Just to say thanks for the replys to my question , had a simalar question up on the main google sketchup forum but did not get such a useful reponse , really like it here seems more like the old sketchup forum pre google although of course the google forum is very good , just this one seems a bit more free wheeling .
Just some imformation on myself i have a architectual design business , unusually we also build what we design because we have are own construction side , have been using sketchup since i think sketchup 2 so quite a time i also use vectorworks for mainly 2D surprisingly although i have a desktop G5 i have always used sketchup on my laptop hooked up to an external display , and found it has always run very well . Thanks

with my current 23" cinema display i use extended desktop with the laptop to the side , i use the main screen for the scetchup and vectorworks designing and the laptop screen i use for palettes and prehaps an image of the site or house i am designing for , i like this split screen arrangement however if i was using a 30" display i may just run the laptop in clamshell mode so using all the graffics power to the main screen , i think running the laptop screen and a 30" display in extended desktop would make the graffics slow simple because the card would be running 2 screens although maybe having just a static image on the laptop may not take to much graffics power if anyone knows the ins and outs?? thanks

yes i know the GPU has a huge bearing on performance but i was asking weather the laptop as a whole was up to it bearing in mind the nivida geforce 330m 512vram video card , i still have not upgraded so if it was going to struggle then i could move back to a desktop although mobility is important to me or i just stick with using my 23" cinema screen.Thanks

Hello i am hopeing to purchase the i7 17" macbook pro hooking up a 30" display to it i currently use a 23" cinema display but am considering purchaseing a 30" cinema display to use with the i7 i am worried that the i7 will struggle with the 30" display when using sketchup . will this setup work ok , or will this large display slow the laptop down, when i use my current powerbook with my 23" display i use extended desktop mode but with the 30" i would use the laptop in clamshell mode to maximise the graffics for the 30" display , Does anyone here have expereince of this setup any advice would be most appriciated, one other thing when i run in extended desktop with the 23" display does this use more graffics power than simple running in clamshell with one display? Thanks