choices, choices....!!

[woodbine]

In a bit of a quandary here and need some practical advice from the experts!

I had an old MP 2008 (8 core 2.8) that I used for some simple editing in FCP and quite a lot of transcoding in Compressor, MPEG Streamclip and Sorenson Squeeze. Not super fast, but fast enough to crunch the video files I was giving it.

I sold the MP last week and now all I have left is my Core 2 Duo 2.8 MBP to perform the above duties (I was going to fit an SSD and fill the RAM to give it some extra oomph)

I wanted to replace the MP with an Ivy Bridge iMac, with USB 3 for my growing storage needs and the right CPU would probably equal or exceed the number crunching potential. But they don't arrive until maybe October.

With the iMac doing the heavy lifting, I no longer need the 15" MBP. So was thinking to swap the 15" for the 13".

So do I swap the MBP now or later? Will I see an improvement on the above tasks with the slowest 13" MBP?

Budget is always constrained, having sold the MP for a decent wedge and still having the MBP + 23" monitor still to sell, I am hoping I come out almost even.

Thank you for your indulgence.

 

[axu539]

In a bit of a quandary here and need some practical advice from the experts!

I had an old MP 2008 (8 core 2.8) that I used for some simple editing in FCP and quite a lot of transcoding in Compressor, MPEG Streamclip and Sorenson Squeeze. Not super fast, but fast enough to crunch the video files I was giving it.

I sold the MP last week and now all I have left is my Core 2 Duo 2.8 MBP to perform the above duties (I was going to fit an SSD and fill the RAM to give it some extra oomph)

I wanted to replace the MP with an Ivy Bridge iMac, with USB 3 for my growing storage needs and the right CPU would probably equal or exceed the number crunching potential. But they don't arrive until maybe October.

With the iMac doing the heavy lifting, I no longer need the 15" MBP. So was thinking to swap the 15" for the 13".

So do I swap the MBP now or later? Will I see an improvement on the above tasks with the slowest 13" MBP?

Budget is always constrained, having sold the MP for a decent wedge and still having the MBP + 23" monitor still to sell, I am hoping I come out almost even.

Thank you for your indulgence.

I'm pretty sure the current Ivy Bridge chips are significantly faster than the C2D in your old MBP, so yes, a 13" will probably be faster. I'd go as far as suggesting a high end 11" Air for maximum portability, since you'd have an iMac to work with anyway.

 

[woodbine]

I have thought about the MBA, but lack of ports would severely hamper my work in the interim.

I would consider waiting until iMac come out and then opting for the 13" MBA.....but and this is a definite negative for me, the screen is not as good as the MBP's. I read a review on Anandtech where the MBA screen was visibly a lesser screen than the MBP.

But it's good to know that IvyBridge would probably beat out the C2D, even on a lower clock speed.

 

[NathanA]

...but and this is a definite negative for me, the screen is not as good as the MBP's. I read a review on Anandtech where the MBA screen was visibly a lesser screen than the MBP.

...??? I would love to see a link to this review. Both the 13" MacBook Pro and the 13" MacBook Air use LED-backlit twisted-nematic (bleh) LCDs. So the technology is exactly the same. But the MacBook Air gives you 1440x900 while the MacBook Pro is only 1280x800. The Air screen is clearly superior.

-- Nathan

 

[Feed Me]

...??? I would love to see a link to this review. Both the 13" MacBook Pro and the 13" MacBook Air use LED-backlit twisted-nematic (bleh) LCDs. So the technology is exactly the same. But the MacBook Air gives you 1440x900 while the MacBook Pro is only 1280x800. The Air screen is clearly superior.

-- Nathan

The screens in the MBA have poor colour gamut and accuracy, everything else about them is good though (brightness, blacks, etc).

 

[NathanA]

The screens in the MBA have poor colour gamut and accuracy,

Hah, of course they do...they're TN screens. I have my doubts that the 13" Pro screen could be that much better in color accuracy since it, too, is a TN, but I'll try to dig up the review/comparison in question.

Also, it is fairly well-known by this point that there are at least 3 suppliers of panels for the 13" Air (LG, Samsung, AUO), and they each have slightly different characteristics; wouldn't surprise me if there was a similar quality spread amongst the Pro line as well. This makes it fairly difficult to universally apply a quantitative statement such as "all 13-inch Pro screens are better in terms of color accuracy than all 13-inch Air screens."

-- Nathan

 

[Feed Me]

Also, it is fairly well-known by this point that there are at least 3 suppliers of panels for the 13" Air (LG, Samsung, AUO), and they each have slightly different characteristics. Wouldn't surprise me if there was a similar quality spread amongst the Pro line as well.

I know that with the rMBP screens at least there's a bit of a lottery as to whether you get an LG screen or a Samsung screen, with the Samsung generally being better, or at least less likely to have issues out of the box.