Macbook advice:

[Shoot]

Right, I need some advice. I want a new computer and it is going to be a Mac.
It needs to be powerful enough to do digital painting with my wacom and also will be used as an audio workstation (recording music and mixing it). I also need it to be portable. Macbook Pro it is! However, issue is here:

I have two options, get a low end 2.26GHz 13" MBP with a cinema display or a high end 15" but no money left for display.

Ideally I'd get the low end macbook pro 13" and buy a cinema display aswell for desktop use..
Is this wise? is the 2.26GHz powerful enough or do I need the 2.6 or whatever it is. I will have 4gb ram regardless.
I don't want any stalls or slowness doing my day to day things and preferably not at all in photoshop either. bearing in mind I will soup it up. Graphics cards don't bother me, I do not game at all.

So in summary it seems to be either slower processor but with screen for desktop use OR fast processor but limited to a 15" screen.

help me please!

Thanks,
Shoot.

edit: I will be purchasing in january so lets assume there might be minor bumps in spec.

 

[jackiecanev2]

Wirelessly posted (BB 8900: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7D11 Safari/528.16)

You could get the pro, and spring for a non-apple monitor of the same size and relative quality.

 

[waynechriss]

Dell often have deals on their large widescreen monitors.
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...ail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=eep&cs=6099&sku=320-7345

According to slickdeals.net:

During checkout, select Credit Card as method of payment
Click "Change Payment Type"
Click "Choose" link under Credit/Debit Card (again)
Under "Save 3% with Dell Preferred Account! (Discount applied at Final Checkout)" click "Click Here to Take Advantage of this Offer" link
Click "Choose" under "I already have a Dell Preferred Account" if you have one, or sign up for a new one if you don't
Checkout, enjoy your 3% savings

With this you get the monitor for $185. Just a heads up if you are curious.

 

[js81]

Bing cashback works at a lot of places, too. I.e., 8% on BUY-IT-NOW items on eBay.

 

[MacKiddyWiddy]

what about a refurb 15 and then a cheap samsung or dell monitor... the best of both worlds

 

[Shoot]

Don't really want a refurb but am looking into other monitor brands.
how about the power of the 13 vs the 15? suitable for my needs?

 

[MacKiddyWiddy]

the 13 should be powerful enough, but if you are worried, go with the 15 for the security and better gpu