Durability of Macbook Pro?

Still wrestling with concept of 20" iMac vs. 17" Macbook Pro. Understand premium dollars required for Macbook, but I'm not concerned about that.

In the PC world laptops tend to be slower and much less reliable/durable than desktop counterparts. In the Mac world -- based on reports from friends over the years -- Mac laptops seem to be much better, but I have no personal experience other than with PC laptops.

Seeking opinions of likely reliability/durability of iMac desktop compared with Macbook Pro.

Either machine I purchased would be used all day every day.

With the new intel chips the macbooks are really fast, but the imac will still be much faster. They are also long bat life if you drain and charge them correctly.

Durability ... im sure its fine, but I wouldn't know. Last laptop I had was an old flavor iBook and I dropped it about 6 times and its fine.

asolo said:

Still wrestling with concept of 20" iMac vs. 17" Macbook Pro. Understand premium dollars required for Macbook, but I'm not concerned about that.

In the PC world laptops tend to be slower and much less reliable/durable than desktop counterparts. In the Mac world -- based on reports from friends over the years -- Mac laptops seem to be much better, but I have no personal experience other than with PC laptops.

Seeking opinions of likely reliability/durability of iMac desktop compared with Macbook Pro.

Either machine I purchased would be used all day every day.

Click to expand...

Having owned 4 Apple laptops since January of this year, I can say that the build quality across the board seems to be very high. Remember though that your hard drives, ram, optical drive, etc are mostly off the shelf parts. What I like most about them is their size and form factor.

For a laptop, I don't think they get much more durable than the Apple line, same goes for desktops. It would be safe to say that one isn't better made than the other. As far as benchmarks go, check out this link to give you a good picture of how fast the 17" Macbook Pro fairs against a 20" iMac. You may be surprised. Benchmarks

I have an intel iMac. I love it. I have had experiences with Apple's laptops, and when I used them (12 inch powerbook) for extended periods of time, I got uncomfortable because they would become very hot. Also much noisier. The little fan usually ran a lot even when word processing. I've never heard my iMac's fan even during graphic intensive games. The only time i heard them loudly was during a firmwire update, during which they ran at full speed for about 5 seconds. I was leaning over the computer and it blew a bunch of dust in my face, it was quite funny and my brother laughed at me.

Right, back to the point. Since you'd be using the computer all day long, I think an iMac would be much more comfortable to use over extended periods of time (especially when you combine it with squishy wrist pads and moust pads. I doubt you'd notice a speed difference in the laptop vs. desktop debate. However, the iMac may run faster just because it runs at a cooler internal temperature.

Also, when working on a laptop, you are constantly bending your neck and looking downward. I find that uncomfortable over an extended period of time. The imac screen sits eye level, which I find a lot better.

So, in my opinion, go for the iMac. :teen:

techster82 said:

As far as benchmarks go, check out this link to give you a good picture of how fast the 17" Macbook Pro fairs against a 20" iMac. You may be surprised. Benchmarks

Click to expand...

Thanks for this recent-vintage benchmark page. Interesting stuff here.

asolo said:

Thanks for this recent-vintage benchmark page. Interesting stuff here.

Click to expand...

The MBP and the IMac seem fairly evenly matched. This should be no real surprise, they basically have the same specs, slightly in favor of the 17" MBP. (128MB more Video Memory and .16Ghz faster processor). Pretty smokin' for a laptop IMHO.

Well, it depends on whether you need portability or not.
If yes, get the MacBook Pro.
If no, get the iMac.
No matter what, the iMac will most likely outperfrom the MPB, and that's expected, because desktops generally (at least with what I've experienced) run faster than laptops. However, from what I've seen, the MacBooks give the iMac a run for their money. I say, personally, that if money is not an issue, get a MPB either maxed out or at least with better specs than a standard 20" iMac.

If you don't plan on moving them around a lot, they should both last for many years. Of course, when you carry a laptop around in a bag, it has a better chance of having something unfortunate happen to it such as being dropped or hit with something.

i have the imac and my friend has the mbp. both are amazing. its wheter you want the portability or not. the mbp will hold up fine.

Technically, you could take the iMac to an internet cafe and set it up there! lol

asolo said:

Still wrestling with concept of 20" iMac vs. 17" Macbook Pro. Understand premium dollars required for Macbook, but I'm not concerned about that.

In the PC world laptops tend to be slower and much less reliable/durable than desktop counterparts. In the Mac world -- based on reports from friends over the years -- Mac laptops seem to be much better, but I have no personal experience other than with PC laptops.

Seeking opinions of likely reliability/durability of iMac desktop compared with Macbook Pro.

Either machine I purchased would be used all day every day.

Click to expand...

I view Powerbooks as premium laptops. Similarly premium PC laptops are also built very tough.

You can never compare desktop machines to laptops for durability. How many carry their desktop machine around with them and use it all sorts of environments?

The two places laptops usually lag desktops is graphics performance - those super-fast nuclear furnaces that run in a desktop cannot be cooled sufficiently and they draw enough energy to power a small country. The other achilles heel is hard drive speed. You do get 7200rpm 2.5" drives, but 5400rpm is more typical.

Finally of course the PowerPCs came in limited varieties so Mac desktops just couldn't get that far ahead. Until the G5, which was never suitable for laptop use.

i think that if you need portability as people said above get the MacBook Pro but if you don't get the iMac. Also i don't personally like laptops because the screen is smaller and you bend you neck and get tired quicker than you do on a desktop and i also think that the desktop would outperform the laptop because of heating, cooling, issues.

these are my opinions