MBP Buying Options - Hard Drive / Memory

Howdy,

I’m an aspiring Media Studies student and intend on using a MBP for video editing using Final Cut Studio. I’m new to the Mac world as I’ve been a lifelong PC user.

Thankfully I put off buying the laptop for a few weeks and see, now, that they’ve updated the specs of the MBP. Now may be the time to buy. I still have some questions about my upgrade options.

Even though I will use my MBP editing studio with an external hd I’m still of the mindset that faster hds are better. I noticed that the 160gb 7200hd is 80$ more and I think adds 3-4 weeks of ship time onto the machine. Do any video people feel a 5400 drive is fast enough as a systems disk or should I aim for a faster drive?

Also, I was wondering what are my hd options outside of Apple? I’ve heard some people speak of larger capacity drives that have decent to fast speeds (5400-7200rpm). I’m also new to laptops and understand that there are different sized drives but don’t know what I need to technically look for when it comes to laptops (MBPs in particular).

I understand if I buy a hd outside of Apple I’ll have to take it to an Apple Store to have it installed.

I would also like to take advantage of the SR upgrade and install 4gbs of RAM (if possible) and was wondering how much prices are for 2gb chips (outside of Apple). Also, what would I be able to do with the 1gb mem chips left over. Is there a decent resell market for them?

I really want to buy now (17” with the upgraded resolution) but was wondering if anyone thought waiting for 17” LED screens are worthwhile. Any estimates on when they’ll ship?

Thanks for your help.
daisu

Wow, good gracious. It would make sense that someone would do something like this. The upgrade in ram with Apple is redonkulous. Thank you for the link. I guess that answers my memory question.

Illicit said:

Maybe this is what you're looking for:

OWC 4.0GB (2GB+2GB Kit) PC2-5300 DDR2 667MHz SO-DIMM 200 Pin Memory Upgrade Kit https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/53IM2DDR4GBK/

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Stang68 said:

I am in the exact same boat at you. Im a media production student in college and am buying the new MBP on Saturday for use with Final Cut. I am going to get the high end 15" one. There is no reason to get a 17", in my opinion, bc you wont have an LED screen. Sure, the 17" might have a higher res but LED will pay off in black levels really well and it saves battery life, something we will definitely need while editing. I know you're worried about drive space, and thats why you should buy an external drive. I bought a 120gb Lacie Rugged Drive that will be used whenever i edit on Final Cut. All of my video files will be put into there. The 15" will be fine and maybe down the line i might purchase a 20" monitor. BTW, how are you going to go about getting final cut? Its super expensive. I think i might be able to get it from my school for free. What about you?

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The choice for me was between the high end 15” and the 17”. At the end of the day the 250-300$ price difference just didn’t seem like a big deal but that was before the LED screens came around. I have to admit I know very little about them. Do you have any place where I can find information about them?

I plan on getting an external enclosure and convert a 200 or 250gb hard drive in my desktop machine (and replace it with a 500gb+ storage drive?)

Do you think the 160gb 5400 is decent as a system disk?

I do have a 19” LCD monitor I can use when I am at home, but what about if/when I am editing on location?

As for Final Cut Pro it is a lot and I can’t pay for it as a meager student. My Professor put me on an avenue to get it inexpensively.

What is the resolution of the LED screen?

wallaby said:

I wouldn't hold my breath for an LED-backlit 17in MPB anytime soon; we heard news about Apple ordering a bunch of 15.4in LED screens, but nothing of the 17in variety.

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Do you think it's a price or availability thing?

What would you consider serious editing? I am really leaning towards the 17"... if I'm unlucky (lucky) I'll have a bunch of problems with my machine (or will drive it into the ground) and have Apple gloriously replace it when some time after they're updated with LED screens.

I have been thinking that I probably wouldn't bring my machine to school every day. I'm still a pen and paper note taker. I just want an editing machine/laptop.

I hope you get the machine soon. With a good bookbag what difference is that inch all around and a few more pounds.

Grah... I just want my own editing studio space. :\

bottleddissent said:

I'm going to art school for film, so I was asking myself the same questions. But I ordered mine the day of the release--I knew what I wanted.

I got the 17" with Hi-res because I wanted all the real estate I could get on my screen. For serious editing I would probably use the computers at my school, but the computer will serve me fine in a homework setting. Also, I'm thinking an external display is in my future. I currently have two monitors hooked up to my G5 and it's become a necessity.

As for the RAM, I figured I'd give the 2GB a test and if they start holding me back (or my patience just runs out) that's when I'll upgrade to 4GB. That should also give the price some time to go down.

Lastly, I ordered the 7200rpm. Mostly because I was dropping all this money on a computer and I figured I might as well get something that'll really make me happy, but also because it would be terrible to think that my hard drive would be the one piece of hardware holding me back.

The shipping date for the HD has also gone back down to 1-3 days. Not that mine is here yet...

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