macbook pro or imac?

E

emilyhart

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2
Name
emily
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi,

I have the choice of a reconditioned current macbook pro 15" for about £1200 or top of the range 27" imac one year old but never been used with garentee for £600.00 with all the mac trimmings.

I am pictre editor and about to expand my freelance work to do wedding portrait photography and digital retouching. So a mixture of working away on shoots and at home editing.

Would be great to have a laptop to show clients pics but a 27" SCREEN wpuld be fab.

Can anyone shed any light on this?

Ta!:);)
 
I have both a MPB and a 27" iMac. It is possible to edit on the MPB, but in all honesty the 27" iMac is much better.

OK if you budget is a max of £1200, why not go for the iMac and then get an iPad to show the clients the images. Save you a hundred pounds or so
 
+1 for iMac plus ipad.

ipad is a fantastic interface for showing clients, its alot more intimate, and alot more fun to flick through the pictures.

And you'll soon appreciate the 27" screen. its a beaut :)
 
buy the laptop emily and then put the Imac seller my way :):)
 
Have a look at an iMac in Currys or Comet, the screen is huge and not for everyone, however unless you need the portability then that would be my choice. I'll have it if you don't!
 
imac for editing everytime.

Calibration of the MBP is a hit and miss affair, so I'd avoid using that for critical workflow.
The extra real estate on the 27" is going to make retouching / editing easier and therefore quicker (I run 2x24" displays for my editing and would like more)

For me location editing is basic colour correction / temp matching (made soo easy with the Xrite Colour Passport), only after the selects are made do they go in for the editing work as specified by the client. I never retouch a file before the client has selected it as it's a waste of my time.
 
depends if you want to take the computer with you, if so then buy the MacBook Pro, you could use the macbook pro in closed lid mode and have an external monitor for editing, which would work out cheaper than having two devices
 
I find it hard to believe you've been offered a 27" iMac for £600 and are on here asking for advice.

GET ROUND THERE WITH A HANDFUL OF SWEATY TENNERS NOW
 
The iMac is a brilliant price and that 27" display is good. Now had it been the 17" against the 27" then maybe the laptop.....
 
As said already, go for the iMac mate.

I have an MBP at the moment and I love it, but the new iMac's are unreal.

I'm going to pick one up in the next month or so, my excuse, how can you edit pics on a 13" screen!? :P
 
Hi Emily,

I've used both and I currently use an iMac. :thumbs:

In this situation I would get the iMac, for £600 it's a real bargain.
Use the rest of the money for a refurbished white Macbook, software or a second monitor for the iMac.
 
Get a PC. Failing that, get the iMac.

Personally I would avoid the aluminium Mac Book Pros due to their potential for overheating in the entire chassis.

I've not used the iPad, apparently it's ok, but I prefer my HP Touchsmart with Fedora, simple, secure and touch screen.
 
Coldeh said:
Get a PC. Failing that, get the iMac.

Personally I would avoid the aluminium Mac Book Pros due to their potential for overheating in the entire chassis.
Click to expand...

Total crap, these thing stay cool unless your working it pretty hard.
using aperture it gets cosy but nothing compared to my old sony vaio why worked up a sweat just sitting there.
 
Recently got an iMac and can honestly say you wont regret it, great display for editing and viewing. For that price its a no brainer
 
I would get and iMac, if you get Aperture, you have the set. I don't have aperture but might be thinking of purchasing it as it's quite good apparently.
 
I've started using Lightroom on my iMac and I find it great. For some tasks its easier and quicker than Photoshop.
 
dp3360 said:
I would get and iMac, if you get Aperture, you have the set. I don't have aperture but might be thinking of purchasing it as it's quite good apparently.
Click to expand...

Personally I think that LR3 is miles better! You can however try them both for free and make up your own mind.
 
cowasaki said:
Personally I think that LR3 is miles better! You can however try them both for free and make up your own mind.
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Yeah, you can get a free 30 day trial with aperture.
 
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MrCraigBerry said:
I'm a Mac, and Windows 7 was my idea...
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Do let us know of any other good ideas you have, they might well make millions of pounds as well.


StevenFullerton said:
Total crap, these thing stay cool unless your working it pretty hard.
using aperture it gets cosy but nothing compared to my old sony vaio why worked up a sweat just sitting there.
Click to expand...

When it's designed to be working pretty hard (it is after all, designed for professionals) then it's not total crap, it is in fact a real and serious issue in the machine due to it's heat sink configuration and aluminium chassis. Coupled with the i7 chip, the Macbook Pro can get up to 100° C when under load. Not to mention the 50° C idle temperature of the processor. That's more than "cosy". (link)

I actually have both an iMac and a PC, the PC being loaded with a dual boot of *nix and Windows. My iMac is now outdated because I can't upgrade it and so my PC sees all of my work, but I've worked on both and both will get the job done eventually.
 
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My iMac gets pretty hot, but only if it's been on all day, i have a program that enables me to adjust the fan speed,making the computer cooler, i'll post the app on here this evening maybe
 
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