I'm looking into getting a Mac again, used to use them a few years ago,
I'm looking at a Mac book Pro both as a computer for home and for on the road. I'm thinking of hooking it up later to a 23 inch display but until then I have a couple of queries.
1. How well would the screen, I'm looking at the anti-glare matte screen, calibrate.
2. How fast are they for photo editing, I will most probably be running Photoshop and Nikon Capture NX and Lightroom or Aperture.
3. Photoshop likes to have a scratch disk separate than the operating disk, so do external disks work well with photoshop in that regard
I know buy a Mac Pro but in OZ they are just to expensive
The screens on the MacBook Po are very nice and I would imagine will calibrate as well as any other laptop screen. They are reasonably fast but are limited in disk speed and memory compared to the desktop models, which is why I would hesitate to use one as my home workstation.
I'm surprised the desktops are more expensive there. Here the costs are about the same (obviously you give up portability and the screen but get more than 4x the processor power and greater speed and expandability).
The most cost effective way I found was to get the bare-bones machine from Apple, then get extra memory and drives from other places.
Guy
Posted by Rob Coomer on April 15, 2007 at 10:29 PM
Hi Keith,
I'm using a Mac Book Pro 2.16 for everything. The photo editing at the moment isn't quite as fast as the older G5 (non intel) I had at work, but with the new CS3 coming out for intel, that should be fixed. Make sure you max out the ram at 2Gb.
I've calibrated my screen with a Spyder, but I also use a NEC/Mitsu CRT with it. I would think the LCD would clibrate just as well as the 23" LCD.
My system was a leftover special edition from the Apple Store and has a 7200RPM hard drive so I don't take much of a speed hit, but do loose battery time.
I regularly use 4 Western Digital external drives, USB2 and Firewire, with no problems (other than not having enough ports).
Rob, I think the MacBook pros can actually go up to 3GB. I was very tempted to get one but ended up with the MacPro which I'm very happy with so far. Can't wait for CS3.
Guy
Posted by Rob Coomer on April 16, 2007 at 12:23 PM
Mine is a little bit of an odd bird, and I think it maxes out at 2, but it does look like the core 2 models did add the ability to use 1 - 2GB DDR2 chip making it 3Gb.
Mine was a left over custom configuration from before the Core 2 models, but it is less than 5% slower and cost be $700 less than the current model. But it also has the faster HD and I think a beefed up video card as trade offs.
I also have a Quad Core G5 2GHz at work, but my laptop does seem a bit faster for most stuff.
Here's my take after using the 2.16 Macbook Pro 15.4 since July. Aperture runs fairly well on the 2.16 or better. definitely max out the RAM; I suggest buying with minimal RAM and upgrading the RAM through OWC (macsales.com). PSCS2 runs slow, so you'll definitely want to upgrade to CS3 which runs great. The beta has been much faster loading and processing.
I have the anti-glare screen and find it calibrates fairly close to my desktop monitors. I have had less trouble getting images right the Macbook Pro than on any of my PC's. I haven't used an external as scratch disk, so I can't answer that. But, I do use externals as backups. I have really liked the performance on the road.
That said, to really maximize the Macbook Pro as a desktop replacement, you probably should consider the 17" MBP. An option would be to get a 2.16 15" MBP for the road and a refreshed or refurbished iMac 24 for home.
I'm thinking the 17inch MacBook Pro as until I can get a external LCD this one has the biggest screen. I'll look into a HD upgrade and of course it will be maxed out with RAM.
Discussion
6 repliesI'm looking at a Mac book Pro both as a computer for home and for on the road. I'm thinking of hooking it up later to a 23 inch display but until then I have a couple of queries.
1. How well would the screen, I'm looking at the anti-glare matte screen, calibrate.
2. How fast are they for photo editing, I will most probably be running Photoshop and Nikon Capture NX and Lightroom or Aperture.
3. Photoshop likes to have a scratch disk separate than the operating disk, so do external disks work well with photoshop in that regard
I know buy a Mac Pro but in OZ they are just to expensive
Thanks
I'm surprised the desktops are more expensive there. Here the costs are about the same (obviously you give up portability and the screen but get more than 4x the processor power and greater speed and expandability).
The most cost effective way I found was to get the bare-bones machine from Apple, then get extra memory and drives from other places.
Guy
I'm using a Mac Book Pro 2.16 for everything. The photo editing at the moment isn't quite as fast as the older G5 (non intel) I had at work, but with the new CS3 coming out for intel, that should be fixed. Make sure you max out the ram at 2Gb.
I've calibrated my screen with a Spyder, but I also use a NEC/Mitsu CRT with it. I would think the LCD would clibrate just as well as the 23" LCD.
My system was a leftover special edition from the Apple Store and has a 7200RPM hard drive so I don't take much of a speed hit, but do loose battery time.
I regularly use 4 Western Digital external drives, USB2 and Firewire, with no problems (other than not having enough ports).
Guy
Mine was a left over custom configuration from before the Core 2 models, but it is less than 5% slower and cost be $700 less than the current model. But it also has the faster HD and I think a beefed up video card as trade offs.
I also have a Quad Core G5 2GHz at work, but my laptop does seem a bit faster for most stuff.
I have the anti-glare screen and find it calibrates fairly close to my desktop monitors. I have had less trouble getting images right the Macbook Pro than on any of my PC's. I haven't used an external as scratch disk, so I can't answer that. But, I do use externals as backups. I have really liked the performance on the road.
That said, to really maximize the Macbook Pro as a desktop replacement, you probably should consider the 17" MBP. An option would be to get a 2.16 15" MBP for the road and a refreshed or refurbished iMac 24 for home.
I'm thinking the 17inch MacBook Pro as until I can get a external LCD this one has the biggest screen. I'll look into a HD upgrade and of course it will be maxed out with RAM.