(I do not want to sound like I'm bragging, but) This year, my family s cash problems are completley gone, and we're more affluent than usual. So, my father has told me to get whatever I want for christmas. The first thing that came to mind was and iMac or Macbook, but I don't know which one to get! To begin, I'm 13. So this will have to last until about senior year (4 years), or Sophomore year (2 years.) I like to play video games, but not intense shooters. Mostly games like Minecraft, TS3-4 and others that are classified as casual games. Also, it will need to be able to run most programs like Word and Excel. And to finish All of this off, I need to be able to smoothly run Final Cut Pro. So, after all of these details and needs, should i get an iMac, Macbook (Air or Pro,) and what kid of configurations will I need?
Planning on getting a new Mac, what is good for me?
The iMac will be better for running Final Cut Pro, mostly because you will want all that screen space. You CAN run it on a Macbook Pro (which I would personally recommend over the Air, for reasons such as storage and amount of RAM you can add), but I think you will like running it on a desktop better, for many reasons including the greater screen space. Final Cut Pro has so much stuff on the screen at one time that running it on a small screen can be a hassle. Plus I do believe you can add a lot more RAM and harddrive and/or flash (SSD) disk space than you can on the MacBook Pro. However, if portability is more important, I'd go with the biggest screen/most RAM and storage you can afford on a Macbook Pro, and the fastest processor (which I would go with whether on the iMac or Macbook). Final Cut is very demanding of the resources on your computer, so the most RAM and fastest CPU are a very good idea). You can go to Apple.com to get some idea of your options. Or, if you have an Apple Store near you, go there and ask lots of questions! Plus be sure to ask about educational pricing, you are still in school and may be able to save some $$ on whatever you decide to get.