Once I finally decided that I wanted to switch to Mac, the next step was deciding which Mac to buy.
At the time I made the decision, I was big on laptops. I’d gotten my first laptop not long before and I was still a little drunk on the portability of it. So when I started looking at the online Apple store, I went straight to the Macbooks. Since World of Warcraft is one of my most-used applications at home, I wanted a Macbook that would be able to run it at more than 13 frames per second. Naturally, I began to drool over the 17″ Macbook Pro.
A number of factors kept me from getting a Macbook Pro (MBP) for a long time: the price, and it being long overdue for an update. I didn’t want to shell out $3000+ for a laptop and have Apple announce a brand new design a week later. So I kept putting it off.
Time slipped by, and at some point I became curious about the iMacs. I was immediately impressed with the higher bang:buck ratio as far as hardware is concerned. I could get a stronger machine for less money if I went with the iMac. But, the portability of the MBP was still weighing heavily.
I was going to have to weigh the Pros and Cons of each system, and try to decide which one would benefit me the most.
The main draw of the MBP was its portability. Because our daughters’ bedroom is right next to the living room, my wife and I watch movies and TV shows on my laptop, with headphones, so as not to disturb the sleeping angels. The 17″ screen is fine for this; with the laptop sitting on a chair before us, it’s big enough for our needs. Other than this specific use, other general portability uses apply. With an iMac, portability is severely limited. However, since the machine fully contained in one housing, the iMac could still be moved with relative ease.
A big benefit to getting an iMac – specifically the 24-inch model – is that it could replace our 25-inch television. We don’t watch TV; we watch all of our shows online now, thanks to Hulu.com. Our daughters watch their movies on the TV, but most of those could be watched just as easily on an iMac. The only drawback to this is that we still have some VHS movies that the girls still watch. I’m trying to get all of them onto the computer, but some of the tapes are pretty old or obscure, so I guess I’ll have to get whatever I can find.
I spent quite a long time mulling this over in my mind, going back and forth between a 17″ MBP and a 24″ iMac. Eventually it was the size of the screen and the allure of having my own desk that tipped the scales in favor of the iMac.
I love tech, but don’t have as much time or money to spend on it as I’d like. I get what I need to sustain my Geek vicariously through other sources and pass it along to you.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Address your site is to add to my page in my site ^_^
Congratulations on switching!
I switched to Mac 3 years ago and got a new iMac last year. The background is detailed in a blog article I wrote
http://www.talkingfuture.com/2009/01/where-do-netbooks-fit-in-future-of.html
It is the best computing move I ever made. If you want to convert VHS to digital you could try one of these
http://www.elgato.com/elgato/na/mainmenu/products/hybrid/product2.en.html
I have been thinking about getting one for the same purpose, it has inputs to record from a VHS amongst other sources.
@martin – Thanks, I’ll check it out
Congrats on switching, I’ve been dying to get rid of Windows myself. The main issue for me is one of monetary value — do you think it was worth it? By monetary value, I mean that for a similar price, we could’ve picked a computer with much more “powerful” hardware but be restricted to Windows.
@Herbert – As far as hardware goes, Macs are solid. They’re premium machines that use premium components. That’s what it boils down to. Yeah, you might be able to get a little more “umph” from a similarly priced Windows machine, but you can’t forget about the intangibles. For me, things like not having to worry about drivers is huge. “It Just Works” is very valuable in my book.