Apple : iMac vs Mac

ircoha

Need to get into Apple kit for educational reasons and would welcome some advice.

It has been suggested that to run the course software such as Final Cut etc, I get a 15" Macpro which is listed at 2519

As there will be a lot of development work to be done I was considering getting a
17" iMac for home work and and a 13" Mac to bring the stuff to and from College.

The iMac is 1219 and the mac is 1119 = 2338.

Part of the reasoning for getting the desktop is that I am considering using
http://www.parallels.com/en/products/workstation/mac/

to let me run windows XP etc

My current desktop is P3/ 863Mhz/512Mb and is a tad slow.

In relation to software licencing, I acknowlege I may need 2 copies of some
software.

I would welcome your observations.

Thanks.

Ps: Can u stick an external mike into the iMac?
It comes with a built -in mike, and I want to use a headset for Voip

Anti

I dont see why not, If it has no audio ports you can get a usb headset from plantronics for about 40€

i know nothing about the rest as macs are EVIL ! But the macbook pro looks sweet

ircoha

Thanks Anti for heads up on the usb headset.

Re the scared sheep in Swansea, do they still glow in the dark post-chernoble?

PogMoThoin

ircoha wrote:

Thanks Anti for heads up on the usb headset.

Re the scared sheep in Swansea, do they still glow in the dark post-chernoble?

OT :rolleyes: Don't you mean "Windscale"?

Anti

Its all a cover up, they do not glow in the dark because of nuclear contamination, We put flurocent die on them, Thier much easier to find now after falling out of the pub drunk.

How on earth can you miss a bright green sheep at 3am ?

Thumper Long

you will only need 1 licence for the software as you are entitled to run it on you desktop and laptop, because you should only be using one at a time.

Urban Weigl

Generally speaking you'll only need 1 license.

As far as input, both the iMac and MacBook both have both digital optical and analogue audio input, so you can plug in a microphone. You can of course also use a USB headset if you wish, it really depends on what your needs are.

ircoha

Thanks for replies, FYI it seems that some Apple s/w use a dongle so that covers the 2 m/cs issue.

Anyone any final thoughts on the 2 versus one notion please?

K.O.Kiki

Macbook Pro is horribly overpriced for what it is.
I vote going for 2 machines, as this way you have a lovely small machine for moving around -- handy if you have to carry books around as well!

ircoha

K.O.Kiki wrote:

Macbook Pro is horribly overpriced for what it is.
I vote going for 2 machines, as this way you have a lovely small machine for moving around -- handy if you have to carry books around as well!

Done, case closed, thanks to all.

zAbbo

Just got a macbook yesterday (black) and it's very nippy, a nice increase over my powerbook 12".

Having owned an iMac previously, I'd say you're on the right route regarding buying 2.

Post back when you get your goodies.

Bunnyhopper

If you're a full-time student then look into the Apple online store's educational discounts. There's a link to that on the Apple Store homepage.

There's a possibility that the MacBook Pro, and maybe the MacBook, might get a processor upgrade within the next few weeks so that may be worth checking, if you have time to wait.

If you're planning actually to run Final Cut on a MacBook then bear in mind that the MacBook, unlike the MacBook Pro or the iMac, has integrated graphics rather than a dedicated graphics card. Officially, Final Cut Studio (Motion 2 in particular, I think) requires dedicated graphics, though there's some chatter on the forums suggesting that it actually runs ok on MacBooks. (Even if it does, it won't be a supported configuration so Apple customer support won't want to know.)

Another point worth noting is that a MacBook can be connected to an external monitor up to 1920 x 1200 pixels to use instead of or as well as the MacBook's own screen.

I know anti's trying to be helpful, but taking advice on Macs from someone who reckons Macs are evil and doesn't know whether they have audio ports or not might not be the best idea

If you do want to chase any queries up, check out the forums:
http://forums.macrumors.com/
or
http://forums.appleinsider.com/
for example.

Good luck and enjoy.

ircoha

zabbo wrote:

Post back when you get your goodies.

Picked up the 20" 2.13Ghx/250Gb imac today.
Put 2Gb RAM on in shop.

As this is my first Apple still figuring it out.
Glad I went for 250 HD as with all the pre-loaded stuff the net is 210GB

22/10/2006: the apple mighty mouse as shipped is too small for me, need the full size mouse which seems to work out fine.

the onboard camera/video is v cool, just need Berties make up artist to look my best

En passant, the spec says u get 3 by USB 2.0 on the box and 2 by usb 1.0 on the keyboard,

what they dont tell u is that 2 out of the five go on the keyboard and the mouse.

Having said that the fact all the kit is in the one box it is very neat in comparison to the old screen + system unit.

once i get the //'s sware working goodbye to the old boxes