iMac/MBP combo, or PC/MacBook combo

[Quad 2.5 G5 =)]

I have a friend who has a custom PC (C2D, 2.93 GHz, GTS250)and a MacBook, Black, 2.2GHz. He asked me if it would be a good idea if he sold and replaced both with an iMac, 2.4GHz, equipped with the Radeon HD2600. (Are these GPUs in the iMac Mobility versions, or desktop versions, and any way to o/c them?)
The other Mac that he wants in addition to the iMac is a 17" MBP, Mid 2007 model, the same age as his MB. The reason he wants this type of setup is that he wants a faster portable Mac, and he does not want to game as much, thus the lack of need to keep his custom PC, but still a need for a desktop. Any suggestions? His money limit is whatever he can get for his current computers, which he believes is $1,000 for the PC, and $800 for the MB. He also does not want to get a new iMac, Mac Mini, or a new Core i-series MBP, because he would not be able to still have two computers, one a desktop, the other a laptop, and he must stay with Macs.

 

[alust2013]

That's a tricky one. With that kind of budget it would be no easy task finding an iMac and MBP to get. An iMac with the specs he is looking for will probably run about $900-1000, and somewhere between $1300-1500 for the MBP, which might not even be faster than his current MB. Personally, I would just go for a much newer MBP, possibly a c2d that has been discounted because of the new ones, or even one of the new 15" models, and get an external display for it. That is how I have mine set up, and it works great.

With the specs of the new MBPs, they would likely smoke both the iMac and MBP that he would buy. Unless the desktop is a necessity, I would just go for one computer, because upgrading computers without extra money could prove to be frustrating.

 

[Quad 2.5 G5 =)]

That's a tricky one. With that kind of budget it would be no easy task finding an iMac and MBP to get. An iMac with the specs he is looking for will probably run about $900-1000, and somewhere between $1300-1500 for the MBP, which might not even be faster than his current MB. Personally, I would just go for a much newer MBP, possibly a c2d that has been discounted because of the new ones, or even one of the new 15" models, and get an external display for it. That is how I have mine set up, and it works great.

With the specs of the new MBPs, they would likely smoke both the iMac and MBP that he would buy. Unless the desktop is a necessity, I would just go for one computer, because upgrading computers without extra money could prove to be frustrating.

Due to the graphics card in the MBP, would it not come out ahead of the MB? That, and he found a good deal for a MBP running about $1000, with more RAM than he has in the MB (2GB vs 4GB)