MBA hooked up to Thunderbolt display?

[Mhotep]

Need some help on office setup. Got some extra money for my practice I need to burn. Decided to get a iMacs. 1 for my office manager. The problem is me. My office is in the hospital, actualy two. In the AM I'm in one office at a hospital, in the afternoon I'm at the other office in another hospital. So I've thought about buying two Thunderbolt display's for those office's, and use my 2011 i5 1.6 MBA. I don't do a lot that would require the Quad core i5 in the iMacs, but giving the price of some of the refurbs for the 21" which is almost the price of the thunderbolt display is that the best route? Also is there any real diff between the thunderbolt display and the model from last year since they have refurbs for last years model at a decent price?
Options:
1. 1 thunderbolt display at each office(2) or last years model of display with my MBA 11.
2. Buy 2 refurb imac's (I think they are the 21" models). Keep MBA of course for travel needs.

Any advice. I do love that 27 inch screen but also wonder if it will too much sitting on a desk in front of 1 -2 feet away.

 

[CyrusKafaiWu]

You can always buy an iMac may 2011 version refurb and be able to use as your Mac and use Target Display Mode with your macbook air.

 

[Mhotep]

You can always buy an iMac may 2011 version refurb and be able to use as your Mac and use Target Display Mode with your macbook air.

That is what I was thinking with option 2. But wasn't really sure if that was overkill. I also have a Samsung series 7 slate I use for going room to room to see patients.

 

[Kyllle]

Well the thunderbolt display is much better than the display on an iMac, and has a greater resolution.

You could do an iMac, but that's kind of overkill if you only need it as a display. And the thunderbolt display is also overkill unless you're working with color sensitive photos/videos.

I recommend you go buy a non-Apple external monitor for a few hundred $; you'll save money and it will still meet your needs just as well.

 

[doktordoris]

Well the thunderbolt display is much better than the display on an iMac, and has a greater resolution.

Really? Are you sure a TB display has a better screen than my iMac? It certainly doesn't have a higher res, so what do you think is better about it?

 

[KylePowers]

Well the thunderbolt display is much better than the display on an iMac, and has a greater resolution.

I was always under the impression they used the same displays. For one, they're the same resolution. Secondly, it doesn't make sense to me for Apple to make use of two different panels that are the same size and resolution... I suppose it's possible though?

 

[doktordoris]

I was always under the impression they used the same displays. For one, they're the same resolution. Secondly, it doesn't make sense to me for Apple to make use of two different panels that are the same size and resolution... I suppose it's possible though?

I dont think it is possible, in fact I think that kyllle's assertion that the displays differ is utter rot, but I am waiting with interest to read his reasoning for such a ludicrous statement.

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And the thunderbolt display is also overkill unless you're working with color sensitive photos/videos.
.

I also would like to know why the average person would find the TB monitor to be "overkill". It's just a monitor, albeit a fairly nice one that isn't bargain basement cheap. It is still a reasonably priced display considering its spec, what price have you found other 1440 TB displays selling for? And someone who cares about accurate colour reproduction would probably not buy a glossy display anyway.

 

[joshuaginter]

I dont think it is possible, in fact I think that kyllle's assertion that the displays differ is utter rot, but I am waiting with interest to read his reasoning for such a ludicrous statement.

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I also would like to know why the average person would find the TB monitor to be "overkill". It's just a monitor, albeit a fairly nice one that isn't bargain basement cheap. It is still a reasonably priced display considering its spec, what price have you found other 1440 TB displays selling for? And someone who cares about accurate colour reproduction would probably not buy a glossy display anyway.

I completely agree. The Thunderbolt Display is much cheaper than the majority of other Thunderbolt technology at this point.

As far as the OP goes, if you have the money, I think 2 TB displays is ideal. Having three computers makes keeping everything organized difficult and the screen real estate is invaluable. I'm sure you already know that the Air is a surprisingly powerful machine. I see 2 21" iMacs as being redundant.

I have a biased opinion. I have a TB display with an 11" Air and I am absolutely stricken by the idealism of the setup.

 

[ethics101]

Are you dr. House ? They have MacBook pros at his office though.

 

[Stetrain]

Also is there any real diff between the thunderbolt display and the model from last year since they have refurbs for last years model at a decent price?

The difference between the older 27" Cinema Display and the new 27" Thunderbolt display is that the older model is purely a display. The new model is a display and a docking station with ports on the back, so you could have a keyboard, mouse, etc. plugged in to each display.

 

[Kyllle]

I was always under the impression they used the same displays. For one, they're the same resolution. Secondly, it doesn't make sense to me for Apple to make use of two different panels that are the same size and resolution... I suppose it's possible though?

Ok I admit I was wrong about that, sorry to cause confusion.

I still don't think the OP needs a TB display, but if it's a business expense and you have money to spend then go for it, it certainly is a nice display. I was just trying to say it probably exceeds your needs as an office computer.

 

[Mhotep]

Are you dr. House ? They have MacBook pros at his office though.

LOL. No not even close to Dr. House. This year I didn't have to spend a lot of money on supplies or equipment, so I have to spend the money on something.

 

[convergent]

I would not want to sync to multiple computers... that's a bit of a pain. I just got the 13" MBA i7 and TBD to replace my old MBP and couldn't be happier. This machine is powerful enough to handle just about anything you would throw at it and being able to pick up and go is a great feature. I use the Thunderbolt connection to the TBD to work as a dock... connecting me to all my office peripherals. One cool feature of having two locations with TBDs is that you could have a TBD attached external drive at each location to use with Time Machine and accomplish remote backups on the fly.