Macopinion

New 20” iMac vs MacBook - A Value Comparison

I have to admit that the new aluminum iMac is the greatest temptation for me to try anther desktop computer for some time. The operative question is whether the iMac would be a viable laptop-as-desktop-substitute substitute? It depends. Not if you need a really portable computer even occasionally of course. In that case get a MacBook or a MacBook Pro.

However, over the past decade steadily increasing number of notebooks have been purchased for use mainly as desktop substitute computers that spend most of their time plugged into AC power, frequently with an external keyboard, mouse, and even an external monitor hooked up. My ‘Books sometimes go for weeks at a time without ever being called on to run on battery power. For mostly desktop laptop users like me, the iMac presents itself as a potential alternative to a ‘Book, at least for my main workstation computer.

Now, personally, I wouldn’t want to be without a real, portable computer, but I already have four of them - five if you count an old PowerBook 1400. An aluminum iMac could be an excellent compliment to serve as a general-purpose workstation that’s still doesn’t take up a whole lot of space and can be relatively easily moved around.

I’ve been down this road before, sort of. When the G4 Cube was unveiled in 2000, it immediately occurred to me that this new compact desktop Mac just might be a sensible alternative to my PowerBook. I did get a Cube several months later, but discovered that while my idea I had sounded good in theory, in practice the Cube with its satellite speakers and speaker amplifier, external power supply for which “brick” was more than just a metaphor, along with a keyboard, mouse, and display, needed about as much desktop space as my SuperMac S-900 tower. The iMac is much more efficiently integrated with internal speakers, an internal power supply, and will size up quite favorably compared with a notebook on a stand connected to an external keyboard and mouse, and I love that new aluminum Apple keyboard.

I love small computers. Compactness is the essential quality of a laptop -- even the mighty 17-inch PowerBooks and MacBook Pros.

For me, the principal deficiency of the iMac he is the lack of battery power, not so much the lack of real portability so long as I have my backup notebooks, but because I live in a rural area where power outages are fairly common, was one of the reasons why I never really got comfortable with the Cube as a workhorse computer. I had become accustomed to the PowerBook’s being able to cruise through power outages seamlessly, sometimes without my even noticing that there had been a power failure until the little lightning bolt charge indicator caught my eye.

The workaround would be some sort of uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and/or power inverter and a 12 volt automotive battery or power pack to run the iMac off of during power interruptions.

I haven’t said much about the economics of this concept so far, so let’s take a look. The 20" AlGlass 2.0 GHz iMac starts at $1,199.00, 100 bucks more than a base 2.0 GHz MacBook, which isn't too far from being saw-off price wise since if you want to use the MacBook in comfortable desktop substitute mode, you’ll still need a keyboard and mouse, and a laptop stand. However, the iMac has a whopping 7" larger display with much higher resolution, a higher-performance "Santa Rosa series Core 2 Duo processor, a faster system bus, and better video support system with a real GPU instead of the MacBook's Mickey Mouse Intel GMA 950 "vampire video," and 170 GB more standard hard drive capacity in a real, 3.5" 7200 RPM desktop hard disk, and a standard SuperDrive.

Moving up a notch, the 2.4 GHz 20" iMac sells for $1,499.00, coming with an even larger 320 GB hard drive and a DVD-burning SuperDrive instead of the base model's combo drive, and a better video card with twice as much video memory. The upmarket 2.16 GHz MacBook goes for $1,299.00, and also includes a SuperDrive, but still only a 120 GB, 5400 RPM HD, and the GMA 950 video kludge.

ON the basis of specification and performance in desktop mode, it's not difficult to justify the iMac's slightly higher purchase price in either comparison.

In terms of appearance, my subjective evaluation is that it's pretty much a wash. Both machines are gorgeous, and photos really don't do them justice. Aesthetically, I would be happy with either. My initial and so far abiding impression of the aluminum & glass iMac is that Apple was going for an iPhone-ish look, and it does work, although not as convincingly as on the iPhone itself...However, there is more here than just styling as with all good design. The iMac's case is made from a single sheet of aluminum, with no seams or screws except for a single compartment on the bottom that provides easy access to the memory slots.

Alas, neither machine comes with an internal modem, so if you live beyond the reach of broadband as I do, you'll need to pony up another 50 bucks for Apple's external USB Modem.

So, has Moore lost the laptop faith? Not at all. As I said, if I were to be limited to owning just one computer, it would still definitely be a conventional laptop. However, the new iMac offers about as close to notebook virtues as we’ve seen yet in a desktop computer, and in some respects represents a crossover - its main shortcoming being the lack of battery backup.

20" iMac and 13" MacBook Specifications And Features Compared

Processor

20 iMacs
2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

MacBook
2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

System Bus

iMacs
800 MHz front-side system bus

MacBook
667 MHz front-side system bus

Memory Config and Support

iMacs
1GB (one SO-DIMM) of PC2-5300 (667MHz) DDR2 memory
Two SO-DIMM slots support up to 4GB

MacBook
1GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 2GB

Hard Drives (Standard)

iMacs
250GB Serial ATA 7200-rpm hard drive
320GB Serial ATA 7200-rpm hard drive

MacBook
80GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor
120GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor

Optical Drives

iMacs
Slot-loading 8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
- Writes DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL discs at up to 4x speed
- Writes DVD-R and DVD+R discs at up to 8x speed
- Writes DVD-RW at up to 6x speed and DVD+RW discs at up to 8x speed
- Reads DVDs at up to 8x speed
- Writes CD-R discs at up to 24x speed
- Writes CD-RW discs at up to 16x speed
- Reads CDs at up to 24x speed

MacBook
Slot-loading Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW): reads DVDs at up to 8x speed, writes CD-R discs at up to 24x speed, writes CD-RW discs at up to 16x speed, reads CDs at up to 24x speed
or
Slot-loading SuperDrive with double-layer read support (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW): writes DVD-R and DVD+R discs at up to 4x speed, writes DVD-RW and DVD+RW discs at up to 4x speed, reads DVDs at up to 8x speed, writes CD-R discs at up to 24x speed, writes CD-RW discs at up to 10x speed, reads CDs at up to 24x speed

Display

20" iMacs
Built-in 20-inch glossy widescreen
1680 by 1050 pixels

MacBook
13.3-inch glossy widescreen TFT active-matrix liquid crystal display
1280 x 800 pixels

Graphics Support

iMacs
ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB GDDR3 memory
ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB GDDR3 memory

MacBook
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (annexes RAM from system memory for graphics support) - Minimum graphics memory usage is 80MB, resulting in 944MB of system memory available

I/O Ports

iMacs
One FireWire 400 and one FireWire 800 port
Total of five USB 2.0 ports: three ports on computer, two ports on keyboard

MacBook
two USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire 400 port

Video Out Support

iMac
Mini-DVI output port with support for DVI, VGA, S-video, and composite video connections via adapter

MacBook
Mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately)

Audio

iMac
Built-in stereo speakers
Internal 24-watt digital amplifier
Headphone/optical digital audio output (minijack)
Audio line in/optical digital audio input (minijack)
Built-in microphone


MacBook
Built-in stereo speakers
Built-in omnidirectional microphone
Combined optical digital audio input/audio line in (minijack)
Combined optical digital audio output/headphone out (minijack)
Audio line in (minijack)

Ethernet

iMac
Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)

MacBook
Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)

Modem

iMac
None - Works with 56K V.92 Apple USB Modem (sold separately)

MacBook
None - Works with 56K V.92 Apple USB Modem (sold separately)

Wireless networking

iMac
Built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking (802.11n)2
Built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) module

MacBook
Built-in 54-Mbps AirPort Extreme wireless networking (based on 802.11g standard)
Built-in Bluetooth 2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) up to 3 Mbps

Battery

iMac
None

MacBook
55-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery with integrated charge indicator

Size and Weight

iMac with 20-inch display
Height: 18.5 inches (46.9 cm)
Width: 19.1 inches (48.5 cm)
Depth: 7.4 inches (18.9 cm)
Weight: 20 pounds (9.1 kg)4

MacBook
Height: 1.08 inches (2.75 cm)
Width: 12.78 inches (32.5 cm)
Depth: 8.92 inches (22.7 cm)
Weight: 5.2 pounds (2.36 kg)

Bundled Software

iMac
Mac OS X v10.4.10 Tiger (includes Spotlight, Dashboard, Mail, iChat AV, Safari, Address Book, QuickTime, iCal, DVD Player, Xcode Developer Tools)
iLife '08 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iWeb, GarageBand)
iWork '08 (30-day trial)
Front Row
Photo Booth

MacBook
Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger (includes Spotlight, Dashboard, Mail, iChat AV, Safari, Address Book, QuickTime, iCal, DVD Player, Xcode Developer Tools)
iLife ’08 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD, iWeb, GarageBand), iWork '08 (30-day trial),
Big Bang Board Games, Comic Life, Omni Outliner, and Apple Hardware Test
Front Row
Photo Booth



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cmoore@macopinion.com


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