MBP as a workstation
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- benfal99
i know it has been asked 1,000 times. here's another time; a Mac Book Pro as a workstation, is it a good idea?
I would mainly use it for:
- interweb surfin'
- photoshop, document as large as 32x45 inches in 300 dpi
- some after effects, not often and mainly short animations, under 3 minutes
- some dreamweaver, indesign and illustrator
- BuddhaHat0
17" with i7 processor, sure :)
But I'll probably be the first of many to say 'get an external monitor'... 'and wireless keyboard & mouse'... at least the kb & mouse so the i7 doesn't burn your fingertips off....
- inteliboy0
bump up the ram and it'd be aces... really any computer these days is fine. Sorta getting to that point now. But if it's just going to sit there as a workstation, why get a laptop?
- bulletfactory0
My primary work machine is a (2008) 17" MBP with 24" Dell monitor and keyboard magic mouse. Runs apps fantastically.
I don't use after effects at work, but it runs great on my MBP at home (which is a new and faster 17" MBP). Haven't gotten an external monitor for home yet.
- cramdesign0
Second on the external monitor, keyboard and mouse. Dollar for dollar, a laptop is always going to be less powerful as a desktop. I have a 27" iMac and 15" MBP... both cost about $2k but the iMac kicks the MBP's ass. Sorry to say. My advice, instead of $2700 for a 17" MBP, get the iMac and a iPad for portable fun. This all depends on what your primary need is. Do you really need a portable workstation or do you just like the idea of it? If those huge photoshop docs are your primary source of work, I would consider power first. For me and web design, almost any computer is powerful enough these days. My biggest issue is screen space with all of the browsers, editors and their palettes that I want open.
- I went for an older matte Cinema Display, couldn't stand the iMac gloss.raf
- I thought that at first and put it off for a long time. I gotta say, now that I have it, I love it and the gloss is no problem.cramdesign
- raf0
I used the plastic mb with an external lcd for over 2 years and it was ok. Now my only regret is I got a 17" mbp instead of 15.4" one as the 17" is barely movable.
- benfal990
great advices. thanks guys
- harlequino0
Yeah I do this as well. However, I do have issues and lag with large 300dpi print things.
Otherwise, fine.
- fyoucher10
I have a MBP 17er setup and do more than what you're doing and it's fine. I'd recommend the 15"er though. The 17" feels a bit too large, although still really nice. Get an external monitor (or two), NAS drive, keyboard and mouse...and get the 8GB ram hookup. "If" you're not going to be taking the MBP different places to "work", then just do cramdesigns suggestion. Get an iMac for work and a iPad for the internet/email/pron thing.
- Peter0
1+ year old MBP, 15 inch
2.8ghz, 4 gbs of ram....and perhaps just as important
One main, very fast SSD drive. With only the OS, applications and current files.Plus one regular 2.5" hdd that replaced the dvd drive. Optibay. That way I don't have to bother that much with external drives every now and then.
Works like a charm. Same sort of Photoshop files as you described.
External monitor for Photoshop & heavier work is (already) recommended.
Instead of a mouse I'd go for a wacom, but that's just me.
- benfal990
Whats better between:
iMac -
2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x2GB
1TB Serial ATA DriveVS
Mac Book Pro -
2.66GHz Intel Core i7
8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm- That's the max amount of ram you can put into the MBP. You can put more into the iMac later on if you want...fyoucher1
- I doubt you'll need more than 6gb of RAM in that MBP.********
- MBP, hands down.luckyorphan
- benfal990
ok and whats better between my actual G5 and this iMac ?
Mac Pro Tower, G5 (from may 2008) -
Processor - Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Memory - 8GbVS
iMac -
2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x2GB
1TB Serial ATA Drive- If you're doing any video, the new creative suites won't run on the G5DeSiard
- r u serious? why?benfal99
- After Effects and Premiere Pro CS4+ won't run on the G5...DeSiard
- We tried to load them on a few older machines here and it was a no go. Don't know why, other than its not supported.DeSiard
- thats not a G5Kiggen
- G5's where discontinued in 2006Kiggen
- there are more things to computer speed than just processor... for ex: bus speedcramdesign
- benfal990
@DeSiard
yeah it seems we need a 64Bits system to run Adobe CS5!
The system requirement is monstrous:
http://store.adobe.com/store/en_…They even recommand 12Gb of RAM to work in After Effect and/or Premiere!! > http://www.adobe.com/products/cr…
- Meeklo0
Don't get caught on all these specs, as long is a mbp and not more than 10 months old, you will be more than fine.
The leading guy at Universal Everything has a 15' with a wired mouse, no external monitor and he seems to be doing way over amazing.
There is a ton of things that you can add to your set up, but they are not essential, and might work for some people and might not work for you specifically, just sayin..
- Kiggen0
i'm rendering full HD movies out now on my macbook pro as we speak...so yes
- benfal990
But whats your toughts about this? Would you sell the tower to get an iMac? >
Mac Pro Tower, G5 (from may 2008) -
Processor - Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Memory - 8GbVS
iMac -
2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x2GB
1TB Serial ATA Drive- the entry level imacs suffers greatly from the 5400 rpm hd.erikjonsson
- don't hesitate to trade up when you need to. don't waste money when you don'tcramdesign
- erikjonsson0
ive been doing the posters in 300 dpi forever years and years. its always about how much ram you have or the speed of photoshop scratch disks. but in perspective its so relative. looking back at how it ran on my past machines its not that much faster now.
- jayoh0
WHAT WOULD YOU BUY?
17" MBP to use primarily as a workstation
OR
15" MBP
with 24" Apple LCD Monitor
+ Wireless Keyboard/Mouse- secondKiggen
- second option. Pain in the ass to travel with a 17" from what I've heard.mg33
- MBP. Hands down.luckyorphan
- second no doubt!Miguex
- no question. the second is better in every way.cramdesign
- benfal990
so, should i sell my Mac Pro tower (dated may 2008) to get a brand new iMac with the money???
- I have a Mac Pro and reckon they are much better to keep long-term. They are more robust and expandablejayoh
- unless they are adding capture cards, i dont know many people that ever expandThelonious_Funk
- no, probably not.cramdesign
- luckyorphan0
Okay this is crazy talk.
A 17" MBP is above and beyond the best choice. Despite what some have said, it is easy to travel with, doesn't heat up like the old models, runs super fast—especially when the RAM is maxed—and frankly should be the death knell for desktops if for no other reason than portability.
I have a new MBP and I run everything from Cinema 4D to CS4 apps, often at the same time. It never heats up too much, always performs quickly and simply rules. Also, you can buy an Apple display in the future and plug that in with a keyboard and use it as your desktop as well (I'm doing that at the office now). That way, if the machine craps out, you still have a killer display.
The only negative is that the titanium can take a serious ding if dropped (like all other laptops, of course), and it's expensive to repair/replace. Therefore, just get a Speck plastic case for it and an Incase bag and you're done.
The iMac is lame also because of the gloss screen. I'm using an Apply display at work now and while I love the pixels, it's often very challenging. So, unless you're doing hard core video editing and heavy motion graphics—or you just never go outside—there's no need for a desktop.
Desktops are dead.
- I even run my Cintiq off of it at home, and it hauls ass. Get the MacBook Pro, b.luckyorphan
- +1Thelonious_Funk
- -2Miguex
- Thelonious_Funk0
i have the 17" MBP... works great, i dualboot vista and run 3dsmax on it.... believe it or not, the MBP is the fastest machine in my render farm... usually smokes the other machines, up to twice as fast.
Portability... its never been a problem for me, same as any other laptop.. everytime i try to work on a 15" they seem puny thse days.
in reality, any that you choose (15 or 17) will get the job done fine. but know they CAN do the job just fine.. ohh I also come home plug in to the ol' 23" cinema display, keyboard & mouse for the desktop feel... works great
- no offense, but I've worked on site at some big big studio in LA and the render farm is all PCMiguex
- production work is done on macs, pcs are for rendering.Miguex
- Miguex does speak truth (except for his -2 above ;), but that shouldn't matter. MBP is the solution.luckyorphan