Need help - dilema

[willyboy104]

OK so I currently have the 27" iMac from January 2010 (I think) and I upgraded the ram so it now has 12gb RAM.

I really like the look of the apple cinema display, they do look amazing and I would like to swap my iMac for a cinema display, but then I have the dilema of paying £2,000+ for a mac pro or just getting a new iMac (this years top spec) and forgetting about the cinema display.

However, I also miss building my own computers...so do I:

1. Buy the brand new top spec 27" iMac with the Intel i7
2. Buy the Apple Cinema Display and fork out £2,000+ for a low spec mac pro.
3. Buy an Apple Cinema Display and build my own computer and some how connect the two?
OR.
4. Build my own computer and get a monitor as good as the cinema display - is this possible, any recommendations for as good as monitor?

Any help with this would be GREATLY appreciated.

Lastly, is the macpro as easy as a normal desktop computer to upgrade or do Apple make it extremely difficult, as they do with most other Apple products?

Thanks in advance!

 

[The Tech Fish]

As far as i know to upgrade the mac pro is as easy, if not more so than a non mac alternative. (depending on what you want to upgrade.

The things that are easy to upgrade in it are:

Hard drives (litterally, just on a tray that pops out, put a different hard drive in, and away you go.

Ram - again on a special tray thing

PCI cards - just whack them in!

As for other things it's worth checking online.

Personally, out of all these options, i would go for a new 27" iMac. I really love that machine, and the actual display panel is (as far as i know) identical to the one in the thunderbolt display.

However if it really bothers you that it iMac does not look the same as the cinema display, then i guess the second best option is mac pro + display.

Anyway, if you want to donate your old iMac to a loving home, let me know

Joe