
IMacs, Mac Pros, and laptops - kingsidharth
http://www.marco.org/2011/05/04/imac-vs-mac-pro-vs-macbook-pro
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jeremymims
I think this analysis is probably correct for many people. However, the 27"
iMac can now be used as a pretty terrific monitor when it's outlived its
current lifespan. Considering the equivalent Apple display costs about $1000
new, that makes the iMac a great bargain when I upgrade to a new laptop in a
few years.

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natesm
The one thing he didn't mention is Thunderbolt, and I think that it completely
changes the iMac. Without it, you basically had the choice between SSDs, which
were fast, and hard drives, which actually had enough space to store your
stuff. If you are a photographer or do video, an SSD isn't going to cut it.
Now, you can have the internal SSD while using an external Thunderbolt drive
(once they show up) for actual storage.

However, I'd still probably want to open it up and install the SSD myself.
Apple's SSD is too expensive, all that's needed for OS + apps is 64 GB. $500
is way too much.

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pieter
I hope external Thunderbolt SSD's will keep much of the same performance
characteristics as the internal SATA ones, but there's no way to know that
until there actually are some thunderbolt devices :). Having a good performing
external SSD would be pretty sweet, as it could be a painless and relatively
cheap way of upgrading your iMac.

It comes down to how much overhead you get if you go over Thunderbolt, and how
good the Thunderbolt -> SATA chips will be.

