Erniewoof
Member
Would the 17" definitely be better than the 15'?
How would you customize your Macbook Pro? MUST i max out to 8GB? I have an external hard drive at home for storage. Would be nice to have storage for about, I dunno, an hour worth of HD footage in the laptop so I don't have to schlep an external.
Fastest Macbook video card would make sense, obviously.
Any advice?
THANKS!!
jerronsmith
Moderator
I have used both the 15 inch and 17 inch, I find the extra two inches to be very beneficial since the extra screen real estate tends to be helpful for editing programs which tend to requite a lot of screen space for all the panels and viewers.
Eventvideoguy
Member
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">
Would the 17" definitely be better than the 15'?
I use a 13" Macbook Pro (one of the brand new models). It works perfectly for me. I wish I had a bigger screen but it works fine. I got spoiled with my Dual-22" monitor MAC Pro.
MUST i max out to 8GB? I have an external hard drive at home for storage. Would be nice to have storage for about, I dunno, an hour worth of HD footage in the laptop so I don't have to schlep an external.
I bought my MACbook Pro with the default equipment.
HARD DRIVE: I had planned ahead of time to buy a Seagate 7200 rpm 750GB HD from Bestbuy for a fraction of the price that MAC would have charged. It is the same manufacturer they use for the faster drives.
MEMORY: I asked the MAC store rep about where I can buy memory for my new MACBook Pro. He gave me two sites. I was able to get my memory for less than half the price for the same (manufacturer) memory as they use in the MACBOOKs.
http://www.crucial.com (his one does a system scan to tell you exactly what you need and what your system can handle)
</span>
robgrauert
Member
Both the 15 and 17 inch will serve you well. I've read the 17 inch is a bit too big to travel often with though, so that's something to think about.
Maxing out the RAM isn't a bad idea either. Apple's RAM has come down in price a lot.
Definitely get an external Firewire800 drive. The only thing you want loaded onto your main drive is the operating system and software. Put all your media on an external drive. Not only should your computer operate faster, but if you're main drive crashes, then you still have all your media on your external. I'd get the largest internal drive too
TDedmonSBP
Member
I have the 15, and truth be told i'm used to a bigger computer. (just switched from pc's) I run PP CS4 and edit AVCHD files on default equipment and it works just fine. I would stillmax out the ram if I had the money though. Rob makes a good point, use an external for EVERYTHING, and if you hacen't worked on macs before, you should know that if you are going to access something direct from the external drive, it will have to be firewire. Macs can't use USB like PC's can.
hope that helps
Erniewoof
Member
Hey fellas
So, if you;re traveling, you WOULD NOT recommend, even if you have the maxed memory and RAM, doing it all from the laptop? It WOULD save lugging along the extra equipment.
Thanks so much. And I assume the 15" can do EVERYTHING the 17" could
Ernie
robgrauert
Member
i believe the only major differences between the 15" and 17" are the size (obviously), the 17 is a bit faster depending on which 15" model you get (although you won't notice much of a difference), and the 17" still has the Express Card slot while the 15" has an SD card slot. If you're working with Sony's SxS media, the 17 inch will be handy because you can insert the SxS card right into the Express slot and offload your media. You can still use the 15" to offload SxS, you just need an adapter.....
robgrauert
Member
So I would go with the 15" if you're going to be traveling a bunch and don't plan on working with SxS media.
Erniewoof
Member
I'm working with a Sony HDR SR11 Handycam, Macbook (15 or 17), FCE 4 and, IF I have to lug one along, a Lacie external drive---change your thinking at all?
Biggest question is whether I HAVE to lug that external everytime I'm on the road.
TDedmonSBP
Member
I use a seagate freeagent 320Gig for my traveling external purposes, it is bus powered through firewire800 and is only about the size of the mac's transformer. Depending on the size of the project you may be able to move it over to the comps HD for purposes of working while traveling, but I would keep it to a minimum.
robgrauert
Member
There are a bunch of backpack style bags that can carry a camcorder and 15" laptop and more. If you can find one of those you should be able to manage it all.
You may be able to find a backpack style bag that holds a camcorder and 17" laptop with accessories. If you can find that, I'd get the 17" since the bag will make traveling easier. If you can't find one of these bags, I'd go with the 15".
Either way, I would always keep my media on an external drive. People sometimes carry more than a camera, laptop and external drive. Be happy that's all you have to carry. I'm sure you can work something out.
Erniewoof
Member
You guys are great.
My Lacie external drive seems a bit bulky. Tdedmon, you mention your seagate freeagent 320Gig , and that seems smaller (size of a stapler, Amazon says). This is Firewire? This is fairly light? Fast? Reliable? This, maybe, should be a separate post, BEST EXTERNAL DRIVE for MOBILE VIDEO EDITING with a Macbook Pro. I own a desktop Lacie---I didn;t know I'd be going mobile. Maybe these are the answer: http://www.lacie.com/us/products/range.htm?id=10036
jerronsmith
Moderator
I carry around my 17 inch all the time, so I wouldn't consider the size an issue.
Erniewoof
Member
What good would an Express Card slot do for video editing with a Macbook Pro 17"? Doesn't everything have to go to an external hard drive?
Eventvideoguy
Member
I have tried to find an external Firewire 800 drive. I can't seem to find them anywhere.
Are there FW800 enclosures for sale that I can place a Hard drive into.
I lie though. The only FW800 drive I've found was a 200GB (or something small like that) for almost $200.
Why would I pay that much when I can get a 1.5TB for $130.
robgrauert
Member
Ernie,
The Express Slot allows for 2 things:
1) If you're shooting with Sony's EX1 or EX3, the SxS cards can be inserted right into the Express Slot for a speedy offload of your footage. This is quite beneficial when shooting in the field. I believe if you don't have an Express Slot, like on the 15", you can get adapters that connect to the FW800, but the offload will not be nearly as fast as offloading with the Express Slot.
Also, if you are shooting P2, you can get adapters to connect your P2 cards to the Express Slot for a speedy offload.
2) The Express Slot allows for expansion. You can get esata cards that connect to the Express Slot and then connect an esata hard drive, or better yet, a RAID to your laptop. This comes in very handy when editing video of higher data rates or uncompressed video.
Erniewoof
Member
Thanks so much for your time, Rob. Still not sure if I'll need the Express Card (maybe for wi-fi or down the line for video)
Just using a Sony Handycam HDR SR-11...
TDedmonSBP
Member
yeah the Seagate is FW800 I have a brand new macbook pro 17" too, and like jerron said, size has never been an issue for me. The drive is extremely reliable weighs less than a pound, and i was able to find a 72000 so that's good.
the also make express cards for SD cards and Compact flash that are faster than a USB reader, you might look into that because it is easier and quicker than using one of those cheaper things you get from ebay or wal-mart. the MacBook's downfall is not having an internal card reader, even the $150 netbooks have that. Oh well, small price to pay.
robgrauert
Member
Hey, if these guys are saying that travel with the 17" isn't a problem, then i'd go with that. I have a Mac Pro only, so i was just going by what i've heard about the traveling issue with these laptops
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