I need some buying advice for my one-man graphic design business. I work mostly with InDesign to lay out a monthly magazine, and use Photoshop and Lightroom for photo editing along with some occasional Illustrator. I need more RAM (16GB) mainly, and quad core processing power would be very welcome.
I currently have a 2010 17" MacBook Pro. It's a dual core 2.6Ghz i7 with 8GB of 1067 Mhz RAM. I've swapped out the SuperDrive for a 120GB OCZ Agility 3 SSD, and it also still has the stock 500GB 7200 RPM drive. Running 10.8.2. So it's a decent machine, by no means slow for most tasks. I run it plugged in on my desk 95% of the time, connected to 23" Cinema Display, external drives, keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc.
I'd like to get a new machine. My dilemma is whether to grab a refurb quad core 2012 mini for $679 and install my own SSD and 16GB of RAM, and use that as my main work machine and keep my 2010 MBP as a backup/travel machine, or sell my MBP and invest in a 15" Retina MBP.
I think when it comes down to it, just shelling out for a mini vs. selling my current machine and putting that money toward the purchase of a rMBP will work out to be around the same amount of cash outlay.
I've always used the "laptop as a desktop" solution, mainly so I can just unplug and go at a moment's notice and not have to worry about keeping two machines updated, in sync, etc. I'm not sure if that's an ideal solution or if I'd be better off with two machines.
Just wondering if anyone else has been down this road, or what your advice would be in this situation. Thanks!
I currently have a 2010 17" MacBook Pro. It's a dual core 2.6Ghz i7 with 8GB of 1067 Mhz RAM. I've swapped out the SuperDrive for a 120GB OCZ Agility 3 SSD, and it also still has the stock 500GB 7200 RPM drive. Running 10.8.2. So it's a decent machine, by no means slow for most tasks. I run it plugged in on my desk 95% of the time, connected to 23" Cinema Display, external drives, keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc.
I'd like to get a new machine. My dilemma is whether to grab a refurb quad core 2012 mini for $679 and install my own SSD and 16GB of RAM, and use that as my main work machine and keep my 2010 MBP as a backup/travel machine, or sell my MBP and invest in a 15" Retina MBP.
I think when it comes down to it, just shelling out for a mini vs. selling my current machine and putting that money toward the purchase of a rMBP will work out to be around the same amount of cash outlay.
I've always used the "laptop as a desktop" solution, mainly so I can just unplug and go at a moment's notice and not have to worry about keeping two machines updated, in sync, etc. I'm not sure if that's an ideal solution or if I'd be better off with two machines.
Just wondering if anyone else has been down this road, or what your advice would be in this situation. Thanks!
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