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Buying a MBP

A

apeden

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 21, 2011
56
0
I have a budget of about $3,000 and I need to buy a new mac. I'm a video editor using FCP, so I am trying to figure out which mac would the best bang for my money. Trying to figure out which mac would be the fastest for my money. I could get a fully upgraded MBP with a SSD for about $3,000 or I could by a MacPro with a few upgrades. I am not sure which one would be faster? Right now I have a 2008 2.2ghz MBP, I would not mind getting another MBP but I want to get the most out of my money. I want to go into the field of film, so I want this next computer to last me and be the best thing for me.

Thanks
 
I would defenitely choose the Mac Pro. It's very upgradable, and this is the most important factor you should consider in my opinion. Personally I'd save some more money for the 8-Core, as you are going to handle heavy tasks - this means 500$ more, however. Also, this means you should already own one or more screens - is this the case?

I'd avoid the MBP, as from what I understand you don't really need portability.

Probably the Mac Pro line up is going to receive an update anytime soon, even though there isn't particular news going on these days. I'd wait to see what happen.
 
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I'd go for the 17" quad i7 MBP 2,3 matte (or the cheaper 2,2) which is available as a refurbished offer at the apple online store.

The machine is plenty powerful, and you would presumably miss the portability of your workspace having just a desktop.

The screen estate of the 17 does it perfectly on the go, and it can join one or two displays at home very well for a large setup.
 
I do have a screen, I have a 25inch HP. So that is not a big problem for me.

I thought about an iMac, but one thing is that it would not fit on my college desk at school lol. And you can not upgrade it in the future.

I will be keeping my current MBP, so I will still have that. I could always get remote desktop, and then I could use my MacPro where ever I want via my laptop. Back to the macpro, you would go with at least 8cores, correct? Which means I need to save a little bit more lol
 
If you're not looking for portability at all (and you have your 2008 MBP) or power in a portable setup (i.e. if your 2008 model is lacking) then go with a Mac Mini, iMac, or Mac Pro. A Mac Mini may not be powerful enough in comparison to all of the quad+ models you have in mind, and you said that an iMac isn't an option because it doesn't fit. I would go with either a Mac Pro if your budget is that high or perhaps a high-end 15''.

How will you manage to fit an external monitor or a Mac Pro display where an iMac doesn't fit, though? You have a 25'' monitor apparently, are you really pressed for space where getting rid of 2'' of screen is necessary in comparison to a top spec 27'' iMac?
 
In my college dorm it comes with a desk. And the desk has two shelves on it. My 25inch monitor just fits in between the desk the the bottom part of the first shelf. A 27 inch iMac will not fit on my desk, so I would have to put it on the floor, which is a bad idea for many reasons lol
 
That's quite the specific exception.

Have you considered a high-end 21.5'' iMac? It's somewhat similar to an entry level Mac Pro, and you'll be able to hang on to $1000.
 
I thought about that too, but I am not sure how fast it would be? I mean if it is worth getting? Any thoughts?
 
Do NOT buy the current Mac Pro, it is way out of date and is waaay overdue for an upgrade!

I think this would be your best bet if you are still happy with your MBP and just need a excellent and easily upgradable desktop and you already have the peripherals you need.

Like you said the iMac is not as upgradable.
 
If you'll be studying film, the Mac Pro is a good decision, especially since you already have a MBP you can carry around.
 
apeden said:
I thought about that too, but I am not sure how fast it would be? I mean if it is worth getting? Any thoughts?
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If I were ever to purchase an iMac, I would get an entry level 21.5'' or a high end 27''. I wouldn't go for a high-end 21.5'' or a low-end 27''.

The entry level 21.5'' has a 2.5 GHz quad-core i5 processor, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB of storage, and a 512 MB graphics card (6750M). The processor should be great for video editing, and the 21.5'' display has a 1920x1080 resolution - you'll have plenty of room to work.

I think that the entry level iMac is the most complete package and will allow you to get the most out of your money and let you to hold on to some of it as well. The only extra money that I would spend on it would be for Applecare. You can upgrade the RAM yourself if you would like to.

You're getting a mouse, keyboard, 21.5'' display with a 2.5 GHz quad-core and a 512 MB dedicated graphics card for the same list price as an entry level MacBook Pro. If you wouldn't mind not have a laptop and portability isn't your concern, then I believe the entry level iMac is certainly the most complete package that you can buy.
 
Yes. It's a 2.5 GHz quad-core i5, and it has a 512 MB dedicated card for graphic tasks. You can upgrade the other components as well.
 
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I think the base iMac is good enough, too. but since u have 3 grand budget and a 27" iMac is out of the question and a Mac pro is awaiting a refresh and u already have a MBP and u r a FCP user--then the best middle ground Mac for u right now since your budget allows seems 2 be the highest end 21" iMac w/ the 2.8 i7 upgrade. U get faster CPU, more l3 cache and hyper-threading and the gpu has a faster clockspeed than the base model--all well under ur budget and would be a decent fcp machine machine. U could spend your remaing budget on ram and a couple of FireWire drives or an ext monitor or fcpx, the new motion and compressor, which will make good use of the current iMac's xtra cores/threads and gpu.
 
If you want something that's going to last a long time, I'd go for the Mac Pro, as long as you wait until the next round of updates. As others have said, there should be an update soon. The Mac Pro will give you the option to do upgrades over time, and you should be able to get many good years of use out of it. I love my MacBook Pro, but it's definitely going to have a shorter lifespan because you just can't do many upgrades to it. The iMac would give you enough power, I think, but again, limited ability to upgrade.
 
If you can wait, Apple is bringing out a 17" i7 Macbook Pro Air before the holidays which are not too far off now. Summer's almost over. Obviously not privy to the specs but I hear it will have SSD and wafer type ram as the current Airs. But it will be thinner, lighter, and thank god for that big 17" screen real estate. It's the sweet spot for visual editing and foley work.

You are aware that any of the current Mac's as well as those of generations gone by run FCP quite well. What you will need depends on what your final market will be when you sell your visual. Is it going to be for theatrical release or for television? Each one has its own specific requirements that you need to follow and that could be a deciding factor in which Mac you need. Can save you tens of thousands of dollars later on by not having a shop do the post work. Obviously if you are making a feature length story on 16mm or 35mm film or 4K video you will need a raid system setup. If you are just going to be using plain vanilla 1080i or 1080p video then no worries mate. Sounds like your budget of $3000 could be best spent by buying a portable - that way you can take it with you and edit on the spot. You can bring in audio and mix as needed right in the field. As nice as the Mac Pros are - and they are very nice - they are not at all portable and I am a believer in portability.
 
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I don't think that's been confirmed at all yet. Like most things on this site, it's a rumor. If you need a computer now, buy it now. If you can and want to, wait to see what comes out in the near future.
 
apeden said:
I have a budget of about $3,000 and I need to buy a new mac. I'm a video editor using FCP, so I am trying to figure out which mac would the best bang for my money. Trying to figure out which mac would be the fastest for my money. I could get a fully upgraded MBP with a SSD for about $3,000 or I could by a MacPro with a few upgrades. I am not sure which one would be faster? Right now I have a 2008 2.2ghz MBP, I would not mind getting another MBP but I want to get the most out of my money. I want to go into the field of film, so I want this next computer to last me and be the best thing for me.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I would recommend a MacBook pro if you need portability or a Mac pro.

Definitely do NOT get an air. Comparatively very slow to MacBook pros and def not designed for fcp.

The Mac pro has not been updated in about a year...though it is prob still the fastest Mac. Might want to wait until the new ones come out if you have the time to wait.
 
apeden said:
There is a 17inch MacBook Air coming out?
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Nobody knows. And an air isn't what you want seeing as you're doing higher end rendering and processing.

sweetbrat said:
I don't think that's been confirmed at all yet. Like most things on this site, it's a rumor. If you need a computer now, buy it now. If you can and want to, wait to see what comes out in the near future.
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This.

But to just insert my opinion, you're going to college. I'm sure by now (hopefully) you know the importance of reading. That holds true to forums. Take maybe 2 or 3 days and READ the posts and topics that are already here.

There are a plethora of people who come here and ask for advice about things they can simply answer themselves. It doesn't take much time, nor effort, to sit down, open up 3 or so threads at a time, and read through them.

When buying ANYTHING, you should be edudcated on the subject. From cars to homes to electronics; the WORST thing you can do is go to the dealership/best buy and ask someone there. THE WORST. Coming to a forum is a step up but the BEST thing you can do, in any situation, is read.

Get to the point where you know about everything (in this case, all of the MBs and how "good" they are) so you can simply stop, think for a minute or two, maybe make a bullet point list, and then decide.

Coming here asking between the Mac Pro or a MBP is great; you can simply decide between the two if you're going to have to move the thing. Since you already have a MBP you can simply search for benchmarks and then decide for either/or. That's the smartest and easiest thing to do; AND you would have already known the answer by now.

I don't' mean to get off the soap box, but if more people in general actually did put effort into learning/reading before buying, half of us wouldn't be posting mindless topics here on the forum (not saying yours is, just in general.)

You're going to (or in college). You should already know this first hand. I'm only 19 and I knew this a year ago at least.
 
apeden said:
I have a budget of about $3,000 and I need to buy a new mac. I'm a video editor using FCP, so I am trying to figure out which mac would the best bang for my money. Trying to figure out which mac would be the fastest for my money. I could get a fully upgraded MBP with a SSD for about $3,000 or I could by a MacPro with a few upgrades. I am not sure which one would be faster? Right now I have a 2008 2.2ghz MBP, I would not mind getting another MBP but I want to get the most out of my money. I want to go into the field of film, so I want this next computer to last me and be the best thing for me.

Thanks
Click to expand...

am selling my macbook pro 15 baseline model,bought in april,thinking of buying an iMac 27. 1400$ sounds reasonable, thanks.
 
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