Need advice on Macbook pro purchase

[mwalker649]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on a Macbook pro but I wanted to hear what you guys would advise on a few things.

 

1. 17" High res matt screen or the 15" matt and a 23" cinema?

 

2. 160GB high speed 7200 hard drive or the slower but larger 250GB 4200 hard drive?

 

3. 2GB ram or 4GB ($750 dollar extra!!)

 

4. iwork 08

 

5. LR and CS3...any other software? I'm a ex PC user

 

Thanks in advance

[gareth_c]

1. I would go for the 15" and 23". My 17" has too much flex in it for my liking and still isn't really big enough for extensive work IMHO.

 

Also, you might want to consider a Dell rather than apple screen. They have all the same components but are cheaper. Also they have height adjustment, and tilt on multiple axis, unlike the Apple.

 

2. Smaller drive. Less to lose if it goes wrong!

 

3. Get as little Ram as possible from Apple and buy the rest from Crucial...much cheaper and still top quality.

 

4. iwork? Its OK. But its compatability with office can be problematic. But then office for mac is terrible anyway.

 

5. Hmm. Don't know. Obviously only get creative suite if you are going to use all the packages. All personal preference when it comes to software.

 

 

 

Enjoy the Mac...Its liberating!

[glenerrolrd]

One disadvantage of the 17inch is that its harder to carry in the field. The 15inch fits neatly in a billingham large hadley or many other medium sized carry bags. If you do much travel by air this can be an important factor as you may otherwise be forced to take a seperate bag for your laptop.

[wparsonsgisnet]

Do a search. There are extensive threads on both the MBP and screens.

[mwalker649]

Hi Bill, I did search and came to conclusion that the matt screen is the way to go. I'm now starting to lean towards the 15" and some kind of external monitor Apple or Dell.

[wparsonsgisnet]

Mike, that was the consensus and the way I am planning to go. I would have a terrible time deciding between the 15 and 17. Fortunately, there's a woman at work with a 15, so I could audition it when I'm ready.

 

Do the search on the external screen. There is a fantastic screen in a thread here you should look at, at the very least.

[gareth_c]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Bill, as I mentioned above, I would certainly recommend the 15". I have both a 17" and 15". The 17" seems to big to carry around without flexing and the chassis is definetely warped. This can happen too with the 15" but seems less common.

[Guest malland]

I agonized over the 15 vs the 17 inch and finally decided on the latter, and am happy that I did because the 1920c1200 high reslution display is fantastic. When I compare it to the 15 inch one, which I had earlier, I can't see how I could have edited pictures on the smaller machine.

 

I travel a lot and the the 17 inch machine makes it much easier to work on photogarphs: it is larger but the difference in weight is marginal. And the "flexng" mentioned above is not a problem at all.

 

—Mitch/Los Angeles

[gareth_c]

And the "flexng" mentioned above is not a problem at all.

 

—Mitch/Los Angeles

 

Can't agree with that i'm afraid. My own experience, along with several friends, tells me otherwise. Glad to hear that yours is fine though.

[Guest malland]

Could it be that mine is the latest version, purchased last month, while your experience is with an earlier version that still had this problem?

 

—Mitch/Los Angeles

[gareth_c]

Yes, that could well be the case.

 

My business partner has a new 17" so it will be interesting to see how it works out.

 

His last 17" was very warped, but thats because he caught his foot on the power cable and sent the machine several feet through the air on to a concrete floor. Those new magnetic power cables are a nice little innovation.

[Maggie_O]

I agonized over the 15 vs the 17 inch and finally decided on the latter, and am happy that I did because the 1920c1200 high reslution display is fantastic. When I compare it to the 15 inch one, which I had earlier, I can't see how I could have edited pictures on the smaller machine.

 

I travel a lot and the the 17 inch machine makes it much easier to work on photogarphs: it is larger but the difference in weight is marginal. And the "flexng" mentioned above is not a problem at all.

 

—Mitch/Los Angeles

Mitch Alland's slideshow on Flickr

 

Once again, I find myself concurring with Mitch. I've got a 17" MBP and couldn't be happier.

 

I had no idea that flex was even a problem before reading this thread. And mine's an earlier one, too.

[gbmay]

I just went through a similar exercise and here is what I found:

1. 3Gig is more than sufficient - buy from third party not Apple

2. Buy the biggest HD you can and then back it up often

3. The 15" appears to be the most practical solution with the matte screen

4. I would look closely at the Dell monitors they are cheaper

5. Get the extended warranty it is worth every penny of it. Search the web as you can find it cheaper than from Apple.

 

I trust this helps

[coolfonzies]

Hi, I won't rehash all the other comments, but rather touch on a few that weren't covered. If you're doing any video work, the 4200rpm drive will not be sufficient. You'll need to either get an external drive (which you would for large amounts of data anyway) or go with the smaller (but faster) 7200 rpm drive.

 

Also, I write for a living and Apple's Pages software (in iWork) makes Word look awfully clunky. And since you're probably a Leica shooter like me, you value good design!

[Guest malland]

Yes, a 7200rpm drive does make a difference, even for Photoshop.

 

—Mitch/Los Angeles

[ericperlberg]

Yes, a 7200rpm drive does make a difference, even for Photoshop.

 

—Mitch/Los Angeles

Mitch Alland's slideshow on Flickr

 

I've written about this before but tests show that its not simply a comparison between 7200 and 5400 speeds. The more full a disk is, the more it slows down in operation. I believe its barefeats.com that did tests that show that once a 7200rpm disk is 3/4 full its actually slower than the same amount of data on a larger 5400rpm disk (which would be percentage wise less "full"). Disks fill up more quickly than you think they will. One option is to get an express card which allows eSATA external drives to connect to your MBP. eSATA is a bus connection that is several times faster than Firewire 800 and immensely faster than Firewire 400 or USB 2.0 which is slow. It does mean carrying around an extra drive but 160-200gb hard drives are tiny these days.

 

I have a 17" MBP and have never had a "flex" problem, in fact no problems at all. As a long time user of matte screens on mac laptops I personally prefer the glossy screen but I don't have much need for working outside in the sun. Indoors, reflections have not been a problem for me and I like the apparent sharpness of the gloss over matte. YMMV. The new 15" LCDs have a larger colour gamut than the 17" or earlier 15" screens but it still remains MUCH smaller than what a good quality desktop LCD monitor can display: LED MacBook Gamut - O'Reilly Digital Media Blog

 

Many of the issues here are personal (15" v 17", glossy v matte) and there isn't a better, simply trade-offs that only you can decide which is best for you (duh). IMO get as much RAM as possible. It's definately significantly cheaper to get high quality 3rd party RAM and its easy to install MacBook Pro: How to install memory Photoshop needs RAM.

 

Either way the MBP is a very high quality product IMO. Enjoy!

[ericperlberg]

I just went through a similar exercise and here is what I found:

1. 3Gig is more than sufficient - buy from third party not Apple

snip

 

My experience is very different. On my MacPro I have 9gb RAM installed. With 5 gig I was routinely running into annoying memory problems.

1) Photoshop can and will address 3.5gig on a Mac. Obviously how much RAM Photoshop needs depends on the file sizes you work with but for CS2 at least here's some info: PhotoshopNews: Photoshop News and Information » Archive » Photoshop CS2-How much RAM? – Fact If you work with only 1 image at a time or few layers or you don't use Raw files you may not run into a problem.

2) Your operating system needs additional memory

3) Background process require additional memory (eg, do you have a browser open which has a page with instant refresh, anything like the NYTimes which automatically refreshes every few minutes... more mem) and do you use Widgets? More mem. And all those desktop icons are really little windows for the window manager to mess with, more memory... and so it goes...

4) If you're working on anything with audio or 3d or video, get as much memory as possible, it won't be enough.

[Eoin]

I have the older non high res 17" MBP, I have none of the issues with flexing. I also have a G5 at home with dual monitors. I've never felt the need to attach the external monitor to the MBP, 17" are just fine for off site processing of raws. I tend to do most my work on the MBP and export Aperture projects to the main G5 for storage.

 

After over a year of use, I'd recommend the larger faster drive, I have 100Gb 7200rpm which is 65% full and a 20Gb XP partition. Matt screen is the way to go and high res no doubt about it. Memory plenty of it but not at the price apple charge. I've already replaced the swelling battery under warranty.

 

Apple care is a must for support, I neglected to buy it and 14 months after purchase I've got problems with white lines appearing on screen when I tilt the display. Tilt again and they disappear. It must be a damaged video cable running through the hinge. Other than that it's never really given me any problems and is a nice machine to use once you overcome the Apple way of doing things. I can't remember the last time I booted into windows.

[mwalker649]

Thanks for the information. I'll read the links and make a decision today or tomorrow. One other question, should I buy it through an Apple store or their website?

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[mwalker649]

I've written about this before but tests show that its not simply a comparison between 7200 and 5400 speeds. The more full a disk is, the more it slows down in operation. I believe its barefeats.com that did tests that show that once a 7200rpm disk is 3/4 full its actually slower than the same amount of data on a larger 5400rpm disk (which would be percentage wise less "full"). Disks fill up more quickly than you think they will. One option is to get an express card which allows eSATA external drives to connect to your MBP. eSATA is a bus connection that is several times faster than Firewire 800 and immensely faster than Firewire 400 or USB 2.0 which is slow. It does mean carrying around an extra drive but 160-200gb hard drives are tiny these days.

 

I have a 17" MBP and have never had a "flex" problem, in fact no problems at all. As a long time user of matte screens on mac laptops I personally prefer the glossy screen but I don't have much need for working outside in the sun. Indoors, reflections have not been a problem for me and I like the apparent sharpness of the gloss over matte. YMMV. The new 15" LCDs have a larger colour gamut than the 17" or earlier 15" screens but it still remains MUCH smaller than what a good quality desktop LCD monitor can display: LED MacBook Gamut - O'Reilly Digital Media Blog

 

Many of the issues here are personal (15" v 17", glossy v matte) and there isn't a better, simply trade-offs that only you can decide which is best for you (duh). IMO get as much RAM as possible. It's definately significantly cheaper to get high quality 3rd party RAM and its easy to install MacBook Pro: How to install memory Photoshop needs RAM.

 

Either way the MBP is a very high quality product IMO. Enjoy!

 

 

I read the O'Riely blog but I'm a little confused because the 17" now comes in the standard and the High res. Is he comparing the standard 17" screen or the High res screen? Also on the artical on how to add memory it says that a 3GB limit for the powerbook pro. Is that a old artical?