Mac Pro vs iMac?

[freckles]

I own an older G5 tower and was going to buy a new Mac Pro. But I'm wondering if I should buy an iMac instead.

What are the differences and advantages/disadvantages? And why should someone buy one over the other?

I'm also a little concerned about the monitor actually being part of the computer. If that dies it's a big problem.

How easy are they to upgrade? As in if you wanted to add more memory yourself?

I don't think I would ever fill up a 1TB hard drive. I use Adobe Creative Suite on a regular basis. Surfing the internet, music and video editing once in a blue moon.

 

[pigoo3]

How easy are they to upgrade? As in if you wanted to add more memory yourself?

The memory in iMacs is easy to upgrade.

As a G5 Tower owner you know how expandable they can be. But many times folks buy the towers for the expandability...but then they don't really ever upgrade them. So they pay a lot of extra money for the expandability/upgradability...and then don't upgrade or upgrade much other than the ram.

You didn't mention what your budget is...but a new iMac can be purchased for as little as $1199. A new Mac Pro starts at $2499. That's quite a bit of difference.

Depending on your needs...a new 21.5" iMac will run circles around your old G5. In fact you could buy TWO 21.5" iMacs for less than the cost of a entry level Mac Pro.

Hope this helps,

- Nick

 

[harryb2448]

You do not say but are you using CS on a professional basis, such as a photographer etc? If so get a Mac Pro as you can upgrade graphics, and memory, HDD and optical drives, including Blu Ray are much, much simpler to replace and upgrade.

If you are a keen amateur, get an iMac.

 

[smashbox]

i too had a similar thread with help on trying to decide on what machine to get.. when i built and priced both machines they fell very close in price, and i'm talking within $200 of each other.. my justification for getting the Imac over the MBP was the size of the screen.. why spend the same amount of money for a 15 inch screen, when i can have a 27 incher...

good luck

 

[freckles]

The memory in iMacs is easy to upgrade.

As a G5 Tower owner you know how expandable they can be. But many times folks buy the towers for the expandability...but then they don't really ever upgrade them. So they pay a lot of extra money for the expandability/upgradability...and then don't upgrade or upgrade much other than the ram.

You didn't mention what your budget is...but a new iMac can be purchased for as little as $1199. A new Mac Pro starts at $2499. That's quite a bit of difference.

Depending on your needs...a new 21.5" iMac will run circles around your old G5. In fact you could buy TWO 21.5" iMacs for less than the cost of a entry level Mac Pro.

Hope this helps,

- Nick

I know the Mac Towers are easy to upgrade but I'm not sure I see myself actually doing that. The only thing I have added is memory.

I would like to spend as little as possible, but my budget is around $2,000. I'm hoping to sell my older mac on ebay to recoup a little of what I spend. If I was going the iMac route that would replace my current monitor and I would probably buy the quad core 27" monitor model.

 

[freckles]

You do not say but are you using CS on a professional basis, such as a photographer etc? If so get a Mac Pro as you can upgrade graphics, and memory, HDD and optical drives, including Blu Ray are much, much simpler to replace and upgrade.

If you are a keen amateur, get an iMac.

I am a graphic designer but just use my home computer for personal projects at the moment.

 

[harryb2448]

Well buy the iMac and enjoy!