Is getting an iMac AND Macbook Air reasonable?

Hello
I've been a computery guy for some time.  I am going from being a serious gamer that built a custom gaming PC that cost $3,500+ to selling said gaming PC and having no computer at all.  I am giving up gaming to return to school and would like to attend med school when I finish undergrad.  Anyhow, since I will have no computer at all, I would like to get an iMac 21.5 w/ 256GB flash and 8GB RAM to keep on my desk at home, and then get a Macbook Air 13.3 with the i5, 256GB Flash, and 8GB RAM to use at school and carry about etc.
I will be working full time in addition to going to school full time, and will be traveling on public transit and outdoors quite a lot.  My thinking is that since the Macbook will be somewhat more susceptible to damage/theivery, etc. than for people who only carry it between school/home and their car, it will be good to have a desktop to use at home and as a backup.  I do watch a fair amount of streaming media at home (although this will be more infrequent going to school + work), and would appreciate the larger screen and the ability to have a "base" at home without having to get out the Macbook and hook up the charger, etc. Also, I would prefer to put fewer cycles through the Macbook's battery which using a desktop at home would help.
I'll be doing pre-med undergrad studies, so I'll be doing average student activies...MS Office, music, streaming, surfing etc.  No games. 
I'm just wondering if I'm going to be overdoing it getting both.  I will probably get between $600-1K for the sale of my gaming PC, and a $200 statement credit on the card I'll use, which will help offest the cost of both, but I've been getting mixed opinions as to whether I should get both.  I'm not rich, but I do make a half decent living and will be working during undergrad (about 5 semesters left). Plus 0% APR until August 2015 so I can pay over a few months without penalty + education discount. 
Yes, I'm aware that med school is a lot of debt and I have that to look forward to.
Anyway, I'm just asking for additional opinions really to see if I'm being wasteful/crazy.  I can see myself using both.
Thanks

My suggestion would be to get a MP Air or MB Pro and then get an external display to use when you are home. This would be less expensive and easier to mainting. You can run the laptop in clamshell mode and have the best of both world while still at home. Of the two, I'd recommend a MBP for it's power and display, however a powerful MBA may be OK too.

Similar Messages

  • Can't get playlists from one one computer to another.  Confident Home Sharing is turned on correctly.  Have imac and macbook Air and Lion.  Using smart lists.

    Can't get playlists from one one computer to another.  Confident Home Sharing is turned on correctly.  Have imac and macbook Air and Lion.  Using smart lists.

    Using Ethernet, I am attempting to stream the movies on my computer to my girlfriends computer through iTunes home sharing. I want to watch the movies that are on one computer on another.

  • HP 6500 need to delete from my Macs - iMac and Macbook Air

    HP 6500  need to delete from my Macs - iMac and Macbook Air, I gave up on this one that I exchanged 3 times! So how do I get the item out of my systems?

    Hi @Noni1948 , and welcome to the HP Forums.
    I understand that you want to remove the printer software.  I would like to assist.
    I would suggest deleting the printer from your print system, using this document: Uninstalling the Printer Software.
    I would also recommend resetting your print system:
    How to reset the printing system
    Good luck and please let me know the results of your troubleshooting steps. Thank you for posting on the HP Forums.
    Please click “Accept as Solution " if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
    Click the “Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the right to say “Thanks" for helping!
    Jamieson
    I work on behalf of HP
    "Remember, I'm pulling for you, we're all in this together!" - Red Green.

  • Installing Acrobat on iMac and MacBook Air

    I just signed up for the online version of Adobe Acrobat. I am having a difficult time installing on my iMac and MacBook Air. I got the "Acrobat 11" DVD to show up on my desktop. And "acrobatpro11_dim" shows up on my software list on the bottom of the screen. But I cannot get Acrobat to install. What do I need to do? Thank you.

    Same problem with MacBook Pro
    (Mid 2010 model, i7, 8GB Ram, Running Yosemite).
    The .app file does nothing when you double click on it, except ask for the local computer password and put an icon on the dashboard that it is running.  And it runs forever.
    Did a reboot, followed the process again, and got the same result.  (insanity, right?)
    I have the Trial Version installed.  It doesn't know it is now running under a license either.

  • A problem to sync emails in Mail app between iMac and Macbook Air

    Hello members,
    I have had a problem that can't sync emails in Mail app(OSX Mavericks) betwee iMac and Macbook Air. I have iCloud mail account and several Gmail accounts on the mail app.
    Is there anyone to help me?

    When both are at home on the same network and sharing drives, you can use a variety of tools.  Check the App store for fily syncronization.  Also, OS X includes rsync if you are a UNIX command line person, and there are shareware GUI's for rsync as well (RsyncX was one I remember).  Then there are commercial tools like Chronosync.
    Another, albeit to my mind cumbersome way, is to use an airport time capsule and time machine.  You use TM to backup each machine, and use the option in TM to browse another TM backup to restore from (eg. come home from a trip, backup the MacBook Air, then log on to the iMac, browse to the MBA backup volume and restore what you recently worked on from there).
    Or get a NAS device for home and use that as a common personal form of dropbox.  The key would be keeping a neat uniform directory structure for the things you need sync'd - like maybe just the Documents folder & subfolders.

  • LR5 on my imac and macbook air

    Can I link my imac and macbook air LR5?

    Victoria, Thanks for your response, and my apologies for having 'ignored it' - weekend away from the inbox...  When I say 'this works both ways', I meant that, out of curiosity, I set up a new catalog on the desktop machine in Dropbox, and it could not be seen by the macbook.  So, out of curiosity/hope, I set one up in the macbook, in dropbox, and exactly the same happened - it was fine for the macbook, but invisible to the desktop machine.  Bizarrley, in both cases, the other machine could see all the associated preview and smart preview files - but they were 'greyed out', presumably because they could not access them without the catalog...
     As to your other points, I'm being careful to make sure selective sync and read/write permissions are 'open to all' - I found (using 'get info' in OSX' finder), that the files were read/write for the user, but read only to 'the rest of the world'.  Changed that, still no go.  What exactly do you mean by 'invisible' file - I did wonder if it is the equivalent of a windows hidden folder, but it seems a bit odd as it's clearly not hidden to the originating computer.In the interim, I'm going to try a small test catalog with 2 or 3 files in it. 
    Thanks for all the rest of the responses people - it's now shifting into one of those frustrating 'I'm sure it will work, but there's obviously some stupid set-up mistake I'm making' issues that will bug me until I solve it...

  • My IPad is not being recognized by iTunes on my computers (IMac and MacBook Air)

    My IPad is not appearing in ITunes on my computers (IMac and MacBook Air). Troubleshooting didn't help. USB works fine. Cord works when I am charging. IPad is not showing on my computer and not charging from it.

    See http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1538 for troubleshooting help.

  • Autofill has stopped working on my iMac and Macbook Air. How to fix it?

    Autofill has stopped working on my iMac and Macbook Air. How to fix it?

    Hello esenglish,
    Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
    For more information, take a look at:
    Safari 6 (OS X Mountain Lion): If AutoFill won’t work
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11895
    Have a nice day,
    Mario

  • How can I sync my mail folders from my iMac and MacBook Air

    I recently bought the new iMac and MacBook Air. I would like to access my emails on both computers. I have folders that sort my mail on both computers but cannot access them on the other computer. Thanks for your help!

    What kind of email account do you have? (Who is it with?) The easiest way to do what you want is with an IMAP account, which actually stores folders on the email server, allowing any computer or device to see them. You cannot do the same with the older POP email accounts. Check whether your email provider offers IMAP.
    Matt

  • Help needed to sync apps across iMac and Macbook Air via ICloud

    I have a new Mac and I want to sync (if possible) my applications such as pic collage etc between my iMac & my Macbook Air.
    The main reason I want to do this is because I have set up templates in my macbook air apps and I want to use my iMac through the day and macbook air at night and be able to access these without doing screen share.
    I am also looking to pay someone $150 to set up a few things for me. I am in Coorparoo if anyone is interested please contact me here or at
    Thankyou
    Tracey
    <Email Edited by Host>

    Tracey almost any program you've purchased from the Apple App Store can be downloaded to multiple computers legally. Programs you've purchased elsewhere are typically licensed either to the user or to the computer and to be completely legal you'd need to determine which is the case for the programs you want to install on more than one computer. Most documents can be saved to iCloud (assuming you have enough space on iCloud) or other cloud services. Cloud services such as DropBox and Microsoft's OneDrive have applications that sync files automatically which allows you to share files between computers. However many (most?) applications don't automatically move templates into the cloud since they tend to be saved in the user's Library folder which often isn't synced. So templates must be dealt with on a case by case basis. (I'll often save a document that I want to use as a template and then make a fresh copy of it when I want to use it as my template)
    I asked a moderator to remove your email address since having it here is an invitation to huge amounts of SPAM. You can edit your Apple profile to show or hide your email address by clicking on your avatar above your post and then select Edit Profile and Privacy Settings.You can choose to let registered users, anyone, or no one to see it do if you'd like people to be able to contact you setting it to allow registered users to see your email address will provide some small amount of privacy from robots but still let people contact you.

  • How to sync Adobe on my iMac and Macbook Air

    Hi,
    I just ordered a Macbook Air. I'll get it next week. My main purpose is to do LR and PS editing in my free time at work and when I travel. I'd like to know how I should set up the files so I don't lose the changes I make in my Macbook when I reconnect to my iMac. Is there anything special I need to do? Should I store my catalogs on Dropbox or in iCloud, for example?
    Currently, I have a 2013 late iMac. I keep the files on an external HDD, the catalogs on the iMac and back both up to TM. Once a photo is as I like it, I burn to a disk. I'm not sure how I should adjust my workflow using two different computers.

    Save it on a common place, probably in the cloud, either in the Creative Cloud space or in the Drop box. Take care to keep the files up to date on both computers.

  • Sync itunes with ipod, imac and macbook air with iCloud

    First post this for me in this community so hope format and protocols are okay....however, just installed Lion on my MacbookAir and hooked up to iCloud, then installed iOS 5 on my ipod 3rd gen via my imac (currently running Snow Leopard). 
    So far so good, re installation of itunes on my ipod was almost seamless and pretty painless, also hooked up to iCloud. Then purchased a couple of Apps on the iPod and noticed an almost immediate upload of the same on my iTunes store running on my iMac - Not yet installed with Lion and therefore not (as far as I was aware) hooked up to iCloud.....is this not a bit odd ??
    Even odder perhaps is that the same apps have not shown up on my iTunes running on the Macbook Air.....perhaps explained by the following ??
    A further problem is that having recently copied purchased CD content to my iTunes on my iMac, and then synced this to my iPod, once I connected my iPod to my Macbook Air I was told the iPod was synced to another iTunes library (presumably that on my iMac) and so was not able to complete a sync unless I erased the iPod library.  Does this mean that I actually have two active iTunes accounts sotospeak, one on my MBA, one shared between my iMac and my iPod ?  If so, how do I convert this to one running on all three and if that is possible, presumably the issues of syncing between all, and of downloading apps from iCloud will be resolved ?
    Any clues or advice on how to sort this would be much appreciated.  Thanks.
    Guess also worth noting that all three devices are authorised but I'm wary of re-authorising upon erasing itunes libraries (unless of course the limit of 5 authorisations is not meant to limit the number of times this is done - but simply the number of authorised devices active at any one time).

    Parrish Jones wrote:
    1. How do I get my Mac to download podcasts automatically? I do have the five I download daily or weekly set for checking every hour. Yet, the downloads ofen do not happen even though the computer is on and connected tot he internet.
    By subscribing. There're a lot of factors involved during a download: Network speed, computer used, iTunes availability etc.
    Parrish Jones wrote:
    2. After a program is downloaded, How long should it take to synch it to my iPhone and iPad?
    Well, it depends on how big the podcast is. The bigger the longer.
    Parrish Jones wrote:
    3. When it shows up on one or the other, is it actually resident on it or is it a link to the cloud from which it streams?
    It's I believe resident.

  • Back up iMac and macbook air to external WD hard drive

    I have been using WD Mybook 2TB external hard drive to back up my iMac 27" late 2009 . OSX 10.9.3
    (i think I use Time machine and not Smartware). Connected by USB2
    1. When i recently updated my OSX I got the message that Smartware is not compatable and has been moved to non compatable folder.
    2. I would like to back up my MacBook air to the same WD drive  and I am not sure how to do this
    I have checked several sites re formatting back up disk
    and tried removing USB from Imac and plugging in USB from Mac book. The WD drive is recognised but only has one volume .
    Do I have to add another partition to the WD Drive and will that reformat the disk and cause me to lose existing IMac Backup ?
    I am an older person and not very tech savvy and I would appreciate any help

    If at all possible repartition the drive in order to remove their software. Backup using Time Machine or a third-party backup utility such as Carbon Copy Cloner 3.5.5.
    I would not recommend partitioning your drive for each computer. it is not needed. Each computer will backup to the drive using separately named folders. All you need do is connect the backup drive to each computer. Now, I don't find this the most reliable or easiest method. That would be using  separate backup drive for each computer. This way should one drive fail you only lose one back rather than both backups.
    As for reformatting the drive:
    Drive Partition and Format
    Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
    After DU loads select the external backup drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
    Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Apply button and wait until the process has completed.
    Whatever you do, do not try to simply delete the backup folder by dumping it in the Trash. This will take hours or even days. The above outlined process only takes a few minutes.

  • IPhoto library won't share between iMac and macbook air

    I have all the sharing preferences turned on, and the libraries show up in the iPhoto on my macbook air, but I am unable to access them. One library just pinwheels as soon as I click on it, and the other opens and then auto-ejects within 5 seconds of clicking on it.
    Anyone have any ideas?

    gsaab wrote:
    As a relatively new Mac user I'm not sure how the networking function works. I have a large iTunes library... 150GB+. What I'd like to do is to keep the library on my iMac, but be able to access it using a MBA.
    have you considered using _*Screen Sharing*_ ?

  • Combine iMac and MacBook air

    I have recently bought an iMac (24 inch, early 2009, OS X 10.9.5 (13F34)) and I already used a MacBook air (13 inch, medio 2012, Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5). I am a student and I wish to use my MacBook during classes and my iMac at home. I thought it was possible to work on my MacBook and by the time I was home my documents on my iMac would be synchronized. I could use DropBox, but I think €10 per month you have to pay to have enough working space is to much for me as a student.  Can anyone please help me make this work? Thanks!

    you can do it with idrive in iCloud but there you also need to pay if you want more
    you can also do it without paying by mixing, dropbox, onedrive, google drive and iCloud that should provide you with enough storage
    or you can just stick with one of them and only keep the data you are currently working on in the cloud
    and the stuff you don't somewhere else on the computers or on an external drive
    I have 6,5GB on dropbox
    16GB on google drive
    16GB on onedrive
    5GB on icloud
    not sure what you study but if you need more storage then that it's pretty high res image stuff

Maybe you are looking for

  • How can I find out what I spent my on in iTunes?

    On my bank account it says that I spent $42 on iTunes. However I haven't spent this much money on music or apps. I have checked my purchase history and all the music is from the app 12 days of gifts which is free music and an apple app. How can I fin

  • Is there any Similar between Class.forName() and new operator ???

    Plz tel me is there any Similar between Class.forName() and new operator ??? i have been asked this ques in interview

  • Developing Master-Detail Through Wizard

    When creating master detail form or a single form through Wizard ,it creates the form loads the data But if you try to modify or add a new row it gives following errors JBO-26041 Failed to post data to database during update :..... DAC-305 Dbaccess c

  • Why Xcode 4 causes 100% cpu usage?

    Dear all, I have been annoyed by the high cpu usage of Xcode 4.0.2 when editing code. It is burning my MacBook! I think this may be related to the dynamic code checking. Any idea? Cheers, Li

  • Exporting Keynote to QT - All works! but there this issue...

    Hey, I want to create a big project that will involve text animation and video. Right now I did some tests and all works pretty good. even the Video integration. My final product should run interactively on a PC so it needs to be universal like flash