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dndog · Jan 17, 2006, 11:26 AM

I've spent a lot of time customizing MacBook's, trying to match a perfect machine for me, but I'm constantly stuck somewhere between "this is not good enough" to "this costs $2700."

Where should I draw the line in terms of MacBook power? I'm a student, but I still sometimes use Apeture, FCP, Adobe PS.

Will a 1.67 dual core meet my needs, or should I take the 1.83?

icruise · Jan 17, 2006, 11:31 AM

What configurations were you thinking about? There aren't all that many possible configs, are there?

dndog · Jan 17, 2006, 11:38 AM

I've come up with a few:

1.67, 2x512mb ram, 100gig HD 5400: $2000

or

1.83, 2x512mb ram, 100gig HD 5400: $2209

That is rougly a $200 price increase for 128mb more video ram (which is worth it in FCP, but considering I am not a Pro in that sense, more of a student who directs a few shorts each year, I'm not sure if its worth it)l, and a 1.6mhz increase in processer power (1.83-1.67), which again I highly doubt it will yield a very substantial increase unless I'm doing heavy video editing.

Any thoughts?

harrisjamieh · Jan 17, 2006, 11:42 AM

Well the higher model you get the faster processor, the better video card, and it comes standard with 1 gig RAM, so I tink its worth it. Thats if you can afford it. If you cant, then the lower model will still be awesome im sure.

Jerome · Jan 17, 2006, 11:58 AM

But remember that FCP wont run at all for the moment and PS will work through Rosetta (read slow if you do real PS work) for some time (probably until they release CS3).

jamil5454 · Jan 17, 2006, 03:51 PM

Since you're a student, I'd go with the cheaper one and spend the remaining money on accessories. You won't regret 2Gb of RAM and the larger 120Gb hard drive (if the speed of the 7200rpm doesn't interest you). How time-critical is it that you render your FCP projects 5-10% faster?

I'm a student too, sort of in the same boat. I just sold my PowerMac for $1500, which straight to my savings account, and I'm going to try and save $500-$1000 additional cash by the fall semester for a new Apple laptop. Hopefully a better MBP will be out by then.

jmgriff · Jan 18, 2006, 05:17 AM

You'll probably have to wait until March to get a FCP universal binary ... IIRC Final Cut won't run at all through Rosetta. If it was me I'd take the 1.67GHz MacBook Pro but load up on RAM (not from Apple, it'll take 2GB). You'll also need at least one external drive, because the internal laptop drive isn't great for video editing (but you may well have that stuff already).

In any event, personally I wouldn't be an early adopter of the MacBook Pro ... wait for the FCP UB and see what reactions to the performance/stability are like.

dndog · Jan 18, 2006, 01:58 PM

Heres the other bind - I got a powerbook g4 for christmas.

Do I keep it or sell it and buy the macbook pro? If I sell it now, the depreciation won't be as bad as if I wait. If I wait for a Rev B/C, I might get royally screwed over with the powerbook not even being worth $1200, which would be a shame for a $2000+ machine.

Mithras · Jan 18, 2006, 07:38 PM

If you actively use those pro apps, you'd be foolish to trade the G4 for a MacBook before all the apps are ready as Universal binaries.

John123 · Jan 18, 2006, 08:00 PM

Originally Posted by dndog

Heres the other bind - I got a powerbook g4 for christmas.

Do I keep it or sell it and buy the macbook pro? If I sell it now, the depreciation won't be as bad as if I wait. If I wait for a Rev B/C, I might get royally screwed over with the powerbook not even being worth $1200, which would be a shame for a $2000+ machine.

This is a somewhat flawed calculation. By far the biggest drop in values in PowerBooks comes with the "next" generation. The drop is not as significant two generations removed.

If you're aggressive, you could sell yours, buy a MBP now, and then trade up to the Rev B, and it would cost you about the same. It's also a hassle. A decent rule of thumb is that you're paying a "rental" fee of $50 for every month you own a PowerBook. That rule dies if you buy early on in a long product cycle, or right before the introduction of something new, but it generally works out OK.

You just have to decide what's most important to you. For me, I am leaning toward keeping my current model (although am not convinced yet).

iomatic · Jan 19, 2006, 09:44 AM

What? Where'd you read FCP won't run?
It *looks* like some of the early benchmarks make PS comparable to the current G4s?

Originally Posted by Jerome

But remember that FCP wont run at all for the moment and PS will work through Rosetta (read slow if you do real PS work) for some time (probably until they release CS3).

Maflynn · Jan 19, 2006, 11:17 AM

Originally Posted by iomatic

What? Where'd you read FCP won't run?
It *looks* like some of the early benchmarks make PS comparable to the current G4s?

I believe Apple has stated that all "pro" software won't have universal binaries released until March, that includes FCP, Aperture etc. Remember any software that takes advantage of the altivec engine isn't compatible with rosettsa and most if not all of Apple's professional software does take advantage of it.

Mike