The new rules for buying a Mac
Thursday, May 15th, 2008
The new rules for buying a Mac
This is an excellent piece by Macworld and it really does go into minute detail to help buyers see how Macintosh landscape has changed.
I use a MacBook Pro as my only machine and have for many years. For me things tipped this way many years ago when I was traveling more. But, even now that I’m traveling much less I like to move around my house with my computer and I routinely read my daily political blogs sitting on the couch next to my wife who’s reading a book.
Of course, an essential ingredient in this is having a fast and stable home wifi network that allows me to work anywhere inside or even outside our house (within 50 feet of a base station).
[via Daring Fireball]
Great article, it was good to read it.
If I use Macbook Pro, that means I do some big jobs, like photo editing, create some big video project ?
No way, I use MBPRo because I like his speed, I know I am not professional with Aperture, but sometimes I try to make my pictures better. Now I have Final cut, and make my mini home video, thanks mbpro for his speed! I think if you have extra money you need to buy one of “pro” lines.
yes yes, my english not very well, but I trying ;-)
Gedas: Your English is fine, your sentiment about your MacBook Pro came through loud and clear. Thanks.
And after that I saw my “Airport card not installed” what that means ?
Great article! Thanks for point it out. I just upgraded to a Mac Pro from an iMac which had clearly hit a performance peak with my photography work. The Mac Pro is a huge improvement! I now have tons of RAM, one hard drive for the OS and apps, one for my huge music library and one for my photography files. We are also starting to manage video files. The Mac Pro is expensive and it is large and somewhat noisy, but it offers far more versatility than a laptop or iMac. Still, I would prefer to have a super powerful, RAM-filled laptop : )
One other thing to note is that he laptops are not as portable as they may seem. With today’s huge media libraries you often need external drives to store them. So in a sense, at least part of the time you are still tethered.
I also use a couple years old MacBook as my portable web-browsing on the couch laptop. Even it is over kill for that and I long for a smaller MacBook Air as a general Internet machine.
Gedas: Not sure, did it come loose?
Andrew: Would you have still gone “Pro” had the iMac you had been able to use more RAM? It looks like the current model doesn’t have the cap on RAM and can handle more, like my new MacBook Pro which has 4 gigs in it. Yes, I know your Pro can handle more than 4 gigs, but do you need more?
As far as external drives for media libraries, I suppose that’s an issue but I have plenty of music and podcasts in my iTunes library and have plenty of room on my 30 gig iPod for more, so, I guess I’m just a whimp. ;)
On photographs, my 5D makes big RAW files so they do take up room, but, I tend not to keep that many images on my hard disk if I’m not using them. I only have a few hundreds that I sell as notecards and only a dozen of those as large prints (so far) and the commercial work I do for others gets put on DVDs once it’s “shipped” and out of my hands, then taken off my machine.
I have a 250 gig drive in this MacBook Pro and so far I’m under 100 gigs and that includes an Aperture library that’s redundant as I’ve moved most of those masters into Lightroom and just haven’t tossed it yet (wanted to make sure my printing from LR in Leopard was stable first and it is).
So, I don’t use an external “media drive.” Yet.
This was a good article for some (maybe most) users, but a bit biased against some photo-imaging people in terms of advise (in my opinion).
Like Andrew (above), I appreciate additional drives and RAM available in the MacPro. Currently Photoshop (which not everyone uses) recognizes 4GBs of RAM, so if one wants to avoid trips to the scratch disk then maximum RAM is a great idea. If other applications are open during photo processing then one might want additional RAM for these other apps. In my case, I almost always have Adobe Bridge, Mail, and Safari (memory leaker) open during processing images in Photoshop. Additionally, it’s quite typical for me to need to open FileMaker Pro, Address Book and other apps. during an image editing session for work not related to the photo editing. So in my case 4GB of RAM is really minimal, not optimal.
Additionally, Photoshop uses a scratch disk (much like OS X uses swap files) and it is highly recommended that this scratch disc be on a volume other than the boot/OS drive. As “the literature” instructs, I have seen this to be important.
If one works within a color-managed environment, an external monitor is likely of use (one which allows full profiling/calibration). Add to this: a mouse; possibly a tablet; and in my case, a keyboard because I don’t like laptop keyboards, and one has a bit of a mess.
If one is considering the iMac, they should pay special attention to the fact that current models are available with glossy screens only. This can be a detriment to photo editing. One can use a specialized monitor for photo editing with the iMac (as a second display), but RAM specs and the use for external drives still apply.
The MacBook Pro is a fantastic machine and has more horsepower than many users will need, but the MW article was a bit narrow in scope with regards to photographers in my opinion. Horsepower is not the only consideration when it comes to image editing and archiving. In my case, the MacPro is more than I need in terms of processing horsepower, but better meets my needs in terms of RAM, storage, scratch disk, display options, etc. And the MacBook Pro would do nicely, but I’d need a number of cumbersome items added as peripherals.
That said, there was a lot of good information and food for thought in the article. For me, a workstation for my main stuff, and a portable for travel and lounging around, works.
Fortunately, we have a choice.
Dale, now if they could just put a MacPro in a case the size of a shoebox I’m in. Good points about Photoshop driving configuration and yes, the glossy monitor on the iMac is an issue although the current iMac has decent video capabilities to drive a second monitor.
So far (knock wood) my current MacBook Pro is doing fine for about everything I do. Yes, at some point (as I’ve now said for years) I should have a larger, external monitor for photo editing but I keep putting it off, and that seems to be saying something to me. It seems like I can live without it. Of course, if I got one I’d no doubt wonder how I lived without it for so many years.
Thank you Richard for pointing me at this article! It was a very good read, essentially confirming my decision to purchase a MacBook Pro next week.
You suggested that I should consider the iMac, as I don’t need the mobility of a laptop. However I am having a few issues with this computer. I don’t like glossy screens; I don’t understand why Apple puts a DVI socket in the MacBook Pro but a mini-DVI in the iMac without supplying the required adapter; and lastly the MacBook Pro’s graphics card supports a 30″ Cinema Display whereas the iMac’s “similar” speced card doesn’t. The iMac just seems a paradox. It’s presented as a multimedia all-in-one desktop but some of its features seem to counteract this claim. Hence I support you in your call for a mid-sized tower (a Mac Pro mini?).
It would be nice to have a Mac Pro for the reasons that were put forward by Dale. However I cannot justify the expense yet. Hence I am planning to pursue a similar strategy to you. Enjoying the MacBook Pro’s LED backlit screen just now whilst getting used to OSX again; saving money for a 23″ or 24″ external display (either an updated version of Apple’s displays or Eizo’s offerings).
Andreas: Sounds like a good move. This new machine is fantastic, it really is.
If you’re running any of the Apple Pro applications like Aperture you should get the model with the video card that has the most memory on it. There are two models of 15″ and you ought to get the higher end one if you need the video RAM.
And, the great thing about these new models is that they’ll address 4 gigs of RAM and it’s relatively inexpensive and easy to install.
Good luck and let us know what you end up with and how you like it.
Richard, I bought an Eames Aluminum Chair instead. ;-)
Well, I went to the Apple Reseller and the really helpful sales assistant told me that I should wait a few more weeks, if I am not in a hurry. He said that Apple might announce upgrades to its notebook line at WWDC since Intel is expected to release new processors in June.
By coincidence I became aware of an office furniture sale. I had my eye on Vitra’s Eames collection for a few years. This was my chance to finally acquire one. I thought it might be the wiser investment as its value is more stable. Besides it is the necessary prerequisite for creating a stylish environment for the MacBook Pro’s arrival on my desk.
Thank you so much for your input and feedback!! I will certainly keep you updated on my notebook purchase and my experiences with photo editing, iLife, iWork, etc. software.
All the best wishes and I hope you’re going to enjoy your MacBook for a long time!
Andreas: I’ll be interested to see if Apple speed bumps MacBook Pros this summer. I’d say MacBooks are due, not Pros but we’ll see.
If you like Eames furniture my mother has a few originals, one of them is from their Santa Monica studio, the other from Herman Miller. At some point I may auction them off (she’s 93, we don’t need them) and you should stay in touch if you collect this stuff as one of them would be a fine collector’s item.