Choosing between iMac and Mac Pro

Hello, I am new to these forums... I am also pretty new to Mac. I have used it and I like it, the only problem is, I don't own a Mac, yet. I was planning on buying an iMac or a Mac Pro. I am undecided so I came here to get some opinions. I will use it mainly for all Adobe software(Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Flash, etc.). I like to program(Python, learning some C), I create websites with Flash and Dreamweaver. It will also do a lot of homework... And after the homework is finished, I will probably be using Parallel's desktop, to run Windows, and start playing some TF2 or something. So, should I just get an iMac or go full-scale and get a Mac Pro?

Thanks

Personally if you have the means to get a mac pro and a cinema display nothing beats it! I had a mac pro back when they were G 5's and now have an iMac and deeefinitly miss the power of the mac pro and beauty of the display. I use photoshop and play some games and amateur video editing and my 20" iMac with 1g of ram is not powerful enough.

hhmm...

I had my sights set on a Mac Pro originally, but when my father refused my Christmas gift to him of a 24Ghz 24" iMac (being a PC user, he didn't want to learn a new OS), I ended up with the iMac instead.

So far, I have been extremely pleased with the iMac. It does everything that I throw at it, including multitasking in Photoshop Lightroom/CS3, iTunes, Mail, Safari, and Office. The glossy 24" screen is incredible (although I have a 20" Eizo hooked-up for critical work), build-quality top-notch, and the absence of a large computer case and lots of wiring is a real advantage for me.

However, I'm not so sure I will be as happy 2~3 years from now when I want to upgrade components, or get tired of having to fiddle with multiple external HDs. But at that point, I'll probably hand-down my iMac to my children, and get myself the latest Mac Pro.

If you've got the means to do it, I'd go straight to the Mac Pro.

For everything you want the mac to do, the imac (with the best graphics card it offers) should suit you fine. That card is for the games you want to play. It'll help. I'm not sure if it's a necessity though.

Personally I'm hesitant to recommend pros to anyone cause they are a little pricy and the imacs can do everything. But if you have the peripherals you need and are willing to sink all that loot into the pro. Then I say go for it. All I will say is make sure if you get the pro that you will use all of it's power and not let it go to waste, cause then it'd be overkill for you and not worth the cash.

I would think many people here would say I should have kept my Intel iMac instead buying a Mac Pro but I am extremely glad I upgraded.
I basically use it for light apps like Mail, Safari, iTunes, and Front Row. Ocassionally I use Photoshop. But when I use Handbrake for video conversion, I go all out. I've got it converting videos for 24 straight hours now.
I like having an open system I can expand when I have some cash. It doesn't hold me back from doing what I want like the iMac did.
The Mac Pro is a multipurpose machine. I need to drop in a second video card so I can have my monitor and TV on seperate cards so I can use my computer for Front Row/ home theatre use while having the ability to do research on the Internet or browse MF.

I think I will do fine with the iMac... I don't exactly want to drop $4,000 on a machine, yet. I am looking at the iMac 24" with C2D 2.4Ghz and 2600PRO, but it only comes with 1Gb of RAM and the 2Gb upgrade from Apple is ridiculous for $150. So now, I am wondering if I can upgrade the RAM myself, can I?

Thanks

You certainly can. The manual the iMac shows you how to upgrade it yourself. 2GB should run a ton cheaper.
Good luck.

bryphotoguy said:

You certainly can. The manual the iMac shows you how to upgrade it yourself. 2GB should run a ton cheaper.
Good luck.

Click to expand...

Do you have any idea if this RAM will work? I just installed a couple 1Gb sticks of this in my laptop a while back. And, if anyone is wondering, G. Skill RAM is awesome stuff, I have some in my desktop also.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231135

On previous Intel iMacs there is a little door on the bottom on the monitor/ computer that you remove by unscrewing two screws. I don't know if it's the same for the Ai iMacs. Apple has always made it easy to upgrade RAM in the iMac so it should be a piece of cake.
That's the right stuff. All of the current Macs, except the Mac Pro, use the same RAM.
If you go to apple.com/support/imac there is probably a how to for RAM upgrades.

bryphotoguy said:

On previous Intel iMacs there is a little door on the bottom on the monitor/ computer that you remove by unscrewing two screws. I don't know if it's the same for the Ai iMacs. Apple has always made it easy to upgrade RAM in the iMac so it should be a piece of cake.
That's the right stuff. All of the current Macs, except the Mac Pro, use the same RAM.
If you go to apple.com/support/imac there is probably a how to for RAM upgrades.

Click to expand...

Okay great...


Thanks for all of your help

bryphotoguy said:

On previous Intel iMacs there is a little door on the bottom on the monitor/ computer that you remove by unscrewing two screws. I don't know if it's the same for the Ai iMacs. Apple has always made it easy to upgrade RAM in the iMac so it should be a piece of cake.
That's the right stuff. All of the current Macs, except the Mac Pro, use the same RAM.
If you go to apple.com/support/imac there is probably a how to for RAM upgrades.

Click to expand...

I believe the new Al iMac only has one screw to remove from a panel under the screen

I've had good luck with Crucial so far. VERY reasonable RAM prices. I had upgraded the iMac not long after purchase with the intent of digitizing VHS tapes. The total then was 2GB. with the 2.4Ghz processor (new aluminum version 24") that would slow when I was compacting footage and trying to edit another file. The files were between 1-6GB a piece. The imac would start to slow. I have noticed improvement since upping the RAM to 4GB. But the slowness is not quite gone. I am not displeased, I know that If I push hard (which I can) the iMac gets bogged, I knew this when I got it.

I utilize EyeTV Hybrid for the digitization. Their software is pretty straightforward. Plus I can export directly to multiple platforms/formats (iPhone,iPod, etc) I think I'd see less bogging if I had the external processcor from EyeTV for the conversion. Still, down the road, I truly do want a Mac Pro. I know I can find ways to exploit the power

INTELligent said:

I think I will do fine with the iMac... I don't exactly want to drop $4,000 on a machine, yet. I am looking at the iMac 24" with C2D 2.4Ghz and 2600PRO, but it only comes with 1Gb of RAM and the 2Gb upgrade from Apple is ridiculous for $150. So now, I am wondering if I can upgrade the RAM myself, can I?

Thanks

Click to expand...

I just bought a 24" 2.4 imac this weekend, and I'm still very happy with my decision. I was in the same boat as you about choosing which mac. I spent about an hour in a mac gallery, played around with the imac 2.4, 2.8, and the 8 core mac pro.

I ran back and forth between the models; and didn't see much performance differences between these models with "normal" applications running.

I had the means, but after much thoughts, I didn't want to pay the $1000 difference for a mac pro, which, didn't have a monitor, and I didn't think the 2.8 extreme was worth the extra $500.00.

If you have the means, and for the applications you mentioned, get the mac pro, otherwise, the imac is more than sufficient.