First things first, I don't want to hear "you're wasting money, go back to PC" or any shit talking of Apple. We all have a preference and I like Apple's products.

So here's the situation:

I currently have a 13" Macbook Pro (Early 2011), I'd like to start taking a lot more photos and with my recent purchase of LR4, it came to me that 13" is just not that great for editing.

With that said, I'm looking for a bigger screen, my options are the 27" Thunderbolt Display (TBD), or a 21.5" iMac. I like the idea of the TBD because it allows me to keep the portability of my Macbook, it's cheaper than the 21.5" iMac, it would most likely be compatible with future Macbooks using Thunderbolt and it would keep me from having to run 2 computers.

Only thing I see a problem with is the 27" may be too big for me, sure it's nice to have but it's also overkill at the same time.

I'd also like to add that my MBP isn't much different (performance-wise) than an iMac, only thing I'd gain is much more space (that I don't need) and a 2.9 GHz processor instead of my 2.3GHz

I see my options as this:

1) I get the TBD, mouse and keyboard for under $1k (used products)

2) Sell my Macbook Pro and get an iMac instead (Probably $400 out of pocket)

I seem to use my laptop mostly on my bed, or in my lap, rarely at a desk or table, however I got an iPad Mini for Christmas, so I could use that for portable browsing, ect.

 

While I love the Apple display, its pretty expensive for what it is. The Thunderbolt ports on it added cost and unfortunately Thunderbolt hasen't adopted as fast as it could have. Personally, I would keep the MBP and get a decent monitor to connect it to. Editing photos from the thunderbolt to either DVI or HDMI would be fine.

 

 

In my other thread Whiskers got me thinking of a macbook pro and I went to go look at them, while at best buy they have that $1000 monitor there hooked up to the mac mini, GOOD GOD did it look amazing.

Realistically I would get a nice 24" and like whiskers said use the HDMI. If you have the money go for the 27" but like you said I too found it too big for a PC monitor.

Keep the macbook pro.

 

Plenty of displays of there have have display port and an IPS screen for much less than Apple's.

 

yep, plenty of korean IPS specials available for $500 and under for a 27"

 

What about selling my MacBook and getting the iMac?

 

The new Imacs are gorgeous and I would never fault someone for getting one. The only disadvantages and a) they are completely non-upgradable, even the memory slots that were on the bottom are gone, so you need to buy the one you have and b) they aren't portable. I had a 15 inch 2011 MB Pro that I upgraded the shit out of with 16GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD drive and that thing flew. I kinda miss it until I see my retina. The Imac will be sweet, but you get what you get.

Being that, if I was getting the Imac, I would add the higher processor, memory and the fusion drive (basically a SSD OS partition with the ability for OSX to "figure" out what you access more and puts that on the SSD partition). So for that you are looking at $2150. You aren't selling your MB pro for $1600 ($1000 tops)

 

The new 27" iMacs have four accessible RAM slots. The 21" iMacs are NOT upgradable.

I can personally confirm this on the 27

 

Ah, only saw a 21 inch up close. Still.

 

I didn't know that. I recently added 8GB of RAM to this MBP.

The iMac I had customized, I just kept the 2.7GHz Processor, but the bump to 2.9 and Fusion Drive comes out to $1950. Although I could get education pricing for a little cheaper.

 

Seems Apple is going down that path and it wouldn't surprise me to see the 27" be completely 'closed' next generation.

 

Definitely.

 

does your campus have an apple store or is it an authorized retailer? You might even snag last gen's 27" at a discount. Or how about a refurb? With these new models out most of the "refurbs" are probably new machines.

 

Little late but I just found that Apple makes a 24" display...

 

Made.