[read96]

Time to retire my 1998 Bondi blue 227mhz iMac but I�m in a bit of a quandary over whether to buy:
(1) PwBk 12� (SD) + Formac 17� LCD (VGA) + Mouse + Keyboard + Speakers (about 2,000 UK Pds)
or
(2) PwBk 12� (combo) + iMac 17� (SD) (about 2,400 UK Pds or 2,200 if refurbished iMac)

Want a strong robust desktop home system and something that I can easily take on the road (2 or 3 days a week) for mostly Word processing Presentations and Web work. Will probably get into some DTP and Video work on the home set up. New 20� Apple display would be nice but it doesn�t do VGA without 2 adaptors!
Questions:
Formac 17� LCD is a great monitor but any ideas how it would fare with VGA from the PwBk? Its taller than the iMac 17� screen but any ideas how it would compare?
PwBk and Formac should be a great set up, but would it be robust? Can you leave PwBk in sleep mode for long periods? Would be a hassle to forever be pulling in and out the USB connectors?
Wireless mouse and keyboard would work well with option (1) but is Microsoft K/Bd and Mouse the only option? Their K/Bd is very BIG!
Any other things I should consider?
Many thanks
(and to think I spent 2,400 pounds on my first Mac (an SE) back in 1988 ! How times have changed)

[icruise]

Hmm. Personally I would go for the 12" powerbook and external screen setup (in fact, that is what I will have shortly). The imac is a very nice machine, but there is a lot to be said for having a central machine with all of your stuff on it that you can take with you if necessary. Also I would say that having the powerbook connected to the external monitor will give you much more screen real-estate than the imac alone would have. The other thing is that unless you need to have one machine always working on renders or downloads or you have other family members who will use it, you will have one machine or the other idle for much of the time.

[douthat]

Originally posted by read96:
New 20� Apple display would be nice but it doesn�t do VGA without 2 adaptors!

Note that the 12"PB may not even be able to use the full resolution of the new 20" monitor. The notebook outputs up to 1600x1200 and the new 20" is natively 1680 x 1050.. so even though the monitor has less pixels than the output of the PB (1,764,000 vs 1,920,000 respectively), the PB may have a problem with the width.. Can anyone shed some light on this?

[icruise]

Yes, I don't think the 12" would work with the new cinema display for the reasons you mentioned. I don't know if it would just display a slightly cropped image, or what, but given the cost of the adapters I don't think it makes sense to consider the 12" in that combination anyway.

[arnette]

Are you nuts?!? Get the Powerbook 12" with the iMac! You can easily transfer files to the powerbook when you need to, and you'll have a sweet machine as a desktop with a beautiful monitor already attached.
Makes sense to me!

[icruise]

Yeah, but with the powerbook and monitor he saves 400 pounds and has 1.75 times the screen space.

[douthat]

If it were my decision, I would go with the monitor and the powerbook mainly because of the cost, and secondly because of the screen resolution.. I also like the idea of having all my stuff on one machine and not having to worry about transferring files... That said, having all your eggs in one basket may turn out to be a bad thing.. God forbid, If your powerbook is ever lost, stolen, or broken, you will not have a machine to work from, despite having a fine monitor on your desk... So if screen resolution and cost are not a huge issue for you, go with the powerbook and imac, otherwise go with the cheaper solution..

but always make backups!

[douthat]

Originally posted by read96:
is Microsoft K/Bd and Mouse the only option?

I am partial to the Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse.. Mine get plenty of usage when I don't want to be tied to the desk

[Hozie]

Icruise is right, as always. No point in getting an iMac that
1) will not be significantly faster than the PB
2) will be sitting idle whenever you're using the PB
3) doesn't have the screen real estate that the PB + screen will allow you to have
4) will probably be updated in less than a month or two.
5) can't be upgraded in any major way anyway.

The 12" PB is as strong desktop system if paired with an extra screen.

[iLashes]

Hi,
you can't hook up the formac display to the powerbook !

Even if you would get the 300 (!) $ vga to ADC adapter from gefen you have no chance, since the adapter only supports the apple screens !

I have an eizo l565 hooked up to my iBook 800 and i love this setup !

Great Monitor and i don't have to deal with configuring two macs all the time (uesed to do that with my pismo and my g4 desktop)

just my two EuroCents

[read96]

I think there is a (fairly) new VGA Formac 1740 model.

Thanks for all the useful advice.

Just realised that the 17" PBk is also close to this price!
But I'm not that keen on a Powerbook as my main machine all the time due to the screen angle/keyboard.

Any good ways to position a Pwbk higher without your hands being in the air?

[SpinCycle]

Originally posted by iLashes:
Hi,
you can't hook up the formac display to the powerbook !

Even if you would get the 300 (!) $ vga to ADC adapter from gefen you have no chance, since the adapter only supports the apple screens !

I have an eizo l565 hooked up to my iBook 800 and i love this setup !

Great Monitor and i don't have to deal with configuring two macs all the time (uesed to do that with my pismo and my g4 desktop)

just my two EuroCents

You can if you buy the new VGA model in their oxygen line that they just announced.

http://www.formac.com/p_bin/?cid=sol..._gallery1740ox

[iLashes]

Oh, ok didn't know they ship a vga version now.
but i saw the adc one before and even though the eizo may not be as stylish, it still has definately the better picture, and comes with a 3 year warranty
at least here in europe.

I am very happy with the Eizo and wreally wouldn't want to computers to take care of ...