TBD or 2009 iMac as Screen?

Discussion in 'Mac Accessories' started by DaDalle, Mar 9, 2012.

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  1. DaDalle, Mar 9, 2012

    DaDalle macrumors member

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2011
    #1
    Hi folks!

    I've to make a hard decision: I'll by a new Macbook Air (2012) and currently have a 27" iMac from 2009 with 3,06 GHz dual core. Now I was wondering if I'll still need my iMac.
    Since the Macbook air has a SSD and the processor is hyper-threaded, I guess it'll be much faster than my old iMac. So obviously if i'm at home i'll still want to make advantage of my iMac screen, so I would use it in target display mode for my MBA.
    Wouldn't it be a nice idea to sell my iMac and get a TBP instead. The benefits would be that I could access the USB-Ports and Ethernet as well. Which I couldn't do on my iMac.
    So what do you think?
    Should I keep my iMac? Or invest into a TBP? Is the MBA even faster than the iMac (benchmark tells so)

    Thanks for answers :)
     
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  2. convergent, Mar 9, 2012

    convergent macrumors 68030

    convergent

    Joined:
    May 6, 2008
    Location:
    Raleigh, NC
    #2
    I'd get the TBD. Reasons:

    - No need to sync two computers which will be a continual challenge
    - MBA is going to be much faster than the iMac, unless you had an SSD in the iMac
    - Ports... particularly the gigabit Ethernet port which you don't get any other way.
     
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  3. Lennyvalentin, Mar 9, 2012

    Lennyvalentin macrumors 6502a

    Lennyvalentin

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2011
    #3
    Are you sure target display mode works with a computer as old as a 09 iMac? Even if yes, the iMac as a display is going to draw quite a bit more power than a pure display (all of the computer's hardware is going to be running while powered on, in addition to the LCD panel and its backlight).

    And yes, a current MBA using a Core i5 or i7 CPU is going to be significantly faster than a Core2 Duo from a couple years ago. Graphics speed might not be as good, depending on what is stuffed into that iMac, but for regular, non-gaming tasks it won't matter. It'll be fast enough, even for a high-resolution 27" display.
     
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  4. DaDalle, Mar 10, 2012

    DaDalle thread starter macrumors member

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2011
    #4
    Thanks for the replies!
    I didn't think of this point, but yeah this would be really great

    And yes, the late-2009 iMac was the first one which supported Target Display Mode. (I've done this before)

    I'm not sure if I should sell my Mac right now, or if I should wait until I have my 2012 MBA, i'm a little afraid of the price drop once the 2012 iMac is out. I think i'll just wait.
     
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