Which Mac device(s) should I get?

So, I just graduated high school and am allowed basically up to about $2400(dad is putting in 2000 and I'm willing to put in 400) in getting a new mac. Here are the options I have been thinking about: base mac book pro with retina display(256 gb), base mac book air 13" and a base i mac 21.5(getting a deal off of bhphotovideo.com so it would be about the same as the mac book pro with retina display), or a 27 inch i mac(baseline) with a 16gb new ipad. Those are the main options I'm juggling. Btw whatever i get would be used for College(papers, research,ect), skyping (lots of it), music, pictures, maybe a couple of movies, and general email/youtube/internet stuff. I will be doing a very minimal amount of video editing. I feel somewhat uncomfortable and limited with the 256gb ssd on the pro, which is kind of the reason for the whole dilemma so any advice would be helpful. Again, skype is definitely a big thing for whatever I get. Also, I know it's kind of early but I'm pretty set on the dental field if that helps. I hope for something that will last me 5-6 years at the least. Any advice would be extremely helpful! Thanks in advance!

One of the key questions you need to ask yourself is how portable do you want to be. I teach at a local high school and have been to college and dealt with the whole laptop thing.

Some people want to have their laptop with them and some do not like lugging them around. Your personal preference will be the key. All of the solutions you posted above will work. If you have an idea how much room you will have in your dorm/house while in college that will also play a part. I have an iPad that I use for going places where I really do not want to have to lug a laptop around - of course the macbook air is also insanely light so those two kind of cancel each other out.

Taking into account the amount of space you will have to work with and your preference for what kind of machine you want to use most of the time, you will pretty much have to pick for yourself. If you have lots of desk space go with one of the iMac combinations. If your desk space is limited and your room will be small, think about the macbook pro.

Hope this helps.

Smalltowntech said:

If you have lots of desk space go with one of the iMac combinations. If your desk space is limited and your room will be small, think about the macbook pro.

Hope this helps.

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I'm leaning towards the mac book pro with retina display. Do you know if it would work well with an ultra portable external hard drive? Like to the extent that I would not have to worry about space? If not, I would then probably opt for the base 13inch air and have most of my stuff on the base line i mac, taking advantage of i cloud.

There are a lot of good quality and cheapish portable Ext HDD going around atm so if you have your eyes set on the new Retina 15" then i would go and fork out that money.. Have the SSD mainly for all your Apps and launching them, and those can't do without papers and use the Ext HDD for backing up..... Sounds like you know what you want so go for it

Cheers

Couple of things I would worry about if I were you. The MBP Retina is not expandable at all. Whatever size SSD and RAM you order is going to be all you will ever be able to get. It's also going to be VERY expensive to fix and likely be a higher profile target for theft. It's true that the MBA is also limited by SSD and RAM, but you could essentially buy 2 of them for the cost of a MBP Retina.

I would go for an iMac and iPad combo if I were you. I have both and I think it's gives you the widest range of computing power and portability. If you decided you didn't like it, you could sell the iPad and still have 1/2 the price of a MBA already

class77 said:

Couple of things I would worry about if I were you. The MBP Retina is not expandable at all. Whatever size SSD and RAM you order is going to be all you will ever be able to get.

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This is true of the RAM but is probably NOT true of the SSD (it's not soldered in, it's on a daughtercard). The SSD for the Retina MacBook Pro uses a non-standard connector but I'm happy to bet you serious money that this minor obstacle will quickly be overcome by the likes of OWC and others (probably before the year is out).

It's also going to be VERY expensive to fix and likely be a higher profile target for theft.

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Both very true and very sobering factors to consider.

I would go for an iMac and iPad combo if I were you. I have both and I think it's gives you the widest range of computing power and portability. If you decided you didn't like it, you could sell the iPad and still have 1/2 the price of a MBA already

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A sensible suggestion, though a non-Retina MBP + iPad is another option.