iMac vs Macbook Air vs Macbook Pro

phoneJunky

phoneJunky

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Okay did the whole search for mybroadband on google and it doesn't seem to have this topic. I also went to this site
http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/ and it basically says I should wait, but I don't think I will. I have built my own pc's for about 10 years now (only 3 for myself and a few for others so its not really that much).

I also read that iMac vs PC thread and thought I would have a crack at building something that is equivalent to the cheapest iMac and I could get it for only a bit cheaper (I don't pirate software). But then, it really didn't look that nice in comparison - so I thought I would go for the iMac.

Then I got to a point of why not a Macbook Air/Pro - the usage on the go would really nice but it is not really a must.

Also I have only ever used Windows XP/7 and Ubuntu/Fedora so I would like to know what equivalent there is for software like outlook and office and how much it costs in comparison. I know I can buy something that will let my play my older games (warcraft etc) on OSX and I know it works, because it uses the same base as wine on linux, so it shouldn't be a problem for me as I got my games working on Ubuntu before.

So keeping this all in mind, which one of the mentioned devices would you buy?

iMac 21.5" is R12300
MB air 13" is R13500
MB pro 13" is R12800

Do you know of any place cheaper? Am currently favouring the iMac.
 
I would definitely consider the MB Air over the 13" MBP, it's an amazing laptop. The SSD makes things crazy fast and it's just much lighter and thinner. The screen is superior to the 13" MBP as well.

iMac is a different kettle of fish altogether. It's really up to you, but basically it comes down to iMac vs MBA in my opinion. Go to an Apple store and play with them to decide. Remember Ivy Bridge is about to launch and Apple will surely refresh with it.

As for software, Mac OS comes with Mail which is a very nice email client, you get MS Office as well as Apple iWork for office needs. There are options for games as you mentioned, quite a few.
 
Apple 11.6" MacBook Air dual-core Intel Core i5 1.6GHz, 2GB RAM, 64GB Flash Storage, Intel HD Graphics 3000, Mac OS X Lion (MC968LL/A) price R5,000

Apple 11.6" MacBook Air dual-core Intel Core i5 1.6GHz, 4GB RAM, 128GB Flash Storage, Intel HD Graphics 3000, Mac OS X Lion (MC969LL/A) price R7,000

Apple 13.3" MacBook Air dual-core Intel Core i5 1.7GHz, 4GB RAM, 128GB Flash Storage, Intel HD Graphics 3000, Mac OS X Lion (MC965LL/A) Price R7,999

Apple 13.3" MacBook Air dual-core Intel Core i5 1.7GHz, 4GB RAM, 256GB Flash Storage, Intel HD Graphics 3000, Mac OS X Lion (MC966LL/A) price R8,500

Apple 11.6" MacBook Air 1.4GHz, 2GB RAM, 64GB Flash Storage, NVIDIA GeForce 320M (Closeout Model - Installed with Mac OS Snow Leopard - FREE Upgrade to Lion) (MC505LL/A) Price R4,799

Apple 11.6" MacBook Air 1.4GHz, 2GB RAM, 128GB Flash Storage, NVIDIA GeForce 320M (Closeout Model - Installed w/ Mac OS Snow Leopard - FREE Upgrade to Lion) (MC506LL/A) Price R5,000

Apple 11.6" MacBook Air 1.6GHz, 4GB RAM, 128GB Flash Storage, NVIDIA GeForce 320M (Closeout Model - Installed w/ Mac OS Snow Leopard - FREE Upgrade to Lion) (MC906LL/A) price R5,550

For more information email us or call Duane

Phone 080-0999372
 
phoneJunky said:
Also I have only ever used Windows XP/7 and Ubuntu/Fedora so I would like to know what equivalent there is for software like outlook and office and how much it costs in comparison. I know I can buy something that will let my play my older games (warcraft etc) on OSX and I know it works, because it uses the same base as wine on linux, so it shouldn't be a problem for me as I got my games working on Ubuntu before.
Click to expand...
That would be Office and Outlook. :) Cant advise you on the price however, sorry.

BTW you can load windows natively on your Mac so you could play games etc that way instead of wine.
So keeping this all in mind, which one of the mentioned devices would you buy?

iMac 21.5" is R12300
MB air 13" is R13500
MB pro 13" is R12800

Do you know of any place cheaper? Am currently favouring the iMac.
Click to expand...
It really depends on what you want to do. You say portability isn't a must so if you're never going to need it then the iMac. I absolutely needed portability, and a DVD drive, and firewire, and the ability to easily upgrade my hdd and ram so I chose the MBP over the air.
 
Synaesthesia said:
I would definitely consider the MB Air over the 13" MBP, it's an amazing laptop. The SSD makes things crazy fast and it's just much lighter and thinner. The screen is superior to the 13" MBP as well.

iMac is a different kettle of fish altogether. It's really up to you, but basically it comes down to iMac vs MBA in my opinion. Go to an Apple store and play with them to decide. Remember Ivy Bridge is about to launch and Apple will surely refresh with it.

As for software, Mac OS comes with Mail which is a very nice email client, you get MS Office as well as Apple iWork for office needs. There are options for games as you mentioned, quite a few.
Click to expand...

Will definitely go play with them, there is a store quite close to me. The ones who's prices are in my first post.

I would much rather have the native office suite if I can, if it has all the functionality.

bboy said:
I have no idea if the above is real though, do tell if you get one!
Click to expand...

I think I will rather not. Only found one online store cheaper from that Mac store thread, but I don't like how they go about the whole payment thing.

bwana said:
That would be Office and Outlook. :) Cant advise you on the price however, sorry.

BTW you can load windows natively on your Mac so you could play games etc that way instead of wine.

It really depends on what you want to do. You say portability isn't a must so if you're never going to need it then the iMac. I absolutely needed portability, and a DVD drive, and firewire, and the ability to easily upgrade my hdd and ram so I chose the MBP over the air.
Click to expand...

Only ever used my dvd to write two lightscribed cds and to install windows 7 and 4 games. I might be able to get away without it.

The portability will be nice, but I don't know if it is a must have. I will let you guys know after I played with it later.
 
If you're sure you don't need portability go for iMac. It will last you a good 5 years.

The awesome thing about the Macbook Pro is that you can upgrade the RAM and HDD whenever you like. This means you will be able to keep it longer than the Air will last you.

Air has a good display compared to MBP but that will change in the near future.

If you're going with a notebook WAIT FOR IVY BRIDGE.

Also: If you wait now you can get the current MBP 15" models at a lower price when they are upgraded. Probably for around R15k.
 
Last edited:
macboer said:
If you're sure you don't need portability go for iMac. It will last you a good 5 years.

The awesome thing about the Macbook Pro is that you can upgrade the RAM and HDD whenever you like. This means you will be able to keep it longer than the Air will last you.

Air has a good display compared to MBP but that will change in the near future.

If you're going with a notebook WAIT FOR IVY BRIDGE.

Also: If you wait now you can get the current MBP 15" models at a lower price when they are upgraded. Probably for around R15k.
Click to expand...

Okay, I will wait for the new MBP then. Don't really need the portability, but it really gives you that freedom. In that Mac buyers guide it just says that it is approaching its end of cycle, but the last rumour is 2 months old. Any one have some more rumours?
 
im also holding for the new mac air, should be a 15" version hopefully, 2 months away maybe
 
phoneJunky said:
Okay, I will wait for the new MBP then. Don't really need the portability, but it really gives you that freedom. In that Mac buyers guide it just says that it is approaching its end of cycle, but the last rumour is 2 months old. Any one have some more rumours?
Click to expand...

Shouldn't be longer than end of July.

My bet is on the mid of JUNE.

Ivy Bridge will apparently be in Lenovo notebooks by 5 June.
 
bboy said:
Apple 11.6" MacBook Air dual-core Intel Core i5 1.6GHz, 2GB RAM, 64GB Flash Storage, Intel HD Graphics 3000, Mac OS X Lion (MC968LL/A) price R5,000

Apple 11.6" MacBook Air dual-core Intel Core i5 1.6GHz, 4GB RAM, 128GB Flash Storage, Intel HD Graphics 3000, Mac OS X Lion (MC969LL/A) price R7,000

Apple 13.3" MacBook Air dual-core Intel Core i5 1.7GHz, 4GB RAM, 128GB Flash Storage, Intel HD Graphics 3000, Mac OS X Lion (MC965LL/A) Price R7,999

Apple 13.3" MacBook Air dual-core Intel Core i5 1.7GHz, 4GB RAM, 256GB Flash Storage, Intel HD Graphics 3000, Mac OS X Lion (MC966LL/A) price R8,500

Apple 11.6" MacBook Air 1.4GHz, 2GB RAM, 64GB Flash Storage, NVIDIA GeForce 320M (Closeout Model - Installed with Mac OS Snow Leopard - FREE Upgrade to Lion) (MC505LL/A) Price R4,799

Apple 11.6" MacBook Air 1.4GHz, 2GB RAM, 128GB Flash Storage, NVIDIA GeForce 320M (Closeout Model - Installed w/ Mac OS Snow Leopard - FREE Upgrade to Lion) (MC506LL/A) Price R5,000

Apple 11.6" MacBook Air 1.6GHz, 4GB RAM, 128GB Flash Storage, NVIDIA GeForce 320M (Closeout Model - Installed w/ Mac OS Snow Leopard - FREE Upgrade to Lion) (MC906LL/A) price R5,550

For more information email us or call Duane

Phone 080-0999372
Click to expand...

Looks like a scam to me!
 
bboy said:
Apple 11.6" MacBook Air dual-core Intel Core i5 1.6GHz, 2GB RAM, 64GB Flash Storage, Intel HD Graphics 3000, Mac OS X Lion (MC968LL/A) price R5,000

Apple 11.6" MacBook Air dual-core Intel Core i5 1.6GHz, 4GB RAM, 128GB Flash Storage, Intel HD Graphics 3000, Mac OS X Lion (MC969LL/A) price R7,000

Apple 13.3" MacBook Air dual-core Intel Core i5 1.7GHz, 4GB RAM, 128GB Flash Storage, Intel HD Graphics 3000, Mac OS X Lion (MC965LL/A) Price R7,999

Apple 13.3" MacBook Air dual-core Intel Core i5 1.7GHz, 4GB RAM, 256GB Flash Storage, Intel HD Graphics 3000, Mac OS X Lion (MC966LL/A) price R8,500

Apple 11.6" MacBook Air 1.4GHz, 2GB RAM, 64GB Flash Storage, NVIDIA GeForce 320M (Closeout Model - Installed with Mac OS Snow Leopard - FREE Upgrade to Lion) (MC505LL/A) Price R4,799

Apple 11.6" MacBook Air 1.4GHz, 2GB RAM, 128GB Flash Storage, NVIDIA GeForce 320M (Closeout Model - Installed w/ Mac OS Snow Leopard - FREE Upgrade to Lion) (MC506LL/A) Price R5,000

Apple 11.6" MacBook Air 1.6GHz, 4GB RAM, 128GB Flash Storage, NVIDIA GeForce 320M (Closeout Model - Installed w/ Mac OS Snow Leopard - FREE Upgrade to Lion) (MC906LL/A) price R5,550

For more information email us or call Duane

Phone 080-0999372
Click to expand...


Scammer troll
 
phoneJunky said:
So keeping this all in mind, which one of the mentioned devices would you buy?

iMac 21.5" is R12300
MB air 13" is R13500
MB pro 13" is R12800

Do you know of any place cheaper? Am currently favouring the iMac.
Click to expand...

Id go with the Macbook Air for speed but then again you could always get a SSD for a MacBook Pro. My wife has the Pro with a SSD and its really fast.

Mac prices : You will probably only get good cheaper ones second hand. I bought a 17-inch Macbook Pro second hand for R14 000 and still using it for graphic design and web development. check applecomputers.co.za for 2nd hand stuff.
 
Wait on any Mac purchase; too close to upgrade window. New ones will be better and old stock will be cheaper.
 
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