Video I/O Solutions for Macbook Pro

[Jay Soriano]

i disagree on laptops going in for servicing more than towers. i’ve owned laptops varying from the ibook, powerbook, macbook, and macbook pro since 2002 and only have brought in any of these laptops twice for repair(dvd drive and internal hard drive clicking.) the macbook pro is a very viable option as a production workhorse…if you have the right one that is…my honest opinion would be to find or purchase the last true macbook PRO which are the 2008 Penryn Macbook PROS. why? because macbook pros succeeding the Penryn’s have been downgraded. The first unibody had one less firewire port(Penryn has one firewire 400 and one 800). then the latest macbook pros taking away the express slot over for an sd slot!? you can easily get a usb sd card reader, but where can you get a usb or even firewire express slot adaptor? i honestly think apple should take out the word, “pro” from macbook pro” because that is what it is.

the importance of 2 firewire ports was to set up a portable workhorse when a tower is not convenient. you can set up an aja ioHD buy plugging it into the Penryn’s firewire 800. for portable and fast hard drive, you can get a sonnettech fusion f2 or a caldigit vr mini and connect it to the penryn macbook pro’s express slot via a sonnettech tempo sata pro express card and connect the drive to the firewire 400 port(which is for power use only and does not slow down the other firewire 800 port).

i own an 8 core macpro but love the convenience of a macbook pro when a tower is not practical option in the field.

here are links to help get you an idea of this setup:

https://www.sonnettech.com/product/fusionf2.html

https://www.sonnettech.com/product/temposataproexpress34.html

https://www.CalDigit.com/VR_mini/

https://www.macworld.com/article/132407/2008/03/macbookprocore2duo.html

https://www.macworld.com/article/132330/2008/03/macbookpro_bench.html

so if portability is a must, look out for the refurb or used penryn macbook pro’s 2.4/2.5/2.6ghz which show up once in awhile on apple’s online store and include apple’s 1 yr warranty w/ the option to purchase applecare:

https://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_pro

or ebay but make sure it still has extended applecare warranty.

[Nicholas Buer]

Wealth of information in this post now. The Macbook Pro we currently own, with the lack of an Expresscard slot is horribly limiting, the money spent on a MOTU or an AJA could be better spent put towards a Tower, we do not need to be portable.

In short, a Tower in the long run will save us time and money. The expandability of the Tower makes it a no brainer really! and the difference in variety and cost of video I/O options compared to the Macbook Pro only is another reason to go for it.

Thanks for sharing all this information

Nick