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MacBook Pro (Laptop) vs Mac Pro (Desktop)
Hello all! Was looking for a little advice if anyone out there that had some experience with editing on both MacBook Pro(laptop) and Mac Pro(desktop).
I’m looking to do a bit of editing on this rig, and I love the fact that a laptop is mobile but for the same price I can have a much faster rig on the desktop, so a couple questions I had:
On the MacBook Pro; Can I have dual monitors? (My MacBook Pro screen and an additional 20 inch monitor at the same time?)
How does the speed of a 2.33 intel chip and 2GB of ram run FCP? Should I get 3GB ram instead? What about the graphic’s cards? Anything specific I should be looking for? Anything the MacBook Pro lacks?
Any other tips, do’s/don’ts would be of much help, and thanks in advance for anything you might offer.
Will Keir
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7 Replies
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[Will Keir] “On the MacBook Pro; Can I have dual monitors? (My MacBook Pro screen and an additional 20 inch monitor at the same time?)”
Yes.
[Will Keir] “How does the speed of a 2.33 intel chip and 2GB of ram run FCP? Should I get 3GB ram instead? What about the graphic’s cards? Anything specific I should be looking for? Anything the MacBook Pro lacks?”
FCP will work just fine on a laptop, though much slower than a desktop, especially when it comes to multi-layered timelines and renders.
What the laptops lack is exapandability and quad processors. You can’t install a new graphics card, a capture card, a fibre channel card, etc…. to a laptop. If you only plan to edit in the field or occasionally with FCP, then the laptop is the way to go. If you plan to earn your income through the machine, a desktop is far superior to the laptop in terms of speed and expandability.
I used to edit on the laptops as a third machine, but now we have four desktops and the laptop is only used for mail and internet.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Food Network’s “Good Eats”
HD Editorial for “Assignment Earth”“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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I have used the Mac Book Pro since last April. Mainly cause my work is on the road and have limited time to finish the project. I have the firt 17 inch model,not the new dual core 2. maxed to 2 gig of ram. I of course use a portable ext drive for the media. everything has worked fine for me. Plan on getting a desktop for home in the future. Only concern about the laptop, boy she gets hot, I do use a small raised laptop stand that helps with the heat issue. From what i undersrand about 2nd monitors , yes you can even the 30 inch.
later
Tom -
If you don’t have plans for other than video formats that can be captured via firewire, and you don’t mind waiting longer for renders… the laptop will serve you well. The big difference is that the towers allow for capture cards, and fibre arrays… the laptop won’t… They’ll render twice as fast as the laptops too. (but their not very portable!)
Jerry
Apple Certified Trainer
Author: “Jerry Hofmann on Final Cut Pro 4” Click here
Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D
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I returned my laptop for desktop because of heat.
I was also worried about scorching my desk’s surface during long renders. The smelly heat made me sick. I also found the monitor not as clear as my old SyncMaster 172T. Apple people put their hand over it and said it was all normal. Not for me…
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Wow, some great advice, thanks a lot guys. BTW what is a fibre array used for?
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Wow, some great advice, thanks a lot guys. BTW what is a fibre array used for?
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[Will Keir] “Wow, some great advice, thanks a lot guys. BTW what is a fibre array used for?”
It’s a high speed hard drive array with speeds approaching 500mb/s
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Food Network’s “Good Eats”
HD Editorial for “Assignment Earth”“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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