Size Problem 20" or 23"?

[jrober]

Guys and Gals,

While on my sojourn here in Sweden I am using a 12" powerbook to keep me sane.(Lugging my Blue Dalmatian through quarantine at every airport is a complete pain)

I had grand plans to buy a 23" monitor and BT keyboard on my return to Blighty. To be used with the PB for iLife things and surfing in style, but I now face a dilemma.

23" Monitor
or
20" iMac G5

I have been thinking about this since yesterday morning after the one more thing thing and cannot decide. Same price, what should I choose?

 

[boxerchip]

I would get a 23 inch rather than a second comp.... I mean unless you plan on needing 2 macs..... im getting my 23 inch display tomarow morning at 10am... ill tell you when i get it if its worth it

 

[supergod]

Why don't you just get the 20" cinema display and save your money. The 20" screens are mighty large and far cheaper than the 23". The extra screen space you get with the 23" is really only important when you're using it for graphic design and video editing, most of which can't be done on a powerbook anyways.

 

[jrober]

Supergod, The reason for the 23 inch was to satisfy my lust for big boys toys. But then my need for speed took over and thinking about having a G5 instead of a G4 well.. But thanks for the advice.

My wife (nice person) says I should wait for the next thing by Christmas she reckons there'll be a bigger and better one. When is rev b?

 

[Bear]

...
My wife (nice person) says I should wait for the next thing by Christmas she reckons there'll be a bigger and better one. When is rev b?

Figure around 6 months or so from now, but it could be more. And probably not less than 5 months.

 

[Bear]

...
I had grand plans to buy a 23" monitor and BT keyboard on my return to Blighty. To be used with the PB for iLife things and surfing in style, but I now face a dilemma.

23" Monitor
or
20" iMac G5

I have been thinking about this since yesterday morning after the one more thing thing and cannot decide. Same price, what should I choose?

I'd say you probably should go for the 20" IMac G5. You get the speed for when you need it. You don't have to set up your laptop (unless you want files from it) and you get a computer to use is your laptop ever needs to go in for repairs.

 

[gernb]

word to the wise: the new 23" has a noticeable pink cast to it. It's not a flaw...well it's a flaw, but it seems to effect every unit I've seen.

I took mine back to the apple store yesterday and exchanged for a 20". If you want to see the difference, just open a window that's got solid areas of grey in it and compare the monitors side by side.

the 23" is completely unusuable for anything where color is important.

 

[Mountaineagle]

Here are a couple of ideas for you, which may or may not help in deciding whether the iMac 20" or Apple 23" screen is more appropriate for your requirements.

1. If you are happy with the processing power of the PB 12", I would recommend the 23" as it will allow you to watch HD-DVD's (1080i/p) and be providing lots of real estate for browsing the web and doing iLife things. HD-DVD's should hopefully be out on the market within the next 12-18 mths (been delayed because Hollywood is debating piracy-protection). The 20" would not have sufficient pixels horizontally to support this HD-DVD standard. There is another HD-DVD standard for 720p, which both screens will support.

2. If you are not happy about the processing power of the PB 12", perhaps you should look at the 20" iMac. Also, the graphics card of your PB may not be supported by Tiger (in exploiting Tiger-specific UI features). The iMac 20" graphics card, G5 processor, etc. is all ready to exploit Tiger-specific features.

Remember though, to have either an 20" iMac or 23" Apple monitor, would be awesome, and if you change your mind, you will be able to sell the kit on eBay for a reasonable price.