Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Integrated Graphics equivalence and other questions...

R

Ryuukumori

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 18, 2008
467
0
So I had been a MBP lurker for the past few months, and have time until next year to think about buying a laptop for college. I was thinking of saving some money and getting a simple MacBook. I will be doing photo editing and music production. Is a MB ideal for my needs through college?

On to the integrated graphics. I know that it does not have dedicated video RAM, so I will be purchasing 4 GB 3rd Party RAM from Crucial, Newegg, whatever is cheapest. What kind of power does this integrated graphics card have in equivalence to manufacturers like NVidia, AMD, etc? Is it powerful enough to work with photo editing in photography and music production for college?

On a side note, I will be waiting for any updates that come in my way, whether its a complete case redesign, possibly NVidia dedicated graphics in the future (?), Nehalem when it releases in time before I buy, etc.

Thanks for any help.
 
Dedicated graphics are really only important for gaming, Motion/Color in Final Cut Studio, and 3D rendering. The MB should be fine.

I would advise you to get an MBP or an external monitor for a MB if the screen is too restricting for editing. The lower resolution might be a problem.
 
You think it might be too small of screen or low resolution for picture editing or making music?

I mean, I know a good photographer who uses a MBA! XD
 
Ryuukumori said:
You think it might be too small of screen or low resolution for picture editing or making music?
Click to expand...

I am in a similar situation. Since the size isn't the real problem (resolution is) I made this little background to compare the resolution of the MB vs the MBP vs my iMac 20".


Make this your wallpaper and scale all the windows in Photoshop to the MB size screen. Just work for an hour or so in both MB and MBP resolution to figure it all out.

I didn't really notice any real boost in productivity when I tried this test. It seemed the MB and MBP BOTH offer a slightly cramped working environment. Both are manageable though, and I don't think I can personally justify the $400 difference on a small boost in productivity. It really is a shame the MBP doesn't offer 1680x1050 in 15". Honestly, either way a Mac lappy is going to have a low resolution compared to what it COULD be.

100 people on here are going to give 100 different answers. Technically, yes the MB is fully capable of satisfying your needs, but just play with my little test and see which you feel more comfortable with. Then you have to decide if the added $ for the Pro is worth it for your situation.

Good luck!
 
urlostinmyworld said:
When considering my first macbook, screen "real estate" was definitely one of my worries. I was accustomed to a nice 18-inch CRT that I had used for the past 5 years (at 1280x960). When I switched to the macbook i was amazed at the crisp neat screen that the little 13-inch thing had. At 1280x800 I hardly noticed a difference, and with Spaces and Expose, I found that I had more "virtual real estate" to work with than that on my PC. Now when using the PC, I feel more cramped, and often find myself flying the corners out of habit, confuzed when nothing happens (i have the lower corners linked to spaces and expose, and I switch between virtual screens unconsciously :D )

I have more than enough space to use garageband, but I will admit to sometimes feeling a bit cramped in Photoshop (but i think that is because I usually have a million different monitor windows open on the sides).

As for productivity, once you learn how to effectively use spaces and expose, you'll have more productivity than that on a PC

(oh and for gaming, the orange box runs just fine through crossover :D )
Click to expand...

are you using a macbook?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back