I’m in the same spot you are most times, and that’s on the couch with the MBP sitting on the armrest or on my lap doing everything BUT photos.

The thing about having a desktop, and you already realize it based on your above post, is that it forces you into a “work” mindset. You’re more focused and that leads to better photos. All good things. I don’t know your size, but if you’re a photographer, 22 or 27″ will fit you much better than 15″

Don’t discount the iPad as a living-room laptop replacement. It’s cheaper than any Apple laptop and probably BETTER (if we believe Jobs) at the things that we were mainly using laptops for anyway. If it stays at home, you don’t even need 3G.

Well, I just have to hit the bullet. And, in the worst case, if a desktop computer doesn’t fit me, I’ll always be able to change

Unless I’m wrong, Apple has the 13″ MBP to cover a price range. Unless it does EXTREMELY well, I can’t see them changing much to take it out of said price point.

Do you have an Apple store near you? If so go and try out Aperture on both a laptop and a desktop.

If you get serious with Aperture, you’ll really want a dedicated mouse for adjustments and the like (its a pain to do crops on a trackpad). If you add an external monitor (a good one anyway) you’ll be right in the neighborhood price-wise of a nicely outfitted iMac that will smoke that 13″ MBP and actually take up MORE room than an iMac alone.

If you look at the numbers, you’ll need to spend another $1K + on a 15″ MBP to equal or better the performance of the most basic 22″ iMac and you still won’t have a 22″ screen. For the same money as the hotrod 15″ MBP, buy a 22″ iMac AND an iPad for the couch.

thanks for your inputs.
Performance-wise, considering the limited needs I have as an amateur, I assume that either a MBP (with a dedicated GC) or an iMac will do perfectly fine.
It’s just a matter of having a laptop that only hangs around in the house (from desk to sofa) or having a desktop on which I go when I want to work on photos…
The 13″ may be an interesting option, if Apple dre to put a dedicated GC on it in the next revision. The $$ saved vs a 15″ may be used to buy an external monitor.

All this is quite futile

With Apple we go through this pain every couple of years as they change display connectors – ADC – DVI – display port – I cannot wait until they come out with the 27 stand alone. If they don’t soon I might have to get a 27 iMac.

I do think it is really cool that you can use the 27 iMac as a display. We gotta take the good with the minorly bad.

RB

I upgrade computers every 3 years. This was absolutely necessary when I had a PC, but not required with Macs. However, I think I’ll stay with the schedule on my laptop and maybe go to 4 years on my Pro, especially with the new graphics card.

As I think about it, my next laptop purchase may be a 13″ MBP with a SSD. You may want to consider this as well, especially if you’re using an external monitor and keyboard/mouse. I know there is some tradeoff in performance, but you save some coin and gain portability.

However, I agree that the good old 15″ is a definite sweet spot.

It SUCKS that I can’t simply connect my display directly to the laptop on the new models. It’s a feature I would happily trade for that sorry-ass SD card slot.

It SUCKS WORSE that the adapter that I need isn’t included in a $2K computer.

Great advice – just one note – the current gen MacBook pros with the good graphics do as well or better than a lot of the older desktops – I swear my new MBP is about the same as my old MacPro (1st gen) with the exception of disk.

You can always connect an external display and blue tooth keyboard mouse – I travel and do workshops and find myself using that combo a lot more than I would expect.

If you don’t have MASSIVE image volume that solution is perfectly workable if you are limited in budget and need the benefits of a large display and portability. granted the ultimate set up is YOURS.

RB

I have a Mac Pro with 30″ monitor and a 15″ MBP with a 2.2 GHz Core 2 Duo and 4 GB RAM. For me, it’s not so much a speed issue as it is a screen issue. I can get by on my 15″ MBP, but I really prefer to do things on my big display.

Screen size (to me) is as important as processing speed, when it comes to working with Aperture or any photo application.

The only time that I’m really doing serious photo work on my MBP is if I need to generate files on location. Some people prefer to do their own editing and just want the JPG’s. I shoot, import into the MBP, do a quick sort, and burn a CD for the client. I then export the project to a FW 800 external drive and then import into my Mac Pro when I get back home. Otherwise, I just bring the cards back home and get to work on the big screen, with a real mouse, and iTunes rocking through my external speakers.

Generally speaking, you can get more performance and more screen real estate for the same money in a desktop. There is a large premium to pay for portability, especially if you really don’t need it.

However, I would hold off a few months if you are considering a 27″ iMac until the screen issue is resolved.

I also use a current gen macpro as well.

Both of the current gen machines I have are great.

RB