23" Apple Cinema Display or $999 iMac?

[Caitlyn]

Hi guys.
Alright, so as some of you know, I was planning on purchasing a $999 23" Apple Cinema Display to go with my MacBook within the coming months. The thing is though, that I forgot that there is now a $999 iMac.

So, now I am thinking about this. If I were to put a 23" Apple Cinema Display onto the MacBook and then use something I need a slightly bigger screen for, such as Final Cut Express, wouldn't that be slower than running Final Cut Express on the 17" $999 iMac?

The thing that is really enticing me is that the new iMacs and my MacBook both use the same RAM, so I could make it even for now with both of them having 1.5GB of RAM until I can afford some more for the iMac.

But will the Core 2 Duo 1.83GHz with 1.5GB of RAM and 64MB of Intel GMA 950 graphics show me much of a speed increase than if I were to use something like, again, maybe Final Cut Express on my MacBook with an external display?

Any thoughts would be very helpful.
Thanks everyone!

 

[QCassidy352]

I don't think you'd see a high improvement with the imac. It's got the same integrated graphics, and the core duo/core 2 duo are close enough that with the mhz difference, I'm not sure the imac would outperform your macbook.

The best option would be to stretch for the $1200 imac with dedicated video and a 2 Ghz core 2 duo... but of course, it's very easy for me to spend your money.

 

[vendettabass]

I'm having a similar dilemma, but I've opted for the ACD cos' I need big screen space for my course, as well as portability. (not to mention its cheaper than the dell 24' for me!)

 

[mopppish]

Yeah, I think the performance difference between that imac and Macbook would be negligible.
The imac's hard drive might be a hair faster (and bigger), but I think that the higher clock speed of the Macbook would practically cancel out any CPU performance advantge you'd see with a C2D.
Go for the display.

 

[KingYaba]

In your case, Dell is your friend.

 

[Caitlyn]

Well, I can not put a Dell display with my MacBook. I know that sounds bad but the black and white difference would bug me.

The thing I am thinking though is that if I make the MacBook run on the 23" ACD, won't it slow it down?

 

[KingYaba]

I thought you had a black macbook, my mistake. (Failed to look at sig)

The color difference would bug me too.