Which MBP to buy for photo editing?

kas


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Hi First time posting here. I've been waiting to purchase my first laptop and now need the experts advice.
Trying to decide between one of the refurbs now available (2.4 w 160hd) on apple ws or a new mbp?

I will do a lot of my work on my main mac but will do a lot of editing work using pscs3 and light room esp when traveling. I shoot raw so need the extra space for storage.
Suggestions needed.

I would like to have a larger hd then 160gb. If I purchase the refurb, what is the largest hd I could put in the intel
mbp's? Also saw some of the 2.33 being sold for $1499. Would upgrading that model do the trick?
 
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If you're going to be doing a lot of onsite work I'd advise against the 17" MBP and opt for one of the 15" with a large external monitor for use at home/office.

The other question comes into play as to whether to get a MBP or just a Macbook. Photo editing doesn't really require a card that has the 3D bells and whistles. I've been doing this for years and have used a desktop, Macbook, and MBP and find I use the Macbook more than the other two. The MB's are easier to replace the hard drive with a faster model and upgrade the RAM.

Also, if you travel with it a lot you might find the smaller size of the Macbook an advantage. Really you just want to get a machine with a large capacity hard drive at 7200RPM speed and max out the RAM. If you want to go MBP then you'll pay a premium to have Apple install a faster hard drive and if you go MB you can get a Seagate or Hitachi 200GB 7200RPM hard drive from a place like newegg.com for about $160 and install it yourself.

Refurbs can be hard for a good price and good shape but understand that they are refurb for a reason, either someone just opted to return and upgrade models or something was wrong, it was returned, and Apple "fixed" it. Anyway you go I'd opt for the Applecare warranty as well.

Kat
 
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kas


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Thanks Kat. I have planned on purchasing the MBP 15" because I need a little bigger screen for editing when I'm out of town on a shoot.
so if I purchased one of the refurbs (I've heard nothing but good things about them )
putting in a new hd will give the speed I need. Sounds good to me.

Any advantage over the latest and the greatest new ones?
 
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The Western Digital 320GB Scorpio drive will work in any intel based MBP.

Fujitsu and Hitachi have both released 500GB laptop drives but they are thicker than the standard 2.5" drive. They may or may not fit into a MBP. However their power consumption is higher than normal laptop drives, so you'll see lower battery use times.
 
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My pleasure Kas. I believe you'll miss out on the bells and whistles and perhaps a tiny bit of extra battery power, etc. (things you can do without) in opting for the refurb. Definitely go with the larger faster drive and as much RAM as you can afford though and you'll be happy! :)

Kat
 
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The Western Digital 320GB Scorpio drive will work in any intel based MBP.

Drives like most things are personal preference but I've been off WD drives for the last few years owing to having 4 brand new replacement drives fail at my company when we upgraded hardware. Since then I've been going with Seagate (not Maxtor) but real Seagate drives and Seagate/Hitachi for the laptops.

Oh and another thing...the WD Scorpio is only 5400RPM. I typically go for faster 7200RPM drives. (faster scratch access and read/write operations like starting the OS or application)

Just MPO tho! :)

Kat
 
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kas


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Does replacing ram or harddrive void the warranty with applecare?
 
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Apple won't fix it with the upgraded components so you should keep them in case you need to take it in for service but I've had a few machines returned to Apple that I've upgraded (though replaced with factory parts before sending back) and never had a problem getting service.

Apple knows people will need to upgrade at some time (hence the ease of upgrading RAM and HD in a Macbook) so they don't fuss as long as your original HD and RAM are in before you send it back.
 
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Apple won't fix it with the upgraded components so you should keep them in case you need to take it in for service but I've had a few machines returned to Apple that I've upgraded (though replaced with factory parts before sending back) and never had a problem getting service.

Apple knows people will need to upgrade at some time (hence the ease of upgrading RAM and HD in a Macbook) so they don't fuss as long as your original HD and RAM are in before you send it back.

They'll fix it with upgraded RAM. Upgrading the HDD in a MBP by yourself voids the warranty though.
 
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They'll fix it with upgraded RAM. Upgrading the HDD in a MBP by yourself voids the warranty though.

This is correct.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=13946

On the MacBook, the hard drive is considered a "user installable" part. Upgrading the HDD on a MB will not void the warranty. However the HDD on the MacBook Pro is NOT considered user installable.

That said, I've read about many people that have taken their MBP back in for service after upgrading their HDD. However they had to reinstall their original HDD.

If you want to be perfectly safe, have a tech at the Apple Store do it. I'm not 100% sure about this but I think you can buy your own HDD, have them install it, and the system will still be covered. However the 3rd party HDD will not be covered (it has its own warranty anyways)
 
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kas


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I went to the apple store today and they said they would not put in another hard drive into a MBP. Just won't do it.
Oh well.....looks like I will be going with the new one with a 250 hd
 

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