FCP X on 2011 13" MBP i7

[laserbeam273]

I'm looking to get into doing some video editing (HD diving videos, only 5-10 min each), and because I also need a good computer for uni I'm looking at getting a 2011 MBP. How will the 13" i7 fare with FCP X? Will it be usable and effective? The geekbench score (~7500) is pretty beastly, but I do realise that it doesn't exactly correspond to real world applications.

Also, would an SSD or external TB raid be a big improvement, or not really?

I would definitely be upgrading my RAM to 8 GB, by the way. And I'll be getting myself an HD monitor.

 

[ChrisA]

I'm looking to get into doing some video editing (HD diving videos, only 5-10 min each), and because I also need a good computer for uni I'm looking at getting a 2011 MBP. How will the 13" i7 fare with FCP X? Will it be usable and effective? The geekbench score (~7500) is pretty beastly, but I do realise that it doesn't exactly correspond to real world applications.

Also, would an SSD or external TB raid be a big improvement, or not really?

I would definitely be upgrading my RAM to 8 GB, by the way. And I'll be getting myself an HD monitor.

The biggest problem with video editing on the notebook is the screen size. The number of controls and bottons and so on eats up even a large iMac screen.

Any Mac will work as far as speed goes, but you run out f screen space really fast on a 13". Buy a larger monitor.

 

[laserbeam273]

Is the graphics card an issue though? I've done a bit of reading and the opinions seem mixed. Though I don't see how it'd be that important, unless you're doing some fancy 3D work.

So you reckon 1920X1080 from an external monitor will be too small? Dual-screen with the MBP and that monitor won't be enough? How big do I need for it to be workable?

 

[ChrisA]

Is the graphics card an issue though? I've done a bit of reading and the opinions seem mixed. Though I don't see how it'd be that important, unless you're doing some fancy 3D work.

So you reckon 1920X1080 from an external monitor will be too small? Dual-screen with the MBP and that monitor won't be enough? How big do I need for it to be workable?

If you had a 24" monitor and your 13" that would be enough. It worked well enough on my 24" iMac. Now I have a 27" iMac. It'spleny big.

The thing about screen sizes is the it's the area in square inches that matters. Each pull down or control takes area. And are is proportional to the diagonal. So a 26" is four times the size of a 13" not twice the size.

 

[laserbeam273]

Cool stuff. I'll look at getting a fairly large monitor then.

Ordering my 13" MBP now, definitely looking forward to it! Hope to get it by Friday - that'd be awesome!