Posted by Greg Barteluk on March 8, 2008 at 12:10 PM
I am considering moving from my desktop PC to a Mac Powerbook. I want to be able to plug the laptop into my 24-inch screen and Wacom tablet while home, and then have the convenience of a laptop when traveling. I have a powerful PC and was wondering if a Mac laptop can compare when it comes to running big programs like PS3 with crazy-big files. I'm not a gamer, I just need power for photo processing. Any advice is welcome.
I did that precise thing last summer and now use a MacBook Pro, 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo as my primary machine. I upgraded from 2 to 4GB of RAM when I purchased it and have absolutely no problems with large image files. Photoshop CS3 runs very fast and trouble-free.
Like most laptops, it's difficult to hold calibration on the monitor, but I use my Apple Cinema Display for image editing and the system works like a dream. It's nice to be able to take your entire office with you when you travel.
Posted by Scott Fricke on March 8, 2008 at 8:23 PM
I have a 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro with 3G of RAM that I use to process images with Photoshop CS3 from my Canon 1DS Mark II, so they are large files, and it does great.
Posted by Don Mullaney on March 9, 2008 at 8:29 AM
It's a great machine but I recommend taking the "Applecare" ext. warranty. All laptops are prone to misfortune. I spilled a glass of ice tea on my keyboard and lost everything. They wanted $1800 to repair the 1 year old laptop.
Ditto on the Applecare. They are good machines but have their share of problems also. We've had to have the motherboard replaced in a couple of our iMACs and without applecare it would have been expensive. only minor glitches with our MacBooks though.
I have the same set-up as Richard. No problems at all processing large files, running the display, a couple of printers and a couple of external HDs. Love my MacBook Pro!
Discussion
5 repliesI did that precise thing last summer and now use a MacBook Pro, 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo as my primary machine. I upgraded from 2 to 4GB of RAM when I purchased it and have absolutely no problems with large image files. Photoshop CS3 runs very fast and trouble-free.
Like most laptops, it's difficult to hold calibration on the monitor, but I use my Apple Cinema Display for image editing and the system works like a dream. It's nice to be able to take your entire office with you when you travel.