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carlleigh · May 28, 2006, 02:41 PM

So Im doing some video editing, and I was wondering, Should I sell my macbook pro, since 1.83 have problems - I luckly dont have the whine, etx, I did have to have my superdrive replaced after I put my first install disc in (Got stuck). I want a 120 gig hd. What should I do,, I have heard if I buy one and *try* to install it my self it will void the warranty.

uicandrew · May 28, 2006, 02:50 PM

your post is very hard to understand. either some words are missing or some punctuation missing. but i'll try my best.

does your 1.83 have problems? it sounds like it HAD problems (superdrive) but now it's been fixed.

installing the hard drive will void the warranty. the macbooks (not macbook pros) have user-replaceable harddrives.

carlleigh · May 28, 2006, 03:05 PM

Had problems, but no whine or wireless speed issues. I want to get a bigger internal hard drive....

Bryanmc · May 28, 2006, 05:05 PM

Keep the MBP and get an external drive.

harrisjamieh · May 28, 2006, 06:07 PM

Originally Posted by Bryanmc

Keep the MBP and get an external drive.

seconded...

Bryanmc · May 28, 2006, 07:48 PM

FWIW, I work in video production and we all have these in the office:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1109233047297

They're small, tough, don't need a power supply, and capture and play back video just fine.

I love mine. I just sent it to a client to review some material on it and it's like one of my kids is gone. I miss her sooooo much. Costco has the 120GB version (with case) for only $150. If I don't get mine back soon I'm gonna go get one of those.

amazing · May 28, 2006, 08:21 PM

If you're gonna get a portable external drive, get firewire 400. USB 2.0 has improved speeds on the MBP, but fw is still faster. Here's the relevant quote from barefeats.com when they tested a whole bunch of laptop HDs over USB 2.0. Note that fw-400 will run off the bus whereas USB needs an external power supply.

"REALITY CHECK
FireWire is still faster that USB 2.0. When we tested the Seagate 160GB notebook drive on our Aluminum G4/1.67 PowerBook's FireWire 400 port, it clocked 36MB/s READ and WRITE.
"Also, when running on the FireWire port, the enclosure ran easily using only bus power. But running on the USB 2.0 port required the A/C adapter in all cases.

http://barefeats.com/hard69.html

Regardless: The internal HD is faster, especially if you've got 7200 rpm:

http://barefeats.com/5472.html

Bryanmc · May 28, 2006, 09:15 PM

As I just stated above, we use USB2 drives all the time in the field and they don't require power, at least that one I linked to.

FW may be faster than USB2, but USB2 is fast enough for video work.

phantomo · May 28, 2006, 09:54 PM

As I just stated above, we use USB2 drives all the time in the field and they don't require power, at least that one I linked to.

Only some USB2 drives doesn't require additional power. It all depends on the chipset and enclosure.

Bryanmc · May 28, 2006, 09:54 PM

Originally Posted by phantomo

Only some USB2 drives doesn't require additional power. It all depends on the chipset and enclosure.

Yeah, like the one I linked to.

phantomo · May 28, 2006, 10:49 PM

Bryanmc, thanks for the note. Just to ensure [email protected] didn't just go out and buy a USB2 drive and think it will work without additional power.

Bryanmc · May 28, 2006, 11:05 PM

Originally Posted by phantomo

Bryanmc, thanks for the note. Just to ensure [email protected] didn't just go out and buy a USB2 drive and think it will work without additional power.

Right. That's why we buy those specific ones.

carlleigh · May 29, 2006, 11:28 AM

Could you give me more details on the Costco Version? Why should I get a 5400 rpm, 2mb cache and 12ms seek time , when if I have power I can get a 7200, 16mb cache, and 8ms seek for only a bit more cash?

MovieCutter · May 29, 2006, 11:34 AM

1) Your reasoning behind wanting to get rid of a notebook with no problems just because similar notebooks have problems make no sense at all.

2) Get an external drive for video editing.

3) Regardless of what Bryanmc says, I would caution against a USB2 drive. Firewire is a constant flow of 400MBits/sec where as USB wobbles all over the place. You may not have problems initially, but as that thing fills up, you're more likely to see issues. I'd strongly recommend some kind of Firewire drive.

Bryanmc · May 29, 2006, 11:44 AM

Originally Posted by [email protected]

Could you give me more details on the Costco Version? Why should I get a 5400 rpm, 2mb cache and 12ms seek time , when if I have power I can get a 7200, 16mb cache, and 8ms seek for only a bit more cash?

If you're in a position to always have power, then yeah go for the more powerful drive.

We've got FW 400 and 800 externals on all the editing stations in the office.

But for field work, we can't always assume that we're going to have power. Which is why we use those WD ones. They've worked great. I can't offer anything other than our expierence, but we've never had any trouble.

And just to be clear, when we're in the field shooting we record to tape (HDV) and output to the laptop as a backup.

Yes, Firewire is better for video editing. No question there. All I'm saying is that those WD drives that we use are wonderful for field work with the MBP. If you're never going to move the external from your desk or will always be places with power, then get a FW one.

amazing · May 29, 2006, 02:13 PM

There are loads of portable HD cases that have both fw-400 and USB 2.0, for example this Macally one (which Newegg used to have for around $50) and you'd just put your flavor of 2.5" HD in. Don't know if using USB requires a powerbrick,

http://macally.com/spec/firewire/sto...enclosure.html

This is great if you've got a 2.5" HD from when you upgraded the HD in a laptop. Nowadays, I'm looking for a SATA portable firewire case, but I don't think any are in production yet. It'd be handy for the SATA HD that people are swapping out of the MB when they upgrade to larger capacity.

Thraxes · May 29, 2006, 11:58 PM

Don't forget, it has been shown time and time again that OS-Xs USB2.0 system is slightly crippled (intentionally?). I can't recall a precise uissue but this was proven in an article in CT magazine (a highly respected and pretty technical IT mag in germany) where they compared the USB2 throughput in OS-X and WinXP running off BootCamp. Windows consistently got higher transfer speeds than Mac OS - on the same machine!

carlleigh · May 31, 2006, 03:07 PM

Why would that happen? USB2 be slower on the osx system than the xp system on the same macbook pro? I need it to be USB2 since I will be using hte only firewire port I have.

mathew_m · May 31, 2006, 03:26 PM

Originally Posted by [email protected]

So Im doing some video editing, and I was wondering, Should I sell my macbook pro, since 1.83 have problems - I luckly dont have the whine, etx, I did have to have my superdrive replaced after I put my first install disc in (Got stuck). I want a 120 gig hd. What should I do,, I have heard if I buy one and *try* to install it my self it will void the warranty.

Installing a hard drive will not void the warranty. It shows you how to do it in the instruction manual.

Second, unless your machine continues to give you problems then keep it. The main thing keeping me from buying a MBP is the potential of getting a whiny, hot, stuck pixel littered machine.

Bryanmc · May 31, 2006, 09:55 PM

Originally Posted by mathew_m

Installing a hard drive will not void the warranty. It shows you how to do it in the instruction manual.

That's for the MacBook, right? Not the Pro.