Cool, cheers Mod.

Ah, but I don't have an iMac yet, so I have to think about total cost of various gubbins.

The main thing is that I want to get a desktop computer again.  It'll be used for writing, photoshopping, video editing, converting my DVD collection into files, and so on.  Having used my friend's one on a few occasions, and gone the iPhone/iPad route, I'd like my desktop to be Apple.

Using it as a screen for the PS3 is just a secondary idea, it just occurred to me the other day as I think more about the reality of adkmette moving in.

@Adam.

I have been using and extolling the virtues of Apple Cinema displays for donkeys years.
They are pricey but they are extremely good displays, the viewing angles and colours etc... are spot on and every PC owner who comes around the house or office and sees one running goes "OMG Amazorz" etc...

But I came home the other day to find my 23" Cinema display dead. I can't afford £800 to replace it so I started looking for PC alternatives and ended up buying this:
http://www.dabs.com/products/iiyama-prolite-x2377hds-23-inch-led-ips-monitor-x2377hds-1-7S8M.html
For the price it is a absolutely cracking bit of kit.
The viewing angles (the IPS part of it) are comparative to the apple and the colours are pretty good.
It supports 1920-1080 has DVI/SVGA/HDMI connections.
What about something like that?
It could double as a smallish TV/Monitor/Console screen.

Oh, it also has internal speakers, which is quite rare on a monitor so 130 notes is a steal.

I had to borrow the bro in laws PC monitor for the night while hunting for a replacement and jeez your standard PC monitors are a sack of shite. I couldn't go down a few grades after being used to the Cinema displays for about 8 years. But this new monitor is, dare I say it, just as good.

Finally took the jump on an iPad - Apple are currently offering refurbed 2's for £259 so that was around my sweet spot price wise.

We have something like 300 films and 800 TV episodes ripped through Handbrake, on a Thunderbolt drive attached to an iMac, with one backup in the house and another offsite. There are two Apple TVs, two iPads and two MacBooks that can access them depending on where we are in the house.

Get a couple of these and either stick the cases in the attic or find someone that wants them.

I like the hard drive idea, but actually doing it will surely be one of the dullest tasks known to man. There's also the problem of getting a corrupted file on the hard drive or the entire drive failing in the future.

I_R wrote:

There's also the problem of getting a corrupted file on the hard drive or the entire drive failing in the future.

iTunes match might be a way around this. For £22 a year, you can sync your music (wherever its come from) with your Apple account. So you've got a persistent reference to it, and can get at it anytime. 
I don't use it personally. There's similar stuff available from Google, Amazon, (Microsoft?). As well as the ongoing cost, you're also tied into whatever Apple decide to do with the service in the future, so pros and cons to it.

11"? Have you tried making a piece of cardboard 11" diameter and imagining peering into it? I see squniting in your future.

Also

http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/20/acer-aspire-timeline-ultra-m5-ultrabooks-kepler-graphics-us/

It's a tough balance really. If portability is the most important then I guess you could live with some short term squinting.

Is an iPad+ keyboad case out of the question? There's a high degree of blurring of the lines between that and the 11" Air with both strong for particular needs and neither perfect for all.

Surface (Pro) is trying to have its cake and eat it. Whether the users will be able to have their cake and eat it is another matter.

Certainly I think the physical keyboard will be up to the task, and the processor is more than enough for the OS. Whether it's enough to run the kind of apps you'd want to on a machine costing that much remains to be seen.

The 16:9 screen is nice for apps that take advantage of the width, less useful for things like Word.

Anyone know if the refurbished iPads have a new screen? Thinking about one for my mum in lieu of a new laptop, but would rather buy an iPad 2 new if there's a chance that there will be the chance of scratches, etc.

M0stly harm13ss wrote:

Anyone know if the refurbished iPads have a new screen? Thinking about one for my mum in lieu of a new laptop, but would rather buy an iPad 2 new if there's a chance that there will be the chance of scratches, etc.

As far as I know, Apple doesn't use screens or batteries that have been used before. They wouldn't send anything out with any noticible marks. They're guaranteed to be aesthetically close to perfect, and have a years warranty.

adkm1979 wrote:

Ah, but I don't have an iMac yet, so I have to think about total cost of various gubbins.

I have a mini plugged into our main telly. It's brilliant as a media player, occasional browser, torrent thing, photo viewer etc.

It's pretty rubbish as an everyday computer because sofa computing with normal resolutions like 1080p is no good, and 720p is too low res to achieve much.

So if I wanted something like a second tv + proper computer in one, I would definitely invest in an iMac. Cheap tv tuners can turn it into powerful PVR (which can then stream to a box connected to main telly for family viewing). Full voltage chipsets and larger form factor means much more power for your buck, and great monitor quality with easy viewing mode switches (optimising tv / film vs PC use) means it fits all your use-cases. More connections, more flexibility, and IMO nice form factor. Only downside is cost. A capable mac mini is About £600, and a decent monitor will cost you another £200/300. Cheapest iMac is a grand.

Oh, and the rumour sites reckon an upgrade will come this year, possibly a significant one, so may be worth hanging about for a couple months.