Laptop

[Glen Montgomery]

Other than the lack of NVIDIA cards and thus the hit to cuda, I don’t think there is a reason to not go with a new macbook. With this advent of thunderbolt, the way we work is going to change dramatically. Personally, I am going to hold off for the release of imac’s with thunderbolt for my next purchase but if you have to buy a laptop, go with it.

Editor / Motion Graphics Artist
http://www.GlenMontgomeryIII.com

[Adam Taylor]

You would still be wise to buy the 17″ Macbook Pro, as it is still the only one to have an expresscard 34 slot – which is very useful for adding extras.
Also – avoid the glossy screen as the glare and reflection make working so much more difficult. The anti glare screen is worth paying the extra for.

Max out the ram – mine has 8 gb and it really flies!

I have the recently superceded macbook pro and recently treated myself to a Matrox MX02 LE and a GRaid Mini firewire800/esata raid.

The Matrox connects to the Macbook via the expresscard slot – making it vital to have the 17″ model. If i’m not using the matrox, then i have other expresscard that let me use esata or firewire400 (without an adapter as the newer macbooks only have fw800 slots)

With these three devices i can digitize and edit full Prores422HQ from virtually any source all on a portable laptop. I can even connect to a LCD screen via HDMI and calibrate it using the matrox software, so i can use it for accurate colour work.

Personally, the hype about Thunderpants or whatever its called has not infected me yet. OK its gonna be fast, but i my desktop mac is connected to my raids via fibre channel, so i have the speed i need. On the road, i have speed and flexibility – and i’m not having to install a whole new bunch of kit to use the new technology.

Depends on what you cut as to whether you feel its worth the wait. If it were me, i’d try get hold of the previous model at a much reduced price. The Core i7 2.8 ghz chip in my mac seems pretty darned fast still. Its not a quad but its works!

rgds
Adam

Adam Taylor
Video Editor/Audio Mixer/ Compositor/Motion GFX/Barista
Character Options Ltd
Oldham, UK

http://www.sculptedbliss.co.uk

[Glen Montgomery]

Adam,
I totally agree and wouldn’t have made much of a fuss until I listened to the latest episode of The Terence and Philip Show podcast where they really go into the potential of Thunderpants (love it btw) on post production. I think it is worth a listen https://www.theterenceandphilipshow.com/

Editor / Motion Graphics Artist
http://www.GlenMontgomeryIII.com

[Adam Taylor]

interesting listening, thanks Glenn.

Still – i’m not going to be the first to jump in to the new technology. The old still works and i’d rather let the impatient ones iron out any potential bugs before i feel the need to leap.

Also – how much work will be done with the new kit should play a part in deciding when to buy – if you don’t see the immediate benefits of an emerging technology and feel its a year or two away before it becomes a vital part of your system, would you be better waiting? Spending the money on something thats a little cheaper but that will ultimately keep earning you money and upgrading once the technology has been perfected?

Or are the other little improvements enough to tempt you?

I’ll be honest – It would be nice to have the quad chipped laptop (Thunderpants has still not inflamed my curiosity even after listen to the Terence&Philip show), but then when i got this one four months ago it was because my previous one could no longer run the software i needed. And it runs it really well, so i’m still very happy.

adam

Adam Taylor
Video Editor/Audio Mixer/ Compositor/Motion GFX/Barista
Character Options Ltd
Oldham, UK

http://www.sculptedbliss.co.uk

[Hugh Quinn]

Thank you, all for the opinions and advice. It’s been helpful! -Hugh