This a good plan (iMac and Macbook pro purchase)?

So I've been pondering which Mac I should get first for a good two weeks now. After thinking for a while, I've decided to pick the refreshed iMac ETA by the end of the month. Reason? Though portability would be nice with the Macbook Pro 15, the extra screen estate and more powerful GPU would serve me well for some time to come. Besides, there's going to be a major Macbook Pro redesign coming next year. By then, I can use my iMac as a personal server (special thanks to Lion) and an external moniter for the MBP if I need extra screen real estate. That way, even when/if the iMac gets a redesign (say with touchscreen capability), I can still have great use for it.

So whatcha guys think, a sound plan? Any advice? The only games I'd be playing for a while is Deus Ex Human Revolution and Elder Scrolls Skyrim this year (though at a "reasonable" detail setting at 1080p mind).

 

Could just get something a load cheaper and hold off. Make your own beast of a desktop for considerably less and you can keep it for a while, upgrading the parts as they become obsolete.

If you aren't able to do that though, I still recommend holding off and saving as much money as possible.

It seems that you really want a Mac though, so I don't think anything anyone says will change that. If you want a Mac now but don't want to get a 2011 MBP, just get an iMac and hold off.

Could also buy a Mac Mini if you don't want to play your games on higher detail settings.

 

Hold off on the iMac purchase as they will migrate to Sandy Bridge in the near-ish future, they are still using last generation's Core i processors and chipset. No point in spending $1000+ now just to have it be replaced in a few months-ish. Lastly, it should be noted that the "complete re-design MacBook Pro 2012" is nothing more than rumor and speculation. The design of the MacBook Pro also isn't going to radically change as it has essentially remained the same even going back to the Titanium Powerbook G4.

So any "complete re-design" will likely follow Apple's previous path in that they change the bezel color, keyboard color, maybe a few other things. The essential design is going to remain the same even if they switch to that T1000 liquid metal.

 

Nah, the Mac Mini doesn't do it for me. Need to game.

We'd see about holding off, the iMac refresh would really have to impress me as a gaming machine before I pull the trigger.

Speaking of hooking up the MB Pro to the iMac, does anyone a way where I can use the keyboard+mouse simultaneously with both machines?

 

Thats a good plan. Getting top end macbook pro + monitor is also a good plan if you need portability sometimes.

I am carrying my macbook pro to work and back + connecting it to everything there. For me its really nice solution since i like to have everything at one place. New mbp will handle games just ok.

 

You should definitely hold off on the iMac then as the Sandy Bridge Core i5 and i7 processors are about 10-20% better performing, on a GHz for GHz comparison, to the previous Core i processors. It may not sound like much but every little bit helps when it comes to gaming (especially for titles that are more CPU dependent). Apple could also integrate the 2GHz Sandy Bridge Core i7 quad-core processor more into lower prices as they did with the MacBook Pro.

Either way, the new Sandy Bridge processors have been kicking butt in terms of performance under both Windows and Mac OS X and waiting for their integration into the iMac line is something I fully recommend even if it takes longer than the end of the month to come out (which it can). Sandy Bridge updates may take a while to fully infiltrate the market simply because of that controller chip issue Intel had. Companies (including Apple) are focused on upgrading their most popular lines to Sandy Bridge now (which means notebooks) and will slowly start to upgrade other products.

 

depends on how hard you like to game, please note tht the iMac uses a MOBILE GPU matched with a desktop CPU

 

You should be able to play that on OnLive without the need for high specs.

 

I think it's a good plan. You'll love the iMac, it's a great machine. And believe it or not, I have a friend who takes his (older 20" model) with him when he travels, it's surprisingly portable. Of course he doesn't use it in a portable-computing sense while travelling but he certainly travels with it, sets it up wherever he goes. There's only one wire to worry about, everything is built-in and wireless.

On a side note, I think the iMac will get refreshed fairly soon so I'd hold off ordering one. I think we might see a spec bump to SB CPUs probably next month along with new GPUs but that's about it I think. Still worth the wait IMO.

 

there's probably a more cost effective way to play those games.

i'd probably suggest to do something like build a PC to play the games you want to play, and then get a macbook air (and delay that as long as possible, get it when you need it)

the PC is going to be extremely cost effective to get and to keep updated. You'll have games next year that you want to play also, and you can keep the PC up to date at marginal cost. If you want to upgrade the GPU or CPU or monitor on the mac, you're looking at buying a brand new machine.

since you are offloading your gaming onto a machine that is cost effective to maintain, and that is the primary source of upgrade needs, something like a macbook air could get you portability and you wouldn't be dying to upgrade in a year.