OK, so I think I've had enough of the Macbook Pro and it's various foibles to use it even as a 'daily' home machine. It's also been the case that I don't actually use it + ACD as a dual-monitor system very often because the MBP screen looks significantly worse than the ACD I've ended up never moving any windows onto the second monitor. And also there's the matter of desk real estate... the 17" MBP actually takes up a fair bit of space on the desk, relatively speaking (in terms of usable 2-D area) more than a 23" ACD.
So I'm getting ready to replace it. But with what?
I want a machine I can use without fear. By that I mean for example that if I run Half-life 2 on a Macbook Pro, I can't touch the thing after 15 minutes of gaming, and doing similar things on the 20" Intel iMac also resulted in a worryingly 'blowy' machine.
A 24" iMac + existing ACD might seem like a slam dunk answer for me. But what about graphics + heat issues in Windows, etc? That's what I'm worried about. If I play a game then leave it running all day forgetting to take it out of the game and it startes burning up, then that's 'use with fear'.
The Mac Pro has better airflow for this sort of use but I really don't want a hulking 'PC' under my desk if possible.
A fully configured (for what I think I'll need) 2.66 Mac Pro with a 23" monitor and X1900 comes to £3800.
A fully configured 2.33 iMac 24" comes to £2430.
A £1400 difference is a major consideration if all I'd end up doing is paying for the assurance of adequate on-load airflow. For the home-use apps I'll be using I also doubt the usefulness of the extra processor. And as far as games I guess the performance of either Xeon or C2D is acceptable.
Could owners of either (hey, both!) say something to help me decide one way or another? It'll definitely be Paralleled / Boot Camped, with potentially poorly multithreading apps... and I like the iMac form factor. But above all I need it to 'just work' without any worries when the CPU/GPU is being worked hard.
So I'm getting ready to replace it. But with what?
I want a machine I can use without fear. By that I mean for example that if I run Half-life 2 on a Macbook Pro, I can't touch the thing after 15 minutes of gaming, and doing similar things on the 20" Intel iMac also resulted in a worryingly 'blowy' machine.
A 24" iMac + existing ACD might seem like a slam dunk answer for me. But what about graphics + heat issues in Windows, etc? That's what I'm worried about. If I play a game then leave it running all day forgetting to take it out of the game and it startes burning up, then that's 'use with fear'.
The Mac Pro has better airflow for this sort of use but I really don't want a hulking 'PC' under my desk if possible.
A fully configured (for what I think I'll need) 2.66 Mac Pro with a 23" monitor and X1900 comes to £3800.
A fully configured 2.33 iMac 24" comes to £2430.
A £1400 difference is a major consideration if all I'd end up doing is paying for the assurance of adequate on-load airflow. For the home-use apps I'll be using I also doubt the usefulness of the extra processor. And as far as games I guess the performance of either Xeon or C2D is acceptable.
Could owners of either (hey, both!) say something to help me decide one way or another? It'll definitely be Paralleled / Boot Camped, with potentially poorly multithreading apps... and I like the iMac form factor. But above all I need it to 'just work' without any worries when the CPU/GPU is being worked hard.
So it will be an iMac + ext disp or another 23" ACD with Mac Pro.