How important is screen real estate when it comes to post processing?

As of about October of last year, I was completely sold on OSX. The only wrinkle is that I currently own a 12" iBook, and that's the only Mac I have. Now, I had, for a while, decided to use both my Windows desktop (with a 19" CRT) and my 12" iBook for post processing (depending on where I was at the time, etc).

But, now that I'm seriously considering purchasing programs like Capture 1 and Photoshop CS2, I can't afford them for both machines. So, I must pick one. Being the huge fan of Apple that I am, I have chosen to stick with my Mac.

Now, here lies the question. I only have a 12" 4:3 LCD on this iBook. Will I find myself tight on space when it comes to post processing? Or do you think I'll be able to deal with it? Should I be focusing on upgrading this notebook to a larger screen version, or will this be enough?

Thanks in advance

Can't you plug your mac into the 19" screen? I have a 19" LCD and it's big enough, but sometimes i'd like a 2nd monitor - not very often just occasionally.

thats what i do tim cant beat a second monitor no pallets to move around and a full screen for the pic...love it

Sure...there's no question than I can plug it into a bigger display/monitor. Just that it'd be a bit of a hassle to do that on a daily basis (if I begin to do a lot of post processing). And, in the begining especially (until I can get a studio set up), I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot of traveling. With my entire light setup, backgrounds, camera gear, and any additional accessories, there's not going to be enough room to haul around a 19" CRT in my car. And, who knows, I might end up staying up many nights in hotel rooms around the southeast with nothing more than a notebook to work with.

If you're going to be doing a lot of image processing on the road, you definitely want to go with a bigger screen. The bigger the better.

Plugging an iBook into a screen will not give you a higher resolution. They go to 1024x768 and thats it. Its the big let-down with the iBooks, I'd have bought one years ago if you could get decent resolution with a CRT. Its the same with the Powerbooks. don't get me wrong, I love Apple kit, but the graphics cards on those are very limited.

you sure about the powerbooks blighty? i have a 15 inch and it supposedly supports their 30 inch cinema display...

Well it supports it - it'll just display at the same resolution as the powerbook screen. Actually I'm not certain with regards to the latest MacBook Pro, but I'm pretty sure about the iBook - call Apple and ask 'em, like I said I'd have been quite happy with a (super-portable) 12-inch iBook if only they'd let you get more real estate, even if only when connected to a monitor.
1024x768 on a 30" is still 1024x768

I can't complain though, I got a 733Mhz Quicksilver G4 on Sunday, free.

To the best of my knowledge, powerbooks have the ability to push larger and different resolutions. I believe the iBooks are the only ones that have this particular restriction.

And probably the 12" PowerBook, too.