The Question Everyone's Asking: MacBook or MacBookPro

[snowmoon]

Hmm…One of the assitant editors that I work with says FCP runs fine on his Blackbook. He didn't say anything about Motion so I'll have to ask him tomorrow.

Why not just go to the source?

http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/download/

"# AGP Quartz Extreme or PCI Express graphics card (Final Cut Studio is not supported on systems using the Intel Extreme Graphics 950 GMA)
# Motion requires the standard graphics card found in any Mac Pro, MacBook Pro, iMac Intel Core Duo, Power Mac G5, iMac G5, a 1.25 GHz or faster PowerBook G4, or a 1.25 GHz or faster flat-panel iMac."

It's not *supported* but it can run...

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/207297/

"Final Cut Pro runs well on the MacBook- but dont expect all the Full Quality Real Time Rendering for multiple HD tracks that the MacBook Pro can handle. I've seen benchmarks that say Motion CAN be run on MacBooks, but isn't supported and has shoddy performace (Intel GMA - Duh...), but DVD Studio Pro and Soundtrack Pro work fine too."

 

[nazmac21]

A MacBook will be fine for what you do. Just give the MacBook 2 Gigs of Ram and a 7200 RPM Hard Drive.

 

[MRU]

We have ran Final Cut Studio on a macbook and it works grand. Well all except motion, but that runs like a dog on anything other than an excellent GPU like the X1900 XT, seeing as though its the one app that relies more on GPU than CPU.

Video Editing and such on a macbook is grand, and how many video editors here really do everything without the occasional render ? If rendering the odd effect & transition is a problem than chances are you arent buying a macbook anyway.

 

[dzigg]

I'm in the same boat..

I found this benchmarks, and final cut seems runs pretty well on macbook! and must be noted that the guy still has the old core duo, not core 2 duo.. so I think the newer macbook should be better right?

here's the link..http://creativemac.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=43717

 

[Shadow]

How do you use these programs a lot if you're using an Intel Celeron system with 512 MB of RAM? It's obviously not a Mac.

If you illegally installed it on your current system, then it couldn't have handled all those apps simultaneously anyway, so I guess you can survive without running everything at once.

He said would be using.

 

[Bob Jovi]

those benchmarks have really cemented my decision to get one a 2.0 macbook. i think it'll be a great portable option for me.

 

[plarusa]

I just would like some help answering the question on everybody's mind. MB or MBPro.

Current configuration: Dell Insprion 1150 (from way back in the day)

• Intel Celeron 2.60 GHz
• 512 MB of RAM
• 40 GB hard drive (excruciatingly tiny)

As you can imagine, opening more than two programs is a bit much for this thing, even iTunes.

A little background information:

I'm a senior in high school. I am a web designer, graphic artist, and photographer. I also do some print work. I plan to continue working with those areas and possibly moving into some film work as well.

Programs in use a lot:

The basics obviously. I keep most of the apps I use frequently open almost 100% of the time. These would be:

• iTunes, Adium, Safari, Mail, BBEdit, etc.
• Photoshop
• Aperture
• InDesign
• Illustrator

These apps are open pretty much all the time, plus more. Also, depending on whether I get into film or not, I may be using Final Cut Pro.

Right now I have my eye on the black MacBook, which I would configure out to 2 GBs of RAM and most likely a 200 GB HD.

Excuse me if I may sound silly asking, but you have to understand where I'm coming from. I know it will be a 4x upgrade in RAM from what I currently have, but the two questions I have are:

Will a maxed out MacBook be able to do run all those apps at the same time?

Secondly, if I do decide to get into film, will it be enough to also run Final Cut Pro (I probably won't have the graphic apps open during this)?

My other worry is that the MacBook screen won't be big enough when I need it, but right now the reason I want the MacBook is because it's a smaller laptop then what I'm currently lugging around.

I know this is a hard decision. I really like the black MacBook for it's style, color, and size, but I'm just wondering if it will be enough or not.

Anyways, thanks in advance. And it'll be nice to finally be on the greener side of the fence.

Macbook Pro most definitely. If you can afford it, go for the 17" for the bigger screen and the better speakers. The 17" runs cooler than the 15" and has a longer lasting battery. Plus you get firewire 800 which is fast. I purchased a 17" six months ago, which is easily one of the best purchases I ever made.

 

[The Stig]

Mbp

 

[jane doe]

I got a black Macbook because I didn't need the extra graphics and took the extra money and upped the hard drive and ram to 2GB.

I've been happy every since. I am going to run out of space on my 100GB HD soon so now I wish I had gotten a even bigger drive.