Desktop solution

I recently joined the fold when I got my first MacBook Pro (2.8ghz, 4gb ram). My plan was to supplement this with a larger displayed desktop and I'm trying to decide which solution that would be.

I have tons of mini-DV tapes I need to edit, and a ridiculously large photo collection so far from my daughter growing up that I need to organize, clean up and manage. I do web design and graphic design on the side so I use Photoshop/Illustrator a lot - and there you have my criteria for why I made the switch from PC to Mac. (Which I'm loving BTW!)

I've been looking at 3 possible solutions to supplement my laptop.

1. Get the 24" LED display and external keyboard (already have the Mighty Mouse which I'm not loving...) and connect to my current MacBook Pro.

2. Get the 24" iMac with max CPU and better video card.

3. Get the 2.66Ghz or 2.93GHz (Seems like a pricey upgrade) Mac Pro and use my current, tired 24" Dell monitor from my PC for now.

I'm sure any of the three solutions would work for me in one way or the other. I definitely need a bigger, more stationary work space for photo editing and web design. The 15" MBP is just a little small for some of that work.

I like the idea of the Mac Pro with it's expandability and upgrades, which should prolong it's life - making it more cost efficient over time.

I love the look and feel of the iMac with it's all-in-one integrated powerhouse. I do recognize that most parts within it are the same as the MBP and because of the compact design they are also mostly mobile solutions which wouldn't stack up to the Mac Pro, but should easily handle the jobs I do.

Since the iMac doesn't come with the LED back lit Cinema display and I've seen it in action I really like that too however not being able to run two of them could be an issue. With the iMac I can connect my 24" Dell as a secondary display and with the Mac Pro you have even more options.

So yeah, that's my dilemma and I'd love to get some input from the community on this. Maybe someone went down a similar road and can share their experience with me.

I don't really think you need to go PRO right off the bat, unless of course you want to and don't have problems financing your purchase.

If you are really serious about what you are doing, I think an iMac is fine. It's nice and compact and doesn't take a lot of desk space.

You probably want some kind of external HDD to back up your data if you haven't already done so.

The new Apple Cinema display is sold separately anyways so I don't see why you brought that up when talking about the iMac.

Oops, I meant the iMac LCD panel is not LED back lit.

No input from experienced Mac users?

I could use some real input here...