Two Macs!

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Hey peeps :) Been the proud owner of an MBP for a few months now and I love it. I have a slight dilemma though; I'm off to university in September and I'm not sure how to do things, computer wise.

I also have a desktop PC which is a hefty beast (512MB Graphics for instance) and a lot of wiring of course.

I'm inclined to either..

1. Just take the MBP.
2. Take the MBP and PC.
3. Take the MBP and get an iMac.

The laptop comes no matter what - the flexibility of being portable will come in handy for sure.

My course is also 50% placements - I could be living away from my 'home' base for a few weeks, again, laptop wins here.

But when I am at 'home' (my new home, that is), I like to work on a desktop. And play on a desktop. ^^

I guess I'm just asking if you think it would be excessive to get an iMac too? At the moment I'm working full time so putting plenty of money away; I'm also not a huge partyer or a drinker so I will be spending money 'wisely' when at uni. I'll wait till the Summer to buy if I do; get the latest revision and edu discount.

I'm thinking it'd be really easy to sync up with iDisk (I have .Mac at the moment) and all that in terms of being away from the iMac...

The only things in favour of the PC coming are money, ie. not needing to spend on a new system, and the PC has a 512MB Graphics card which probably will see better FPS on WoW which is the only game I play.

The PC doesn't have Microsoft Office though either which I will need, so I'd need to buy that on either machine.
 
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I don't see the point of having both an iMac and a MacBook Pro...the iMac wouldn't offer any serious advantage, performance-wise...why not just get a real mouse, keyboard, and display for the laptop? You can hide it under the desk and pretend you're working on a tower ;)
 
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Because, when it does come to playing WoW, I'm a bit uneasy about doing it on the MBP for extended periods because of the heat. I know, they can 'handle' it, but I don't want to abuse the thing.
 
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Save the money mate, seriously, if you're anything like the mates i've got at uni you'll want the extra cash, they're all living on stupidly low food and booze budgets, you can buy some good food or go out to eat with that extra grand and a bit in your pocket.

or spend it wining and dining women (or men) of choice.
or whack it toward socialising, you can't say no to having a drink or two with some mates, going to a gig or something.

You've got the mbp, i say thats enough, maybe buy a monitor, keyboard and mouse and use it as a desktop when you want?

I can think of a lot better ways to spend a grand, it would be rather excessive.
 
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Because, when it does come to playing WoW, I'm a bit uneasy about doing it on the MBP for extended periods because of the heat. I know, they can 'handle' it, but I don't want to abuse the thing.

you could just get a cool pad or a notebook stand that cools the macbook pro like the koolsink (my personal review). i use the koolsink with my macbook and like it a lot...

like the others said I don't really see the benefit of buying an imac...it would be alot more cheaper and effective to just buy an external monitor.
 
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Personally I think letting it work hard is a good thing, give the thermal material a good melting, mmm.
 
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Take your PC and save your money. I have a desktop PC at school set up as my music/video rig and use my 17" PB for everything else. Although I do plan to replace my desktop with a mac mini sometime...
 
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My personal opinion is to bring the PC and save the money. You can play WoW on that to your hearts desire.

The only pro i can see for buying a new iMac is that you can use that as a "server" for all your uni documents and media. and use Back to my Mac in the middle of class if you've forgotten something at your dorm. And of course, you will have OSX at all times and wont have to deal with Windows.
 
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I havent heard of "back to my mac" until the previous post... that looks AWESOME!!! I cant wait to get a mini and be able to use that...
 
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The MBP is fairly capable as a part-time gaming rig, although I wouldn't purchase a MBP solely for gaming. If you are looking to do a little bit of gaming, like working on a desktop, but need portability, I'd take the MBP with a stand, keyboard, and mouse. That being said, if the PC is already bought & paid for - and there's room for it in the dorm, bring it for gaming. No sense in letting it go to waste. Heck, I'm a multi-mac owner and still have a PC for playing games except for when I'm out to sea, then the MBP gets to be a part-time gaming rig.
 
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Thanks for the tips guys :) Yeah it was the Back to my Mac stuff that was appealing, plus the whole.. Mac fever, you know how that can be ^^. PC is all bought and paid for, it's just a worry as to whether I'll fit it in.

I guess what I could do is bring the PC up with me, see what the space is like, and then see how it goes really.

I'm not too worried about the money side of things; no booze fund for instance, just food. ^^
 
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I use my MBP for gaming and I can't complain

I have an external monitor and keyboard/mouse and use it that way most of the time
 
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I'm talking more on the social aspect, the more cash you've got, the more time can be spent socialising.

If you really want to do some gaming perhaps consider the console route?
 
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MegaRoss said:
I'm talking more on the social aspect, the more cash you've got, the more time can be spent socialising.

Oh definitely, it's just that I'm in a bit of a better position than most people who start uni (ie. straight from school) as I've been saving for three years, so money won't ever stop me going out really.

And I do have consoles too lol... it's just that I tend to play WoW the most. It's kinda boring me a bit now though.. maybe see where my head is at in September ;)
 

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