imac or mac book pro

I'm thinking about buying a new computer (mom wants my ibook, lol), and I was wondering whats the difference between a mac book pro and an imac. The processor's seem to be the same as well as the ram. The only differences that I note is that the imac has a bigger display, a larger avaliable hard drive, and that its a desktop. Are there any true advantages to buying an imac vs. a mac book pro, besides price? When I baught my ibook there was a vast difference between the ibook g4 and the imac g5 but now there dosn't seem to be any difference at all. Why would they make all their computers around the same power?

the 2.16 ghz macbook pro is faster than the imac

So then why buy an imac? Why is apple making all its machines the same speed. The only difference that I've found as far as upgradeablility is that the imac unlike the mac book pro has a socket so you can eventually upgrade the processor.

EDIT-XTREEM said:

the 2.16 ghz macbook pro is faster than the imac

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I doubt it, because the MacBook Pro has a much slower harddrive.

Harddrive speed doesn't make that much of a difference, or at least that's what I've noticed. It really comes down to processor speed and RAM.

I say you get the MacBook Pro because it's portable.

why would they make the computer the same speed.. geee i wonder?
... same power but mobile

linuxinu said:

So then why buy an imac? Why is apple making all its machines the same speed. The only difference that I've found as far as upgradeablility is that the imac unlike the mac book pro has a socket so you can eventually upgrade the processor.

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why buy an imac? because some people are desktop people and some people are laptop people. the imac has a biggger display and it's cheaper too. this is why apple has similar processor speeds in their new computers. it's stupid to force someone to buy a slower computer because it's the only one that fits their form factor requirements. we should be happy we have such a selection.

I say you should define your needs. Do you use your iBook on the go a lot, or does it mainly just stay on your desk? I say if you are the latter--then get the iMac -- bigger screen, better ergonomics, better audio, and much cheaper price tag.

Note: we haven't seen as many problems with the iMac as we have the Macbook Pro including the MBP's whine and heat...

Isn't the Graphics card different between the two? I think one is "mobile" while the other is "desktop", not too sure though.

goobimama said:

Isn't the Graphics card different between the two? I think one is "mobile" while the other is "desktop", not too sure though.

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the macbook pro has the ati mobility x1600 and the imac has the ati x1600, but i think it's the same gpu on a differently sized card.