Happy new year Guys!

 

I can buy a Mac through my work this month and I decided to go for it, I have been thinking about a Mac for a long time now, but I’m a bit confused about what to choose, if I should pick one that would be best together with my B&O stuff and soon with an iPhone 3Gs.

I have tried to quickly google it, and also seached here in the Beo-Mac forum but didn’t find any answer 100%.

 

I know it’s all about how I would use my Mac.

 

On my PC today; I make some movies myself and editing takes a long time now, I edit a lot of pictures and do all the normal stuff; read emails, surf the net, sometimes watch a movie etc.

Most of the time my PC laptop is placed the on the same spot and hooked up with the mains powered to it, but from time to time it’s nice to be mobile.

 

I would love to take it to the next level maybe with music and somehow connect it to my B&O products.

 

I’m thinking about 3 different solutions:

 

1.st:

Apple iMac 27 i5”

2.66GHz quad-core Intel Core i5

1TB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm

4GB (two 2GB SO-DIMMs) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM

2560 by 1440 pixels / ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics processor with 512MB of GDDR3 memory

 

2.nd:

Apple MacBook Pro 15"

2,66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

320 GB Serial ATA; 5400 o./min

1440 x -900 / NVIDIA GeForce 9600M/ NVIDIA GeForce 9400M-256 MB DDR3 SDRAM

 4 GB (two 2 GB SO-DIMM) 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM

 

3.rd:

Apple MacBook Air13,3"

2,13 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

128GB solid-state drive

NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory

2GB of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM onboard

 

I’m also thinking about the solutions with a Macbook and later on buy the 24” LED Cinema Display.

 

Thanks guys

Sorry did a new post.

Look to the top

The size of a HD is very important. 128 is far too small. Both iMacs and MacBook Pro are great machines. If you get a Macbook Pro, order it with the biggest (not necessaraly the fastest) HD as you can. p.

I have all of those and have been pleased with each. However, it's worth noting that the MacBook Air cannot have memory added. Therefore, unless you plan on using the MacBook Air as a secondary machine just for travel and mobility, you might want to consider ruling out the MacBook Air. With the latest designs of the MacBook Pro, the difference in slimness is not as great as it once was. The new MacBook Pro is still quite thin.

Agree with above - I don't think the Air will be man enough for what you are using it for - having said that, I do like mine! I bought my mother a MacBook Pro and it is superb - if there is a chance you need to be mobile, this is clearly the way forward with a big external HDD.

One more vote for the MBPro. User serviceable HDD is key, and you get all the ports that the iMac will provide, plus the portability. And you can also choose to operate it in clamshell mode with a monitor (or Beovision) of your choice ;-) Sal

Hello Anders,

I wish you a happy new year. I just bought an iMac 21,5'' and Iphone 3 Gs last december. Both wonderful machines!

Hello Anders and Happy New Year.

Recently, I switched from PC to Mac, buying the new iMac 21,5". Excellent machine and easy in use. Frankly speaking it made my life very easy concerning Photo and video editing. Far easier than PC and thanks to Philippe's software, the installation on the B&O link was piece of cake.

But........... this is an addiction. After that a s/h Mac book followed to have on my business trips and an upgraded Apple TV as well (iPhone was already there)!!!!! It's really nice that with iTunes you can  very easily synchronize everything.

In my opinion I would start with the iMac. But of course it's a matter of use and if you intend to carry it along with you.

I know my post might confuse things but I just wanted to share my recent experience!!

Best regards

Spiros

Hi,

i am using an Air and an Imac and have been on Macs for some years now.

I would not use an Air as a main computer - specs may look fine but for processor intensive tasks like movie or picture editing it is just not built. I am on a 1st gen Air, it can handle internet movie streams, however it gets so hot that "thermal management" kicks in and reduces processor power which is when it becomes laggy and un-useable. With ice packs underneath it works perfectly fine. 

That said, I would go option 2 and take the 15", that is a nice compromise I think for size versus power.

Note, I struggled a bit switching between windows and mac when I used both OS in the early days. I really came to enjoy my mac when I ditched Windows at work as well.

JK

Thanks for all you answers :)

I will stop thinking about the Macbook Air now! And then use my thoughts on the two other solutions.

I really like the idea about the iMac, but then I need to make a place/spot for it! I ditched the permanents spot when I previous had the big ugly and noise high tower PC standing in our old living room and I just hate it! But the more I look at the new iMac I really love it, but maybe I'm afraid that it's to big, Yes you heard it right :) unless I will make the right enviroment for it. Today we just have our laptops at the dining table, and I know that's not going to happen with the big iMac.

When I said mobile, then I only mean a short time, when I just want to read e-mails and quick surf the net, that would be possible with the iPhone, correct?

Anders

My switch to Apple was 11 months ago - a wonderful decision, I love my MacBook (it is a 13" unibody, but the "Pro" suffix was added some 6 months later together with small enhancements) although I am probably looking to switch to a more powerful MacBook (bigger screen, bigger/faster disk) although the additional power of a desktop is very attractive.

I endorse everyone's opinions: do not get an Air as portability is not your primary need.

Be warned the top of the line MacBookPro lacked some features of the mid-range MacBookPros

Lessons learnt:

• you can never have enough disk capacity (iTunes is my largest hog of disk space), and an external drive only goes part of the way 
• a friend does a lot of photoshop, they say that to be productive the external disk must be attached via firewire 

ThePriest:

when I just want to read e-mails and quick surf the net, that would be possible with the iPhone,

correct ... but in my opinion the small screen of the iPhone is not good for general browsing.

I can use the iPhone for email (either native, or via google's webmail), sometimes Beoworld, and for wikipedia (which senses it is being used by an iPhone and tailors its interface accordingly), but it gets difficult for lots of other sites.

Anders,

I would go for the iMac in your situation. If you need to be mobile, you could still use your PC Laptop (but you won't do that after having used a Mac). The iMac 27" i5 is really a good machine. I have the 3,06 Ghz version, which is more than enough for me. If you do some video-work, the extra power the i5 offers sure is welcome.

elephant:

Lessons learnt:

And a BIG one is NOT to set your optical drive to a region.

I believe when you are prompted you can select "cancel" and keep using the drive, but if you select one region you are then trapped into consuming your free trials of regions before the optical drive eventually is locked to one region only.

I think I read this tip in a VLC forum .....