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art_director · May 23, 2006, 07:20 PM

I have a big project coming up that will require me to work on the road and on the fly. The deadline is ugly and being away from my office will be a beast with my PowerBook. I'm considering getting the MacBook Pro to help my sanity while away but am wondering if it will give me the speed bump I need. I'll be working in Quark v.6.5, Illustrator CS 2, and Photoshop CS 2. The majority of the work will be Quark, Pshop will just be fiddling with FPOs.

Anyone out there made the leap to a MBP in day-to-day harcore design on tight timelines? Any reviews for Quark in that environment?

BTW, the Quark v.7 UB is not an option for this job.

Thanks.

fowler · May 24, 2006, 03:54 PM

I've been using quark 6.5 on my mbp for a week or two (see specs in sig). At the time, it had a gig of ram. It worked well, about the same speed as the 1.6 G5 at work with 1.25 gigs of ram.

There are times where it would lag and take time to think about what it was doing, but for the most part, it's definitely doable.

As for the adobe suite, it works well. Takes a bit of time to get them started, but when you're mucking around in the program, it's fairly fast. It's nowhere near as fast as my old dual G5, but it works.

I don't know what you're doing as far as work goes, but I think it should be speedy enough for you to get what you need done.

on a side note, I haven't used any of the big rosetta programs since I bumped up to 2 gigs of ram.. hopefully there's an increase in speed.. I guess I'll just wait and see..

art_director · May 24, 2006, 04:21 PM

Fowler:

Thx for the 411.

Which MBP do you have? For the CS apps, how does the speed compare with a PowerBook G4?

I'm thinking the MBP 2.16 w 2GB RAM, 7200 RPM drive would make my PowerBook G4 1.25 look like an abacus. Sure, it won't touch my Dual 2.5 G5 but that's not the goal at present.

Think it would be money well spent?

fowler · May 24, 2006, 05:46 PM

We have similar taste. I sold my dual 2.5 in favor of my 2.16 15" (2gigs, 100gb 7200rpm hd) mbp. I needed the portability more than anything else.

My gf has the 1.5 g4 powerbook and it for sure feels quicker than hers. I opted to install CS1 rather than CS2, only because I've heard it runs photoshop a little bit better than the newest versiion. I'm sorta regretting that choice.. but it's not a big deal.

I think it would be a great idea to get one, especially since you can find refurbs for like, 2199 now.

Seeing as ram is so cheap now, you can get away with a complete work station for around 2300. Good deal if you ask me.

DeputyDoofy · May 24, 2006, 05:48 PM

I hear the performance on the MBP with CS2 is similar to the Powerbook G4 1.67, and I also hear that CS2 won't have a native version out for quite some time due to some sort of calamity with them not switching to Xcode though I don't know all too much about that.

I guess though with all that, if you did get a MBP it would work reasonably for what you are going to do, then in the future when CS2 Universal is released, you will have a great investment on your hands!

art_director · May 24, 2006, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by fowler

We have similar taste. I sold my dual 2.5 in favor of my 2.16 15" (2gigs, 100gb 7200rpm hd) mbp. I needed the portability more than anything else.

My gf has the 1.5 g4 powerbook and it for sure feels quicker than hers. I opted to install CS1 rather than CS2, only because I've heard it runs photoshop a little bit better than the newest versiion. I'm sorta regretting that choice.. but it's not a big deal.

I think it would be a great idea to get one, especially since you can find refurbs for like, 2199 now.

Seeing as ram is so cheap now, you can get away with a complete work station for around 2300. Good deal if you ask me.

Thx for the 411. You have me chomping at the bit to get one. Only problem with the refurbs is that the drives are 5400RPM. May have to get one and upgrade that portion.

art_director · May 24, 2006, 05:52 PM

Originally Posted by mattgirv

I hear the performance on the MBP with CS2 is similar to the Powerbook G4 1.67, and I also hear that CS2 won't have a native version out for quite some time due to some sort of calamity with them not switching to Xcode though I don't know all too much about that.

I guess though with all that, if you did get a MBP it would work reasonably for what you are going to do, then in the future when CS2 Universal is released, you will have a great investment on your hands!

Thx for the reply.

Yeah, Adobe has announced CS wn't be native until 2007. Bummer.

iREZ · May 24, 2006, 06:02 PM

if its only temporary, why not opt for the macbook? its half the price, just as fast and the only things it doesnt have that the macbook pro does is an actual GPU (handy if youre into games) and express slot (useless for the time being). not to mention the hard drive is user replaceable in the MB and a pain in the arse for the MBP. the only downside i see for the macbook is the screen, which could be purely subjective in my case...but i personally dont like reflections on my screens. just a thought.

by the way, i have to agree that a 2.0 MBP with 2gb of RAM is on par with a 1.67G4 with equal ram when it comes to running CS2.

art_director · May 24, 2006, 06:08 PM

Originally Posted by iREZ

if its only temporary, why not opt for the macbook? its half the price, just as fast and the only things it doesnt have that the macbook pro does is an actual GPU (handy if youre into games) and express slot (useless for the time being). not to mention the hard drive is user replaceable in the MB and a pain in the arse for the MBP. the only downside i see for the macbook is the screen, which could be purely subjective in my case...but i personally dont like reflections on my screens. just a thought.

by the way, i have to agree that a 2.0 MBP with 2gb of RAM is on par with a 1.67G4 with equal ram when it comes to running CS2.

ahhhhh...finally broke down and ordered the mbp. i figure it's a good tax deduction for this year.

fowler · May 24, 2006, 06:53 PM

Originally Posted by art_director

Thx for the 411. You have me chomping at the bit to get one. Only problem with the refurbs is that the drives are 5400RPM. May have to get one and upgrade that portion.

mine came with a 100/7200. pleasant surprise if you ask me.

art_director · May 24, 2006, 07:12 PM

That is a nice surprise.

drmcnutt · May 25, 2006, 04:50 PM

Originally Posted by art_director

That is a nice surprise.

My refurb PB came with upgrades on all counts including memory, video card and 7200 HD.

Refurbs are worth a look.

art_director · May 25, 2006, 05:30 PM

How long ago did you order it?

tooki · May 25, 2006, 05:38 PM

Watch out with the CS2 on an Intel Mac: 1) DO NOT install Version Cue (you must not install it, or the system will freeze on startup), and 2) DO NOT run Software Update before installing CS2. The installer crashes on a fully-updated system. (Installing CS2 first and then updating works fine.)

tooki

drmcnutt · May 25, 2006, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by art_director

How long ago did you order it?

It will be two years in October. The upgrades were at least an extra $350 in options and of course the savings off the price of new. One 512MB RAM (instead of 2 256MB in the standard config), 128MB Video Card (instead of the 64MB) 80GB 7200 (instead of the 80GB 5400 again standard). I've heard similar stories too, but there are those here too that have been burned by refurbs too.

Mine was a good experience.

art_director · May 25, 2006, 06:32 PM

Originally Posted by tooki

Watch out with the CS2 on an Intel Mac: 1) DO NOT install Version Cue (you must not install it, or the system will freeze on startup), and 2) DO NOT run Software Update before installing CS2. The installer crashes on a fully-updated system. (Installing CS2 first and then updating works fine.)

tooki

Good 411, thank you very much.

art_director · May 25, 2006, 06:33 PM

Originally Posted by drmcnutt

It will be two years in October. The upgrades were at least an extra $350 in options and of course the savings off the price of new. One 512MB RAM (instead of 2 256MB in the standard config), 128MB Video Card (instead of the 64MB) 80GB 7200 (instead of the 80GB 5400 again standard). I've heard similar stories too, but there are those here too that have been burned by refurbs too.

Mine was a good experience.

Yeah, I'll say you had a good experience.

So, based on feedback from here and a few other spots I called and changed my order to a stock refurb. Now, on the order update site, it says I'm getting one with the 7200 RPM drive. If it turns out to be true I owe some peeps a beer or four.

Oisín · May 26, 2006, 09:49 AM

Completely irrelevant to the topic of the thread, but what is “411”?

art_director · May 26, 2006, 09:50 AM

Originally Posted by Oisín

Completely irrelevant to the topic of the thread, but what is “411”?

411 = information

flashboy · May 26, 2006, 10:36 AM

Originally Posted by tooki

Watch out with the CS2 on an Intel Mac: 1) DO NOT install Version Cue (you must not install it, or the system will freeze on startup), and 2) DO NOT run Software Update before installing CS2. The installer crashes on a fully-updated system. (Installing CS2 first and then updating works fine.)

tooki

tooki, I have already installed the whole creative suite on my 20 iMac, should I delete? is there a safe way to uninstall? I haven't had any problems with the iMac starting up, but have had photoshop and indesign crash a few times. What exactly does Version Cue CS2 do thats bad?

I only have 512 ram right now and don't use my adobe apps at home much, but will be adding ram in the near future.