Choosing the right Mac for me

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Hi. I am from a pc background and am wanting to make the switch finally. I would appreciate help for deciding which Mac computer to buy. I understand that the new products will be released soon so things might change such as prices, but my current budget is $2000. I would really like to spend less than that but it depends on when I would need to upgrade.

My primary uses would be for school (I'm a junior in high school), writing essays, web browsing, and I would like to get into photo and video editing. I don't travel too much, but portability would be nice but is not required.

Some questions I have are: how much processor speed do I REALLY need? What are the benefits of more cores? Notebook or desktop? Can I upgrade my Mac's components if I need to or do I need to buy a completely new machine?

Sorry for so many questions, any help for any of the questions is very much appreciated.
Thank you!
 

pigoo3

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My primary uses would be for school (I'm a junior in high school), writing essays, web browsing, and I would like to get into photo and video editing. I don't travel too much, but portability would be nice but is not required.

For most of these tasks...you would be fine with a Mac-mini ($599) or an entry level iMac ($999):

Refurbished iMac 21.5-inch 2.5GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 - Apple Store (U.S.)

There's really no reason to spend anywhere near your max. $2000 budget.:)

- Nick
 
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Thanks nick. Would there be any reason not to purchase a MacBook pro over an iMac? The portability would be nice.. And can you upgrade iMacs/mbp's?
 

pigoo3

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Thanks nick. Would there be any reason not to purchase a MacBook pro over an iMac? The portability would be nice.. And can you upgrade iMacs/mbp's?

In your first post you mentioned that portability wasn't important..so that's why I didn't mention laptops.

A MacBook Pro will cost you a bunch more money (unless you're talking the 13" MacBook Pro entry level model).

Basically an iMac is just a BIG laptop (that of course is not very portable). As far as upgradeability...all you can upgrade on either a iMac or a MacBook Pro is the hard drive & ram. And because Apple made upgrading the hard drive in 2011 iMac's more complicated...upgrading the iMac's HD could be considered (by some) to not really be upgradeable. Of course you can always use external USB HD's.

But as far as cpu or gpu upgrades in an iMac or MacBook Pro...you're pretty much stuck with what you have at the time of purchase.

If you prefer the MacBook Pro...go for it.:)

- Nick
 

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