On Dec 10, 1:00 pm, Bruce Johnson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
> On Dec 10, 2008, at 10:46 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
>
>
> > So that's the upside. What am I overlooking as the downside to using
> > a laptop as the center of a destop system?
>
> Typically laptops have slower hard drives, and less capable video than
> desktop systems
>
> Looking at Apple's specs the Macbook has a 5400 RPM 2.5" 160gb drive,
> and an nVidia geForce 9400 chipset with 256 megs shared RAM, and
> supports up to 2 gigs total ram.
>
> The iMac 20" has a 7200 RPM 3.5" 250G drive, an ATI Radeon video
> chipset with 128mb dedicated RAM (which is faster), and supports up to
> 4 gigs RAM.
>
> A 5400 rpm 2.5" drive isn't much slower than a faster 3.5" drive, but
> the capacity difference is pretty sizeable.
>
> The iMac also has firewire, both 400 and 800, and more USB ports than
> the MacBook.
>
> On the downside it's not nearly as portable.
>
> Portability is the key...if you have a need to take your main system
> with you somewhere, then a laptop is the way to go; if not, you're
> getting more value for your money by buying the desktop.
>
> A laptop used as a desktop replacement can be put on a laptop cooler
> so overheating will be less of an issue.
>
> --
> Bruce Johnson
> University of Arizona
> College of Pharmacy
> Information Technology Group
>
> Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs
Thanks for this Bruce. I was thinking of replacing the 80 gig drive
in our family MacBook with a much bigger one for my wifes' photos and
was wondering whether to go 7200 or 5400 rpm. I wonder what the
difference in overall speed is given the drive is used for virtual
memory. Would the faster drive produce a noticeable uptick in
performance?
But on the topic, the internal drive of a console MacBook would be
more or less irrelevant. I have a stack of drives that would be
accessed externally, maybe even for boot. The generation MacBooks I'd
consider would still have Firewire, though maybe not 800, so my
peripherals would be accessible thought both usb 2 and firewire, just
as on an iBook.
To respond to the person who would go for an older desktop, I have
great sympathy for that approach, which is why I was considering a
G5. But intel towers are prohibitively expensive and I don't have the
time or patience for Hackintosh these days.
I hope to hear some more opinions on this topic!
Thanks everyone who has replied so far.
Rich
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