Looking at MacBook Pro's

[Josh220]

I am looking to upgrade my MacBook to a MacBook Pro. The MacBook is great but it's a little on the slow side for processing/editing RAW photos with Lightroom. I also plan on getting CS4 in the next week or so.

I don't want their 13" Pro, but the 17" is much to big to be portable. I have narrowed it down to the 2 higher 15" Pro's, but I am unsure if the differences between them constitutes a $250 difference.

http://store.apple.com/us_edu_58219/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook_pro?mco=NzcwNjc3MA

If anyone has any input on the 2.66GHz 320GB vs. the 2.8GHz 500GB 15" MBP let me know.

Thanks

 

[Jaszek]

Eww mac. lol
Well from what you wrote you get more processing power and a bigger hard drive + Mac's "has-to-be-overpriced" fee and there is your $250.

 

[musicaleCA]

Yup, it constitutes a $250 difference, ish. 512MB of video memory is quite a bit in a laptop, and Photoshop can make use of that. That's probably the biggest part of the price difference. Then a bigger HD. The clock speed difference on the CPU is negligible and won't provide much real benefit.

 

[usayit]

The clock speed difference on the CPU is negligible and won't provide much real benefit.

IMO, twice the video memory and twice L2 cache is worth the $250.

 

[musicaleCA]

Oh?! Twice the L2? I missed that. Usually it's just a clock-speed bump. My bad.

 

[vd853]

I don't know if those extra beefed up video cards are optimized for photo editing. The low end 15" would work just fine for me. They are exceptionally faster now with Leopard Snow optimizations. But, I would get it just for the screen quality, best screens I've ever seen on a consumer laptop.

 

[Josh220]

Thanks guys, I'll go for the top 15" then. :thumbup:

 

[beala]

I don't know if those extra beefed up video cards are optimized for photo editing. The low end 15" would work just fine for me. They are exceptionally faster now with Leopard Snow optimizations. But, I would get it just for the screen quality, best screens I've ever seen on a consumer laptop.

What kind of screens are they? Are they the holy grail IPS LCD panels? I'm thinking of getting one, too. Thanks.

Also, I don't want to derail anything, so I'll make my own post if you want me too.

 

[Josh220]

I don't know if those extra beefed up video cards are optimized for photo editing. The low end 15" would work just fine for me. They are exceptionally faster now with Leopard Snow optimizations. But, I would get it just for the screen quality, best screens I've ever seen on a consumer laptop.

What kind of screens are they? Are they the holy grail IPS LCD panels? I'm thinking of getting one, too. Thanks.

Also, I don't want to derail anything, so I'll make my own post if you want me too.

Don't worry about it. Any information about the Pro's is information I'd like to know as well.

I BELIEVE you are correct, but maybe someone else can verify? I am in class right now so I can't research it too much. I have a bad connection on the schools WiFi in this building.

 

[Village Idiot]

Meh. Laptop for photo editing...

 

[Josh220]

Meh. Laptop for photo editing...

Mac Pro with their new external monitors seems to be one of the best methods to edit photos. What's your reasoning against laptops? PC user?

 

[Village Idiot]

Meh. Laptop for photo editing...

Mac Pro with their new external monitors seems to be one of the best methods to edit photos. What's your reasoning against laptops? PC user?

I own Windows, Linux, and OS X machines.

It's the speed. I have a unibody 15" MBP hooked up to a 30" monitor and processing images is slow. I currently don't have a Windows license for adobe, but AFAIK, CS4 supports 64 bit architecture for Windows and not for OS X. I have an i7 gaming rig with 6GB of RAM and a 1.8GB Nvidia 295 GTX that I built for $1700. I'm sure could kill the Mac with the speeds that it could do.

It took forever to export 80 images from LR2 from 5D MKII RAW files to 1024 x XXX sized JPGs. I also did a fraternity composite for a friend's frat and I actually had visible slow down with all the files I had to have open in PS and the fact that the main file was 36"x24" with a ton of layers.

If you want speed, a laptop just might not cut it depending on what you're doing. Mac Pro. Even the iMacs have laptop components in them.

 

[Josh220]

Meh. Laptop for photo editing...

Mac Pro with their new external monitors seems to be one of the best methods to edit photos. What's your reasoning against laptops? PC user?

I own Windows, Linux, and OS X machines.

It's the speed. I have a unibody 15" MBP hooked up to a 30" monitor and processing images is slow. I currently don't have a Windows license for adobe, but AFAIK, CS4 supports 64 bit architecture for Windows and not for OS X. I have an i7 gaming rig with 6GB of RAM and a 1.8GB Nvidia 295 GTX that I built for $1700. I'm sure could kill the Mac with the speeds that it could do.

It took forever to export 80 images from LR2 from 5D MKII RAW files to 1024 x XXX sized JPGs. I also did a fraternity composite for a friend's frat and I actually had visible slow down with all the files I had to have open in PS and the fact that the main file was 36"x24" with a ton of layers.

If you want speed, a laptop just might not cut it depending on what you're doing. Mac Pro. Even the iMacs have laptop components in them.

Good point, but for now I prefer to have my main computer portable. I have a PC but I never use it and would just like a really good upgrade from my MacBook.

 

[blash]

Mac Pro with their new external monitors seems to be one of the best methods to edit photos. What's your reasoning against laptops? PC user?

I own Windows, Linux, and OS X machines.

It's the speed. I have a unibody 15" MBP hooked up to a 30" monitor and processing images is slow. I currently don't have a Windows license for adobe, but AFAIK, CS4 supports 64 bit architecture for Windows and not for OS X. I have an i7 gaming rig with 6GB of RAM and a 1.8GB Nvidia 295 GTX that I built for $1700. I'm sure could kill the Mac with the speeds that it could do.

It took forever to export 80 images from LR2 from 5D MKII RAW files to 1024 x XXX sized JPGs. I also did a fraternity composite for a friend's frat and I actually had visible slow down with all the files I had to have open in PS and the fact that the main file was 36"x24" with a ton of layers.

If you want speed, a laptop just might not cut it depending on what you're doing. Mac Pro. Even the iMacs have laptop components in them.

Good point, but for now I prefer to have my main computer portable. I have a PC but I never use it and would just like a really good upgrade from my MacBook.

How portable do you need it? As a college student I need something that I can take on the plane when I go for long breaks, and I take my computer to class, so I have a laptop - but for people who just need something that's easier to throw in the car then a Small Form-Factor (SFF) PC is what you're looking for - think Mac Mini but with desktop parts that have some actual power. Google Shuttle PC.

 

[Josh220]

I own Windows, Linux, and OS X machines.

It's the speed. I have a unibody 15" MBP hooked up to a 30" monitor and processing images is slow. I currently don't have a Windows license for adobe, but AFAIK, CS4 supports 64 bit architecture for Windows and not for OS X. I have an i7 gaming rig with 6GB of RAM and a 1.8GB Nvidia 295 GTX that I built for $1700. I'm sure could kill the Mac with the speeds that it could do.

It took forever to export 80 images from LR2 from 5D MKII RAW files to 1024 x XXX sized JPGs. I also did a fraternity composite for a friend's frat and I actually had visible slow down with all the files I had to have open in PS and the fact that the main file was 36"x24" with a ton of layers.

If you want speed, a laptop just might not cut it depending on what you're doing. Mac Pro. Even the iMacs have laptop components in them.

Good point, but for now I prefer to have my main computer portable. I have a PC but I never use it and would just like a really good upgrade from my MacBook.

How portable do you need it? As a college student I need something that I can take on the plane when I go for long breaks, and I take my computer to class, so I have a laptop - but for people who just need something that's easier to throw in the car then a Small Form-Factor (SFF) PC is what you're looking for - think Mac Mini but with desktop parts that have some actual power. Google Shuttle PC.

I am a college student so a laptop fits my needs best.