Should I buy new 27inch iMac + refurb 13 inch MBP or a new 15 inch MBP?

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Well my old iMac and Macbook finally bit the dust on me totally in about $1000 to fix both. I'm opting to go the replacement route since its been five years since they were new. Money really isn't an issue but I don't want to spend useless dollars so I'm looking for advice.

I'm a college student, I'm also a musician who needs the ability to record and edit tracks, and I am a somewhat serious photographer. Obviously I need a good amount of space for my music, let alone my 180GB iTunes library, and all my photos and other documents. Portability is necessary but I enjoy working on a nice big desktop for school and what not. After shopping around and doing some research here are my options:

1) New 15inch Macbook Pro $3,360.90: with software, apple care, external drive(mainly storing iTunes), and also a $50 160GB iPod and free printer(with mail in rebates) totals to

Configuration

* 2.66GHz Intel Core i7
* 8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
* 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
* SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
* MacBook Pro 15-inch Hi-Res Antiglare Widescreen Display

* Backlit Keyboard (English) & User's Guide
* iWork preinstalled
* Aperture preinstalled
* Logic Express preinstalled
* Accessory kit

2) New 27 inch iMac + Refurbished 13inch Macbook Pro $3,653.90

Specs:


Configuration

* 3.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x2GB
* 1TB Serial ATA Drive
* ATI Radeon HD 4670 256MB
* Apple Wireless Keyboard (English) and User's Guide
* 8x double-layer SuperDrive

* Apple Magic Mouse
* iWork preinstalled
* Aperture preinstalled
* Logic Express preinstalled
* Country Kit


Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

13.3-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display
2GB memory
160GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
SD card slot
Built-in 7-hour battery
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
Illuminated keyboard


this would also be including the iPod and printer deal


So I'm not sure if it would be silly not to get the best of both worlds with the iMac for heavy working and the refurb macbook pro for traveling around. Advice?
 
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21.5", 3.06 GHz intel Core 2 duo, ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics with 256MB
I would go the route of the iMac and the refurb. I like having a desktop though. I picked up an iMac and i'm still saving up for the 13" portable sidekick
 
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15-inch Early 2008; Processor 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo; Memory 4 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 10.7.5
That is a complete no brainer to me, especially if you're **** bent on spending all of that money on more than one Apple product. Why would you get one thing, when for the price you can have two ? Just from that perspective it makes logical sense.

Secondly, it makes sense to have a nice power house desktop machine for tasks which need the extra processing power and to have a portable machine in order to take that data with you where ever you go.

Like you, I do a lot of photo processing, and though my MacBook Pro's handle the task pretty well, it would be nice to relegate the more processor intensive duties to a desktop with far more processing power. I know it makes a difference because I've already witnessed it on a friend's machine. Else I wouldn't really care about getting an iMac. Go for it dude. Think about that nice 27" screen !

Doug
 
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Imac 27 I5-MBA 13-Ipad 2 Iphone 4 -ATV 2G
go for the 2 macs,I have a 27 inch imac & a mbp 13..
 

pigoo3

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2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
go for the 2 macs,I have a 27 inch imac & a mbp 13..

FYI...this thread is approx. 2.5 years old. I'm guessing that the OP made a decision long ago!;)

- Nick
 

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