac that was released Aug 07 I purchased 1 year ago.
2.4ghz core 2 duo
320 gig hdd
1.5 - 4 gig ram I have 4 gig in it now, but I might ship it with 1.5 gig.
Super Drive
RadeonHD2600 : 256 mb
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Thanks all.
Mad Love.

09-30-2008, 04:48 PM

Well,

I think I might go for the 2.33 MBP. What do you think? I can get a decent deal on a 23'' Cinema display. So I can purchase the Cinema display and another External HD (1TB) For what I have saved up.

Think it's a good move or am I just not thinking straight ?

09-30-2008, 10:40 PM

Well power-wise thats what I would go for, $ wise I don't know much

10-01-2008, 10:00 AM

If portability is really an issue, I'd definitely go with the MBP because of the dedicated graphics as opposed to the Blackbook's integrated, especially if you're doing video and graphics work.

10-01-2008, 10:53 AM

I totally agree. That was one of my concerns. The GFX card. I know the MBP ha the X1600 which has 256mb video ram. The iMac has the HD2600 with 256mb I know there are some slight differences with the clock speed but I don't really think it's too much of a difference that I'd notice.

I will be working with large EPS and AI files from time to time, I'm fairly certain it'll be able to push them around easily. I hope.

Anyone have anymore input ? Thanks all! I appreciate the help.

10-01-2008, 11:39 AM

The video card wouldn't be of concern unless you're playing games or doing work with 3D applications. Photoshop/Final Cut or other 2D apps don't really tap the GPU at all.

10-02-2008, 11:15 PM

Yeah,

The only games I'll really play on it will be a little WoW here and there, SOF 2, maybe a couple others, but I don't play games too often. It'll play WoW fine, my previous 2ghz c2d MacBook played WoW and SOF fine.

The biggest thing will be Illustrator, Photoshop, and some Video here and there. I push around some pretty hefty vector files, but it should be able to pull through fine. I doubt I'll really notice a difference compared to the iMac. The hardware is pretty close to the same, the video cards are pretty close too.

Any more suggestions let me know, all opinions are welcomed.

10-03-2008, 03:49 PM

it sounds like you do quite alot of graphic work...this kind of rules out the macbook i think

10-03-2008, 04:29 PM

Originally Posted by Mac_OS

it sounds like you do quite alot of graphic work...this kind of rules out the macbook i think

Yeah,

I ruled the MacBook a long while ago. Right now I'm only considering the MacBook Pro.

10-12-2008, 08:05 PM

Well all. I bit the bullet and went for the MacBook Pro.

Someone from craigslist contacted me and we discussed the trade and we decided to do it. I traded the iMac for a 2.33 ghz MacBook Pro, 2 gig ram, 120 gig hdd, super drive. 15'' matte. X1600 2/ 256 meg ram. While I lost out on screen size and HD space, not too much is really different from the iMac, this is just more portable.

He lived in FT Wayne, which is a couple hours from me, so we decided to ship. The package took one day, so I had the MacBook in my possession the next day! I then shipped the iMac off.

I have had the MacBook for about 4 and a half days. The MacBook arrived on October 07, so Tuesday. I had spent the whole night after receiving it installing from time machine backup, but the Leopard install was weird. So, I re-installed leopard from my disk. I tried to import the time machine backup again then it did everything, but I had an issue with user name and hope directory names. Really bugged me, I tried changing it all w/ the root account and deleting and restoring again but it didn't seem to want to work how I wanted it to, so I re-installed leopard the next day (wed) and used the time machine backup from the installer after it had installed leopard. I found this method was much better than using the migration assistant after creating your account.

Anyways. I'm very happy with the MacBook Pro right now. The condition is magnificent, the person had an Apple Peelz on the palm rest and mouse button. I took the one off of the palm rest because it was kind of yellowy, I left the one on the mouse button because he put it on right before shipping it.

There isn't anything wrong with it except the battery works intermittently, it'll want to charge and then say it's full but it only has 10 minutes of life in it. Sometimes it won't charge. Coconut battery says it has 28 cycles on it, which sucks! The battery is dead, but he ordered me a new one before he shipped the MacBook Pro, so it'll be here this week. (sweet!)

I had to take a picture or two, so here we go.
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Aahhh, natural gloss and reflection!
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This one was the day I received it, so that's not my actual setup.

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Just thought I would share.

I do miss the iMac however, but I think I'll get over it with time.

10-13-2008, 10:15 AM

very nice!!!!