Last Wednsday I broke down and ordered one of the new iMac’s that were announced on 3/3. This was both a planned and impulse purchase at the same time. It was an inpulse purchase since I wasn’t planning on taking any action just yet, but I had been planning getting something. My issue has been that for about a year I have wanted something bigger than the 23″ Cinema Display I had. I deffered purchase for months because none of the computers I had could power such a display. Then I got a new Macbook in November that could power the 30″ display. I didn’t go right out and buy one since first it is an expensive piece of hardware, second the adapters to power the display on the Macbook were backordered. By the time the cable was availible the big rumor was (and still is) that Apple will announce new displays. So yet again I waited, until they announced new iMac’s. Now I was torn on what to do. Do I spent allot more and get a huge display but have a slower computer, or go for the all in one really fast computer?
The answer has always been for me to go modular. Get a laptop, KVM and maybe a desktop. I actually owned several iMac’s since I started using Mac’s. Each time I ended up selling them or returning one of them because I wanted more options than an all in one offered. So as I write this post from my new 24″ iMac I have to wonder, did I make the same mistake in buying an all in one again for the 3rd time? My own answer to that question is I am not sure, but I hope not. The reason I think now is the time for a nice fast desktop is that since last year when I hatched my plan for wanting a larger 30″ display my situation has changed slightly. My previous jobs have not cared if I used my Powerbook or Macbook. Partsearch even bought me a Macbook Pro to use, so I was always using the same machine at work and home. That made sense that I had a desktop setup at home that accommodated that. An all in one computer didn’t really do that. My current job issued me a windows laptop. Now I am hearing that I can probably do a non standard build and actually use a Macbook, I haven’t really wanted to test that theory. That means I keep my work and home computers separate. This is the first time in years that I have had to do that. Since I bought my latest Macbook in October it has been used off of its stand maybe 4 times. That for me was the deciding factor that I don’t need a personal laptop. For the times I want a portable that is not work issued I do have the netbook.
So I made my decision. I went with the all in one iMac. It is fast, and at some point when RAM gets a bit cheaper I can fill it with 8gig’s of memory. My Firewire 800 Drobo is plugged right into it, and it is FAST! For now I think the added cost and slower computer that would be used didn’t make the 30″ display viable for me. If money was no object I would of course go for a Mac Pro, but unfortunately it isn’t.
For now I am very happy with my choice!