Member Avatar for 68thorby68

Today I have an ipad, an iphone and a windows laptop. My laptop is nearing the end of its life and needs replacing. Should I replace the windows laptop with an IMac or Air book? The reason I ask is NOT processing power, battery life, or price. Just do I need two (3 including iphone) mobile devices?

If you were faced with the same dilema which would you purchase, the IMac or the Air Book?

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Dani AI

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Choosing between a portable Mac and a desktop is mostly a workflow decision, not a specs race. The right choice depends on which machine will do the heavy lifting and which one you want as a lightweight companion. Think in terms of "primary work machine" versus "secondary/mobile device" and let that guide screen size, input method, and whether you need the full macOS app set.

Answer these quick questions before buying:

  • Which specific apps or tasks must run on the new machine (desktop-class editors, virtualization, large spreadsheets, video/audio work)?
  • How often do you need to work away from a fixed desk and how important is that mobility?
  • Do you already own a good monitor, keyboard and speakers that a small desktop could reuse?

Practical way to decide: try to reproduce a full week of your normal work with only the tablet plus an external keyboard to see what breaks. Borrow or demo the laptop and the desktop models you’re considering and run the exact apps you depend on. Make a short compatibility list: any Windows-only tools? If so, check virtualization or web-based alternatives. Also plan migration and backups ahead of time (cloud sync plus a local transfer) so switching is painless.

The thread already contains useful viewpoints: and pushed thinking about ecosystem and alternatives, and raised the small-desktop compromise. Those perspectives are all valid because the answer is personal: pick the form factor that matches where and how you actually get work done, not the one that looks best on paper.

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Member Avatar for JorgeM

This is such a personal decision...

For me...i've spent the last two decades working with Windows products... i'm getting tired of Windows. In my case, i have an iMac and a windows desktop, windows laptop, iphone, and an ipad i never really use. i find most computers/devices to be... eh...not very exciting any longer. At this point, i'm only interested in devices that let me work quickly and on the go. i'd go for the air book if i really needed a new laptop, or just install ubuntu on the laptop and keep it running longer if the hardware allows it.

Member Avatar for djjeavons

I second Ubuntu. I love it as an OS and it works very well on older hardware.

If you are after aesthetics then an air. The thing I found however is that the cost of Macs v Laptops is very big with Macs (obviously) being the more expensive.

Member Avatar for Member #46692

It seems a mac air would be fine, seeing as you had a laptop before. The only other thing I would say I opted for a middle range mac mini- which is the same price as mac air. But for the mac mini you get slightly more grunt out of the machine, just need a monitor and keyboard.

Member Avatar for 68thorby68

Many thanks everyone for your feedback.

Even though both the mac book and the ipad are both portable devices it seems the general concencious is to keep the ipad and go for the mac book and not the imac to replace the windows laptop.

Your input has been very helpful.

Many thanks.

Member Avatar for Kelly Burby

IMac is more powerful than Airbook, it can run any application require by it.

Member Avatar for XP78USER

Imac

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