Ok iMac owners, here's my issue.

Both my DW and I have 17" Macbook Pro's. My DW's is a 2006 model (Core Duo) and mines a 2011 Core I7. Sadly though, hers won't support Lion. As such, I can't upgrade her to iCloud using her computer. Granted, I can do it other ways, but then she misses out on some of the iCloud functionality on her laptop.

So, I'm thinking about upgrading her machine. I've got a couple of options.

First, I could just get another 17" Macbook Pro. I'm not wild about this idea. They're still pretty expensive although I could save some money by buying a refurbished one.

Second, I'm thinking about going to an iMac (21.5") for me and giving her my existing Macbook Pro. There too, I could save a few bucks by going the refurbished route. The only issue would be that I'd be going from a quad core I7 to a quad core I5.

So, I'm soliciting opinions from the iMac users. Anybody got any feel for what kind of a performance hit I'd be taking? If any? Would I regret moving from a Macbook Pro to an iMac?

Any other thoughts?

Tom (... conflicted...)