Macbook pro 17\" or I mac 24\"

Ha! I am in the same standstill too. I want the imac for home and the macbook pro for a portable office.

thanx for the reply. Im in a bit of a a catch 22. I want a mega screen, which you can get with the imac 20/24" but im gonna be working on a boat, so ill be at sea for a few months and i wanna record then. the imac is semi portable and portablility is the name of the game here. the laptop is mega portable, but costs way more and has a smaller screen. The main thing though is how well it runs. if imacs are old dogs, then id rathar spend the extra $. Ive already gone through alot of dough with the wrong computer. Im liking the imac cause of the price and the bigger screen. Are you able to change parts in them if needed? i like the idea of macpro too, but im not quite settled right now. does your imac go well? any limitations there? if you got the 250 GB hd imac , do you think you still need an external? sorry to ask so many Q's. are you pretty happy with your imac? in regards to pro tools running on it? thanx again! steve

thanx for the reply. Hey if you get extra hard drive, like for eg, 500, or 750, do you think you still need an external one as well? thanx again!

Hey, your gonna need a dedicated drive for audio regardless of the iMac or the MBP, i personally store no files on my internal HD other than the apps, it's one of the biggest factors when trying to get max track count in Pro Tools. I have just upped from an iMac G5 to an iMac C2D, the difference is massive, you really can't compare the two. The C2D is lovely and quiet and approx 3 times as fast on average, so a session that would normally consumes half of my CPU on the G5 is now under a quarter on the C2D. As i said in my previous post the budget was my reason for the 17", however after now using it for a week i think i made the right decision, i'm now going to add a second 17" monitor to take advantage of the newer iMac extended desktop feature. I have to be honest when i purchased the iMac my biggest concern was final cut pro, i was confident that the iMac would handle Pro Tools well and i'm pleased to say that the machine has exceeded my expectations in both departments so im very happy. Why not consider this for a setup based on your needs: 1) 17" iMac C2D 2) Second 3rd Party Monitor 3) Macbook By using that setup you have dual screen when you need it, the ability to have a portable setup which can be enhanced by the larger monitor. If you take the iMac mouse and keyboard with you, you can flip down the lid on the Macbook, trigger the machine from the iMac keyboard and mouse and you don't have to use the Macbook screen (This is optional if your using USB KB and mouse, dual monitor or just the external), thats my plan anyway. All that lot would probably still come in at less than a 17" MBP. Hope it helps

geezuz bro im not a money tree !! i guess my situation is kinda unique. Im in germany now, but am going to sydney next week to join the boat (72 mtres with stabilizers etc so no probs with the boat rocking etc) in australia, the 17" mbp is $1000 more exp than the u.s (aus$) however the imacs arent much more exp in oz than they are in the u.s. we are sailing to the u.s and i could buy an mbp there for a good price, but that means no recording for about 4 months. im keen to record on the pacific ocean so im gonna get the imac in sydney. they sound great. The feedback ive had from you guys has been awesome. the imac size depends on my room on the boat. if i gotta desk and its cool with whoever im rooming with, then im gonna get the 24" hey what kind of ext drive you using?? im asking all these Q's cause i bought an hp laptop new last year in nov to use with cubase. i decided to get the mbox instead and have had a lot of troubles. i can still record a bit etc but im always interrupted by some errors. i always used macs and it was a costly mistake to throw away my loyalty to them! i also bought an incompatible ext hd. I didnt know any of this stuff. i asked the dudes in the music shop if the mbox worked with windows and they said "yes" i learnt alot from these things and now i think i can go well. so once i again i really appreciate your advice, and it sounds like your PT mac experience is good, which is what i wanted to hear! thanx again Steve

If you have the room iMac, while i realize the boat is stabilized i would tend to think a iMac is gong to be a great deal more likely to topple than a Macbook.

I have never used an iMac, and I'm sure it is great, but in your situation, I would definitely get a Mac Book Pro. I have the 15 inch 2.33 Ghz model, and couldn't be happier. The internal 5400 rpm drive runs very well indeed, and I have had no problems mixing 25-30 track projects in LE so far. There is a FW 400 and a FW 800 port + 2 USB ports (3 on the 17" model). The best thing about the Mac Book is that you are totally mobile. An iMac will need power and a flat surface all the time. I love taking my Mac Book Pro to bed. I sit in there with the computer on my lap, my Mbox by my side, and headphones on. When I want to record, I just put it on my desk, plug in my guitar / mic and press record. Aside from the screen size, I don't think an iMac will give you much more in terms of performance or expandability. The scarcity of USB ports is a real issue though, so if you go laptop, do not forget to buy a Wireless Mighty Mouse. You won't be able to find one in the middle of the ocean when you need it.