CS3 on a Macbook, too slow?

[pinkpen]

I went into the Apple store a week ago all ready to buy a shiny new MacBook, 'til I told the Specialist why I wanted it... I'm a web designer, so I'll be running most of Adobe Creative Suite 3 - flash, photoshop, fireworks, dreamweaver... He said that completely ruled out the Macbook, because those programs would pretty much freeze and/or shut it down, and that I needed an MBP.

The MBP is stretching my budget a smidge, but with the education discount (I also teach), it's doable. The thing is, I wanted the lighter, smaller MB for something a bit more portable. It won't be my main computer, I also have a 20" iMac, but I will still want enough power to work away from my home office.

I'm also waffling on the whole update issue... last year, a month after I bought my iMac, Apple released a new version. Ugh. But my HP laptop is on its last legs, so I'll be looking to make the purchase fairly soon.

Honestly, though, I suspect the Specialist was just trying to get me to spend an extra $600... So my question is... do you have an MB and run CS3? Is it really slow? I have no patience, so I want something fairly speedy and responsive. Or should I just bite the bullet and go for the MBP?

 

[Eidorian]

The MacBook is more then enough to run CS3.

Just get lots of RAM for a reputable vendor.

 

[costabunny]

I concur - I use CS3 on my MacbookAir and its fine (I am editing 40MB Raw files with multiple layers).

A Macbook will be fine

(the comment about the memory is good advice)

 

[pinkpen]

Ohhhh, don't tell me that. I ruled out the MBA because I thought I wouldn't have a hope in heck of running CS3 on it, but it's really what I'd prefer.

And yes, the plan is to max out the RAM. Thanks.

 

[maestrocasa]

The MacBook is more then enough to run CS3.

Ditto that. My wife has a MB and uses the full suite, multiple apps at a time, with no problems.

Just get lots of RAM for a reputable vendor.

Ditto that too. Max it out. Crucial memory is usually pretty reasonable, but there's lots of other good suppliers.

And hang on a couple more weeks. Possible MB refreshes in September.

 

[costabunny]

Ohhhh, don't tell me that. I ruled out the MBA because I thought I wouldn't have a hope in heck of running CS3 on it, but it's really what I'd prefer.

And yes, the plan is to max out the RAM. Thanks.

Thats the only downside to the Air - the ram is pre-maxed at 2GB or take your pick, its ok for me, but thats me.

 

[bit density]

Totally fine, however...

If you are charging for your time, you will simply be faster on a faster computer. The apps will run fine on a lesser computer, but you will not be as competitive or productive as you can be.

If you are budget constrained, this is obviously yet an issue for you. But keep it in mind going forward.

 

[taylorwilsdon]

You should have told him to stuff it. For the majority of web design applications, they don't even use the video card. A 2.4ghz Macbook uses the same processor, the same RAM, the same hard drive as a 2.4ghz Macbook Pro, so there is no way they could perform differently running the same application (well, of course they would but the difference would be negligible).

 

[Abstract]

Thats the only downside to the Air - the ram is pre-maxed at 2GB or take your pick, its ok for me, but thats me.

Yeah, the MBA would handle the job just fine......if it allowed for more than 2 GB of RAM. Actually, even on 2 GB of RAM, it's absolutely fine. You just can't keep all your apps open like I do. I keep everything open, and when I try to run Lightroom + Photoshop + MS Word + iCal + iTunes + Mail + Firefox with 7 tabs open + LaTeX/TeXShop, it's starving for more RAM. I have 3 GB.

Anyway, get the MacBook. It's fine for stuff like this.

 

[bertpalmer]

Whilst I have the pro I have graphic design friends who use the macbook and it is fine.

Whilst you might want the larger screen of the pro which I could understand you paying more for you don't need the graphics card.

Best to max the RAM although it will run without fairly well.

 

[chiefroastbeef]

Whilst I have the pro I have graphic design friends who use the macbook and it is fine.

Whilst you might want the larger screen of the pro which I could understand you paying more for you don't need the graphics card.

Best to max the RAM although it will run without fairly well.

Two whilst? Really?

 

[velocityg4]

Also if you want to speed up the load time and opening/saving multiple large files on the go I would consider switching the HD out with a 7200RPM model. At whatever size you will need.