choosing between 17″ macbook and quad g5

[David Bogie]

There is no choice, get the Macbook.
Or wait till the new Intel desktops arrive if you need the expansion capabilities. Buying a new G5 is waste of money. The G5 is dead. It’s slow and clumsy compared to the Macbooks. The Intel Macs are unbelievable.

bogiesan

This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”

[Joe Langenfeld]

I have a MacBook Pro 15″ dual 2 G. I can’t use FCP 5.1 because I use a lot of filters that are written in the Adobe Plug-In format, which is not yet Universal, so they don’t work. I have an AJA IO for SD I/O, but I can’t use it because it will use my only firewire port, which I need for an external disk. The 17″ will have a FW800 port, but it would be nice if someone would come up with an ExpressCard/34 FW800 or SATA card.

If you can wait and work around these issues, go for the Intel. If you need to work right away, the Quad G5 will be good for awhile. It may be 6-12 months for all the 3rd party software to get Universal, and hopefully maybe there will be some expansion cards by then. I want to wait myself, but I’ve got work to do, so I’m buying another Quad G5…(but I’m keeping the MacBook Pro!)

[Goldenhorse]

Thanks very much for the replies. I think I’ll go for the Macbook then and if it becomes a major problem (like you mentioned with plugins) I might grab a dual core g5 to tide me over, altough I can still use me g4 tower as a renderer. I’ll be using a Lacie Fw800 2tb storage stack with it too, so the fw800 port is perfect.

Thanks again.

[George Loch]

[Joe Langenfeld] “I have a MacBook Pro 15″ dual 2 G. I can’t use FCP 5.1 because I use a lot of filters that are written in the Adobe Plug-In format, which is not yet Universal, so they don’t work. I have an AJA IO for SD I/O, but I can’t use it because it will use my only firewire port, which I need for an external disk. The 17″ will have a FW800 port, but it would be nice if someone would come up with an ExpressCard/34 FW800 or SATA card.”

There are at least two Express34 eSata cards that are in the works and will be released in the next 3-6 months.

However, keep in mind that Apple is WAY ahead of schedule on this Intel switch. The fact that people even have the MBP option is amazing to me AND the fact that the complete FCS suite is native is mind boggling to me. I experienced the PowerPC transition and it was a lot more painful than this has been so far. Honestly, once Adobe arrives with UB versions of their offerings I will consider the switch complete for me.

I think we just need to be a little patient. Most software devs are getting blind-sided by Apple’s speed in this transition and we have to give them some slack. Sure, I would love the complete AE suite along with 3rd party plugins right now for my MBP but I also understand why it’s not done.

So, I don’t really think the G5 is dead actually. A quad G5 will be very useful for a good long while yet. I do have to say I am all over the power we now have in this MPB. They just flat-out fast.

-gl

[Steve Connor]

All this makes me think that when the towers come out in the next few months they are going to be something really special.

Steve Connor
Adrenalin Television

Have you tried “Search Posts”? Enlightenment may be there.

[Goldenhorse]

likewise. that’s why I am gonna hold off and use the MBP in the meantime.