MacBook Pro for editing, etc...good idea?

Anyone have thoughts on working on a new intel 17" Macbook Pro with 4 gigs of ram, 160 gig HD and 7200 rpm processor?

I am hoping/planning on moving from an older G5 tower to a more mobile situation.
What are the upsides and downsides?

I will be using Premiere Pro, After Effects, Maya and Photoshop.
Most of my work is short format under 5 minute pieces but maybe a possible longer piece here and there. All for DVD and web delivery.

Thanks

Brian

I do believe that the MBP can handle that fine. So go for it! Although I am a known opponent of 17" laptops because they are barely portable.

i dont know why people complain so much about a 17 mbp being not portable at all. ive had 13" 15" and now the 17" and it feels the same as the past ones i had. i think people who havent used a 17" for more than a week dont know that it is as portable as the macbook or the 15 mbp. sure there is more wieght to it but it isnt that bad as people think.

to the op. the 17 would be perfectly fine. i have premier and afteraffects and it works awesome. nothing wrong at all.

ps. sorry about the haters of the 17 mbp. it just pissses me off sometimes and that just pushed my button. didnt mean to call you out.

Hey thanks! I just am a little worried going from a G5 tower to a laptop.
Seems crazy that so much power is in that thin little laptop.
Seems you guys are pretty certain that the Macbook Pro can handle the same workload as the older tower. That's good news.

AS far as size goes I always heard it didn't matter

it doesnt really the 15" and the 17" can be upgraded with the same things its just that if you want a bigger screen go with the 17. and it is as portable as the 15

The 17" MBP is a beast when it comes to video editing. I do a little here and there on my 15" MBP and it works great...though screen real estate leaves something to be desired on my 15.

Brian D said:

Anyone have thoughts on working on a new intel 17" Macbook Pro with 4 gigs of ram, 160 gig HD and 7200 rpm processor?

I am hoping/planning on moving from an older G5 tower to a more mobile situation.
What are the upsides and downsides?

I will be using Premiere Pro, After Effects, Maya and Photoshop.
Most of my work is short format under 5 minute pieces but maybe a possible longer piece here and there. All for DVD and web delivery.

Thanks

Brian

Click to expand...

I just purchased the almost exact same system last Monday and your gona like it a lot. Awesome describes it quite well. Mine only has 2 gigs of ram but it boogies right along with every thing i throw at it. That 7200 rpm is the speed of the hard drive, not the processor which is 2.4 ghz.

As far as i can see the upsides are first off it is portable even though it is about 16" x 10 x 1 1/4 . For its size it is actual fairly light, i have an older pc laptop that is thicker and heavier. I think you will find that it will probably out perform your old G5. The 17" screen is a thing of beauty and it has a plug in for an external monitor that you can use when your at home for even more real estate.

The downside would be only 160 gig of storage. That will be easy to fill up doing video and graphics, but that is an easy fix with a nice external drive so all in all i would say it's a win win.

kkelly122 said:

i dont know why people complain so much about a 17 mbp being not portable at all. ive had 13" 15" and now the 17" and it feels the same as the past ones i had. i think people who havent used a 17" for more than a week dont know that it is as portable as the macbook or the 15 mbp. sure there is more wieght to it but it isnt that bad as people think.

to the op. the 17 would be perfectly fine. i have premier and afteraffects and it works awesome. nothing wrong at all.

ps. sorry about the haters of the 17 mbp. it just pissses me off sometimes and that just pushed my button. didnt mean to call you out.

Click to expand...

I own a 15" MBP and a 17" Dell Inspiron. I can see where they're coming from with the 17" not being very portable. You really do need a lot more room for those extra 2 inches. The trade off can be nice though, as a 1920x1200 res 17" screen is beautiful. The Dell is basically my gaming machine until I get the finances to buy a 17" MBP and use it as a game/whatever machine...

Brian D said:

Hey thanks! I just am a little worried going from a G5 tower to a laptop.
Seems crazy that so much power is in that thin little laptop.
Seems you guys are pretty certain that the Macbook Pro can handle the same workload as the older tower. That's good news.

AS far as size goes I always heard it didn't matter

Click to expand...

And the best part about the MBP's for editing is that they can power up to a 30" external monitor via the DVI connection. I use my 15" MBP for recording at my studio and have a 22" wide screen LG montior hooked up. Makes it a lot easier when you have more real estate to play with.

Also, Matrox makes a device that allows you to connect more than one external monitor to a device like a laptop. So you could always run dual 30" cinema displays...I think that's what everyone needs...

Brian D said:

AS far as size goes I always heard it didn't matter

Click to expand...

I guess it depends on who you ask. haha. but yeah I think you will be perfectly fine with the setup you are considering.