Imac or mac pro for college?

yates84 · by **yates84** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 5:44 am

I am a college student and really need a good work computer, I have decided to go with a mac but am unsure of which one to get. I understand that the mac pro better, but is also much more expensive. I would much rather get the cheaper of the two but do not want to end up with a computer that can't do what I need it to, which is mostly just writing papers and editing videos. Will an imac be able to perform well in both of these areas or do I just need to suck it up and get a mac pro?
Thank you for your time

maelisa · by **maelisa** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 5:51 am

If it were me, I'd just skip the mac and get a PC. I wouldn't mind a MAC, if it wasn't for the large price tag.
I would suggest however, to get the iMac. The Mac Pro is for rich people who already have everything else in the world and need something more. There really is no need for an i7 Extreme in a Mac because you're not going to be playing a lot of games on it

fu · by fu » Mon Oct 03, 2011 5:58 am

I am a graphic design major and have a MacBook Pro. It works great,but I would suggest getting Word to put on it instead of Pages. Keynote does not transfer well to PPT. I have 3 years of design class work along with papers,essays, photos, and CS5 Design Premium and there is still a ton of room left.

valdemar60 · by **valdemar60** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 6:13 am

Macbook Air 1.6 / Macbook Pro (15) 2.5 4gb ram / Mac Mini 1.5 core solo

dillus97 · by **dillus97** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 6:15 am

NONE of the above.

While the Macs have cool looks, they are only overpriced kids toys and are also incompatible for most things you will need to do in college. Plus you can hardly do any gaming on a Mac...

Get a PC Laptop with Windows 7 Home Premium. Here's what to look for when buying one:

The brand (HP, Toshiba, Dell, Sony, etc) does not matter all that much, it's what's inside that matters most. They are all Made in China anyways...

Get an Intel Core i5 or Core i7 CPU (Processor). DO NOT GET AMD OR PENTIUM processors.
Get at least 4GB of RAM Memory (DDR3 preferred, DDR2 is also OK)
Make sure it has dedicated graphics (a Graphics Card) of at least 512MB - 1GB or more is better, but more expensive. It should say either nVidia or Radeon (ATI) on the graphics.
DO NOT GET Integrated Graphics (on board or from processor) - if it says Intel Graphics or Intel HD Graphics is Integrated.
Get a hard drive of at least 500GB (1TB or more is better, but will cost more).
It should have a Webcam incorporated on top of screen.
Make sure you have at least 3 USB ports.
Make sure it has at least an 8 cell battery (10 cell is better but cost more). This will ensure better battery life, both between charges use and overall battery life.
Get the Windows 7 Home Premium operating system. Do not get Windows 7 Starter or Home Basic.

You might wanna print this and give to the store tech guy when you go shopping for a laptop.

Good luck.

ariyn · by **ariyn** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 6:27 am

NONE of the above.

While the Macs have cool looks, they are only overpriced kids toys and are also incompatible for most things you will need to do in college. Plus you can hardly do any gaming on a Mac...

Get a PC Laptop with Windows 7 Home Premium. Here's what to look for when buying one:

The brand (HP, Toshiba, Dell, Sony, etc) does not matter all that much, it's what's inside that matters most. They are all Made in China anyways...

Get an Intel Core i5 or Core i7 CPU (Processor). DO NOT GET AMD OR PENTIUM processors.
Get at least 4GB of RAM Memory (DDR3 preferred, DDR2 is also OK)
Make sure it has dedicated graphics (a Graphics Card) of at least 512MB - 1GB or more is better, but more expensive. It should say either nVidia or Radeon (ATI) on the graphics.
DO NOT GET Integrated Graphics (on board or from processor) - if it says Intel Graphics or Intel HD Graphics is Integrated.
Get a hard drive of at least 500GB (1TB or more is better, but will cost more).
It should have a Webcam incorporated on top of screen.
Make sure you have at least 3 USB ports.
Make sure it has at least an 8 cell battery (10 cell is better but cost more). This will ensure better battery life, both between charges use and overall battery life.
Get the Windows 7 Home Premium operating system. Do not get Windows 7 Starter or Home Basic.

You might wanna print this and give to the store tech guy when you go shopping for a laptop.

Good luck.

It mostly depends on how often and how quickly do you need to edit videos, especially encoding. Check if there's any website that benchmark Macs, PC benchmarks always include video encoding performance.

Final Cut Pro 7 hasn't been updated in years (seems that the almost unrelated Final Cut X is atrocious), so you should also check if it benefits with a Mac Pro.