Hi forum,
Long time reader, first time poster...
I've been a mac user for many years - from the Performa days - but now stand at a crossroads as to what to upgrade to. My 2006 C2D Macbook (not pro) is getting very long in the tooth and is not applicable for the Mountain Lion upgrade whenever it comes round.
I have £1500 available to spend on a new rig. Ideally, I don't spend anywhere near that. I get the HE education discount so that helps a little.
I'll be using the machine for all of the CS suite - have CS5 and don't see the need to upgrade to 6 just yet - as well as perhaps some video editing in the future.
I already own an external HD monitor that I plug my MacBook into, so don't see the iMac as a real upgrade, but possible if it's right.
What I am really stuck on is should I save a lot of money and buy a Mini (I'll probably wait until the next refresh as it can only be round the corner) or get a base model MBP 15" with the optional high res display and upgrade the RAM myself to the full 8GB. I'll be keeping the machine for at least 3-5 years as I have my MacBook.
The other option is to go down the hackintosh route. I'm not adverse to this, but there's always the uncertainties with a self-build square-peg-in-round-hole way of Macintosh. This will be my main production machine, so it needs to be solid, but you have to admit you get a lot more bang for buck for the money.
Really I'm looking for any advice and thoughts!
Cheers
Phjils.
Long time reader, first time poster...
I've been a mac user for many years - from the Performa days - but now stand at a crossroads as to what to upgrade to. My 2006 C2D Macbook (not pro) is getting very long in the tooth and is not applicable for the Mountain Lion upgrade whenever it comes round.
I have £1500 available to spend on a new rig. Ideally, I don't spend anywhere near that. I get the HE education discount so that helps a little.
I'll be using the machine for all of the CS suite - have CS5 and don't see the need to upgrade to 6 just yet - as well as perhaps some video editing in the future.
I already own an external HD monitor that I plug my MacBook into, so don't see the iMac as a real upgrade, but possible if it's right.
What I am really stuck on is should I save a lot of money and buy a Mini (I'll probably wait until the next refresh as it can only be round the corner) or get a base model MBP 15" with the optional high res display and upgrade the RAM myself to the full 8GB. I'll be keeping the machine for at least 3-5 years as I have my MacBook.
The other option is to go down the hackintosh route. I'm not adverse to this, but there's always the uncertainties with a self-build square-peg-in-round-hole way of Macintosh. This will be my main production machine, so it needs to be solid, but you have to admit you get a lot more bang for buck for the money.
Really I'm looking for any advice and thoughts!
Cheers
Phjils.