Upgrade Options - Displays

[AMERICUS]

Okay, I am in the process of cleaning my desk up and why not spend some money to make things cleaner. So i have an older MBP 17 with 1900x1200 display and a 2.8ghz core 2 duo. I want to get a large external display and close up the laptop. Now there are some options.

1) Do I get a bookarc, or similar apple mount, and purchase one of apple's gorgeous displays (27" or 30")? I know Dell has a competitive option so that's not out of the question either. My concern is the monitor is rated for 2560x1440 and would love to take advantage of this. Is there a way to upgrade the video card to support this? Obviously the actual MBP display can't support it.

2) Purchase a new iMac 27" for a little extra and get a quad-core processor behind the scenes? If I did this approach, a MBP 17 is a little excessive for a laptop...

Are there options available to take better advantage of the external monitor? This is all for personal use and not professional.

 

[Eidorian]

What is the current GPU? It should carry at least 512 MB of VRAM already. Displaying just a desktop environment is not very demanding.

 

[AMERICUS]

It is the NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT...and does it have the 9400M in there too? I show both on my video card settings and remember something odd about the video card when i purchased it.

 

[Eidorian]

512 MB on the 9600M GT should be more than enough to run Finder on your onboard display and a massive external. Do you plan any heavy 3D work?

 

[AMERICUS]

Occasional games, but nothing more. Really just wondering if upgrading the video card was much of an option. And is the additional $700 for the iMac a better solution.

 

[Eidorian]

Gaming at at resolutions greater than 1920 x 1200 is a difficult prospect, outside of Source games and CoD 4, on most Macs.

 

[DWBurke811]

You can't upgrade the graphics card, but I don't think your laptop should have a problem pushing 2560x1440 to a display. If it's worth it to get a iMac is up to you; I'm kind of in the same position where I want a mini to have hooked up to my TV, but for a little more getting a 21" iMac to keep on my desk and have hooked up to the TV also seems like a better option.