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Mac pro as mobile edit setup (instead of macbook pro)?
Hi,
I’m shortly going to have to upgrade my hardware after trying to hold off for as long as possible. For many years I have had a Mac pro for working from my own office and a Macbook pro for mobile gigs. Ideally I would like to just have one system from now on however.
My question is weather a macbook pro is powerful/future proof enough to be a main system, or if a MacPro could realistically work as a portable solution?
If I need to edit remotely, most productions are happy to provide a monitor (they usually provide one as an external even if I bring a laptop), so that shouldn’t effect the portability of the MacPro for my purposes.
Would really appreciate any thoughts you all might have, especially if anyone has experience of running the MacPro in place of a laptop!
Best,
Jay
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4 Replies
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IMO you get a better bang for the buck using a new iMac with an external RAID versus either the laptop or MacPro Tube.
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Hi Mark,
Portability is a big consideration for me at the moment and I don’t think the iMac is really something i’m prepared to throw in a back pack.
Best,
Jay
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So, the mac pro cylinder and a monitor are *more* portable? 🙂 The iMac comes in a custom case with a carry handle – sure, that’s cardboard, but it’s well-packed for shipping, taking it in and out of car trunks shouldn’t be traumatic. Or were you going to edit nature videos on actual mountain cliffs or something?:-) Really, the discussion hinges on just how “portable” is “Portable”. Is it more like “Luggable”? Does it all need to run off DC power, maybe a solar panel, what? Or are we really talking about setting up on a cart, desk or table in some office or hotel room, doing a gig, then hauling the stuff back home by car or maybe by plane? Because they make nice Pelican cases that are ATA airline-compliant, would carry a desktop rig fine. If you really need a back-packable form factor, then I guess you’re stuck with the laptop and RAID or else the mac mini, plus a monitor and RAID. I suppose you could replace the monitor with a pico projector or headset video glasses, but I wouldn’t care to work that way for long.
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Well, as i mentioned in my original post, I wouldn’t need to carry a monitor for either the laptop or the MacPro, so the difference in portability is considerable in that case. I also mostly cycle to work in my own city, and a laptop/MacPro setup would fit in my pannier bags fine. If I go abroad for a job then the production would source a monitor locally rather than me having to travel with it, so again the iMac would be the more cumbersome option.
iMacs are great in many situations, if i was looking for a new machine purely as a desktop, then I would seriously consider one. But if I want very portable, then the laptop seems to win, or if I want portable and more powerful (plus upgradable) then the MacPro seems to make sense. It’s just a lot more money and I haven’t really heard of anyone using it as a portable option, so I was interested to know if anyone had experiences with it in those conditions.
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