[walangij]

I am debating on whether to purchase a Rev. A or Rev. B iMac to be used as a prosumer video editing station. I will be using FCP, Motion 2 and Soundtrack Pro. I realize that the 17" Rev B iMac would suit me more because of the better GPU. In either case I would upgrade the RAM myself to 2GB. My main question is whether the speed for FCP, Motion 2 and Soundtrack Pro would be incredibly different between the two computers. I'm using a 12" PB w/ 768mb of RAM with FCP and the render times and such are tolerable already, but the screen size is really the killer so I'm looking to upgrade.

If the cheaper Rev. A iMac 17" would be tolerable using those programs I would prefer purchasing that because the cheaper price would be preferable for me being a student.

If the Rev. A iMac is unsuitable I would then purchase the Rev. B w/o the superdrive because it wouldn't be needed for my purposes and when I do need to utilize a DVD burner I would then purchase an external drive.

Any expertise in this area and comments would help me decide and see the pitfalls of my plan.

[DMBand0026]

Here's the only question you should be asking yourself:
Can you afford the Rev. B iMac?

Than get it. In fact, if you're doing all sorts of editing, going with the 20" might not be a terrible idea, never underestimate the power of 3 extra inches of screen real estate.

Rule of thumb for computer buying: go with the best machine you can afford, and you won't regret it.

[Dave_D]

My 2 cents,

If you're satisfied with the performance of the PB, and all you need is more screen space, then why not just get an external monitor? I just connected a Dell 2005 FPW to a PB 12" and 2 screens is a lot better for your requirements.. Cheaper too.

[walangij]

Thanks for your input, getting another monitor never hit me, that is a great idea that would suit my needs perfectly for now, and would save me a whole lot of money. The 20" idea is excellent, so I'll probably purchase a 20" LCD.

[709]

Another option that has been talked about to death on these boards is getting a third-party monitor. Now, I don't want to get into the Apple rulez/Dell suxxors thing, there are plenty of threads with that going on already, but if you're into video editing I might suggest getting a monitor that can display full-res HD. Sure, your 12" PB might not be able to chunk through it as quickly, but a monitor is something you'd ideally be using 3-5 years from now as well. Dell's got a special on their 24" monitor (1920x1200 resolution) right now that's only a hundred more than an Apple 20". Aesthetics aside, it's a hell of a deal for a screen of that size.

[psmith2.0]

Originally Posted by Dave_D My 2 cents, If you're satisfied with the performance of the PB, and all you need is more screen space, then why not just get an external monitor? I just connected a Dell 2005 FPW to a PB 12" and 2 screens is a lot better for your requirements.. Cheaper too.

That was going to be my suggestion, since he seemed fairly happy with his PowerBook's performance. Just add a nice external display of whatever type stirs your 'tater.

The 12" PowerBook and 20" Apple Cinema (which you could get for a good price via student discount) would be a fine pairing.

Or check out 709's suggestion and pursue a non-Apple solution. That sounds like a good model too!