Switching for productivity

"Long time listener, first time caller."

Got my iPad at the beginning of the month (unlimited 3G ftw) and have decided to keep it purely a productivity machine. There are no games on it. I use it as my mobile stock market monitor, news checker, and internet device. Thursday, thanks to Safari, Bloomberg's app, and Fidelity's app, I was able to check my stocks at the barber shop and place some day limit orders without having to rush home.

Also, being a comp sci guy, I registered to be an app developer with Apple. Being a n00b in Apple Land... when I tried to download the SDK in Safari on my iPad, it didn't let me.


Then I got to thinking, I do need to increase my productivity and my PC is quite obtouse and I had a PC HD die years ago... taking all my college papers with it. (Anyone got encase?) Solution #1 is backup. And solution #2 is I need a more stable work environment and clean environment.


Looking at Apple's current line of computers, what would you want/recommend for a productivity box (ignoring money as a factor)? The focus would be on app writing & testing. I would like to get into the movie and sound editing/mixing bit, too. I have read some of 'HonestIllusion's threads about his switch.

Initially, I was leaning toward a MacBookPro. Then I saw the iMac. (I don't need another laptop.)

Please help! :Blushing:

If money is no object, I would seriously look at a top-of-the-line iMac (with a quad-core processor) or a Mac Pro. Either choice should get the job done nicely.

With the iPad meeting your mobile needs, I would go for he iMac.

iMovie can meet your movie editing needs and the SDK comes with the restore disk as an optional install

I would highly recommend the iMac. I have it (Quad Core) and it's amazingly fast and great for video editing. Final Cut Studio runs great on there and the screen real estate is a plus as well.

Either way, you can't go wrong with an iMac or a Macbook Pro.

Vroomer said:

"Long time listener, first time caller."

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Whaddia think this is, the Chip Chiperson show or somethin' ? Tethss ss ss... (never mind if you don't get the reference)

That said, the iMac would be great but I still wouldn't rule out an MacBook Pro on account of it being a totally different tool than the iPad. Sure, they're both mobile computers, but the MBP is pretty much like having an iMac which can travel with you. I've got two of them, and when my main one isn't mobile, it's hooked up to an external monitor doing desk duty. In fact, It's doing so right now as I type this post with my bluetooth keyboard.

I'm not sure, but, I think you might be able to run a higher spec'd machine in a desktop vs. the MBP, so in that respect, an iMac may prove to be the more powerful machine. Though, I know plenty of people whom run professional audio rigs with their MBP's.

I also think it would be an advantage to have both an MBP and iPad with you in that you'll be able to sync data across them more readily when you travel. As far as back up goes, any high capacity external HD will do. I keep all of my music and photos on a main external drive, which I usually run from my wireless network (using the Airport Extreme) and also back THAT external HD up on yet another external HD, which is actually portable. I'll sync the data from one to the other every other week or as needed.

Either way though, you can't go wrong.

Doug

Yea, but there are no quad core MBPs. The quad i5 and i7 iMacs are awesome.

DarkestRitual said:

Yea, but there are no quad core MBPs. The quad i5 and i7 iMacs are awesome.

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YUP!

Spec'd out a quad core and it is all about the quad core. Setting up the funds and will be making the purchase this week. Def getting the iMobile for it.

As a long time PC guy, I can't wait to order this and get her in.

You, my friend, will probably crap your pants when you finally realize the power of the machine you got. Haha. You'll be doing something incredibly complex one day, like mixing down a 50 track audio file, and it'll get done in the blink of an eye. And you'll just go, "wow!"

Great choice, I was going to suggest the i7 iMac as well.

Sure, a Mac Pro would be a great choice as well, but *at this particular moment* they've kind of fallen behind and the iMacs are now fairly close in performance power for a **** of a lot less money.

I hope the Mac Pro gets its long-overdue update this year, we'll see (been saying that four about three years now!). At this moment however I think you made the best overall choice.

DarkestRitual said:

Yea, but there are no quad core MBPs. The quad i5 and i7 iMacs are awesome.

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True, good point. And thus a good decision. I'm actually wanting one myself !
Doug

Murks trades

2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 iMac on order.

Vroomer said:

2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 iMac on order.

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Dang, I'm jealous!!

Hope you didn't pay full price. That exact spec iMac is in the refurb store on Apple's site for $1849 USD. LINK

MYmacROX said:

Dang, I'm jealous!!

Hope you didn't pay full price. That exact spec iMac is in the refurb store on Apple's site for $1849 USD. LINK

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Of course not! (I don't do refurbies.)

and the accessories (remote and iMobile) have already shipped. Love how they'll get here BEFORE the beast.

iMobile softeware arrived today.

iMac shipped today.

Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!

Apple remote arrived yesterday.

iMac must be coming via FedEx Snail (Ground) ... she's somewhere east of North Salt Lake, UT as per the FedEx site.

CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT CAN'T WAIT


Bouncing off the walls? A little bit.

I can sympathise; once I made my own decision to take the plunge, I could scarcely contain my excitement.

Ordering on a Friday as I did is a bad idea; the weekend's anticipation is nigh unbearable; I did an almost-complete re-playthrough of a favored video game paying almost no attention to it in order to distract myself

And this, from a Linux user, to whom the change is less drastic than 'twould be for someone versed only in Windows. I've had a **** of a lot of fun this weekend exploring my new Mac, less foreign though it may be.

Would only that Apple supported GUI SSH natively; I've wasted a lot of time and said a lot of swear words trying to get first Nautilus, then Konqueror working on this notebook. In the end, I've given up--but though my preferred platform for web development remains unchanged, I would still, given the choice, prefer my Mac over a Windows box.