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I Still don't know!

M

MacMarf

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 5, 2010
57
0
So yeah next year I will follow a study multimedia design and I am currently doing freelance web and logo design. Also, I do need a new notebook. I was wondering if the MBP would be right for me. I will travel for about 2 hours everyday from home to school and vice versa. The current thing I am wondering about is the GPU, I mean come on, 256MB?! Or am I missing something here? My dad isn't convinced yet, he has been using windows all his life (Just like me, but I can get used to OSX pretty fast) and doesnt see a point in paying 300,- extra for 256mb extra GPU. Anyway to convince him to a Mac? He will be taking part in investing in it anyways :p This laptop has to last me for the next 5 years, atleast. Any good customizations? (Typo?)

Programs I will be using;

Photoshop
Illustrator
Flash
AfterEffects
+ Some other heavy programs
And all the others of CS5?
I don't think I will need it for gaming, I can step away from that habit :p

Thanks for your help, Great forum! Hope I can contribute to if I finally got mine.
 
A PC will be a much better idea for you. A Mac is not, period.
 
Get a Mac. For what you intend to do with it, a Mac is ideal, and a top end model will probably last you upwards of 5 years, although the last 2 years of its life will be a slow one.

Show your dad a Steve Jobs keynote and maybe the Snow Leopard presentation.
 
In my experience the CS programs run better on macs... Except for flash. ie, magic wand hugs the contrast line much better, and you don't have nearly as many random spots elsewhere. There is a reason top design firms use macs.

Also, 5 years is a long time, and macs are known to last that long.

With your design work, get a hi-res anti-glare, it reproduces colors more true than the glossy.
 
Okay, Thanks guys! Just went to MediaMarkt, he kept saying; Look how the MBP has no vents, look how the Acers and Sony have 1Gig of video ram (Anyone knows if this is shared Vram and whether the MBP has dedicated?) I really need a laptop with dedicated video ram.The only bottleneck for me buying a MBP now would be the lack of Vram, or do I miss something here? I have no Idea if 256 or 512 would last me that long. One more thing, I know windows notebooks drop in price like bricks, what would the MBP be worth if I put in a 128GB SSD and 8Gigs of RAM in 4 - 5 years?

Thanks for all your fast and great help!
 
vram only makes a big difference when playing 3d games or similar actions. Or I imaging when using CUDA, Stream or OpenCL enabled apps. I have a 2010 13" MBP 2.4 and use the CS5 suite, it has no problems whatsoever (though I don't use flash), and honestly CS5 runs faster on the Mac than it does on my Windows 7 desktop that has a Core 2 Quad @ 3Ghz and a Radeon 4850 1GB.
 
For the CS5 programs you want more ram, not GPU. GPU will make minimal difference and you can prove this easily by switching GPUs in the macs.

Also if you want a machine for work, get a mac. They are complete workhorses. You will also have to get away from the hardware chasing mentality. Mac OS is different then windows and will run differently on similar hardware. (Ever wonder why almost every photoshop/illustrator/photography tutorial shows the trainer using a mac? :) )

The macbook pro in my sig runs these programs daily (most at the same time):

-Maya
-Photoshop CS5
-ZBrush
-Corel Painter
-Unity 3D
-Logic
-Aperture
-XCode
-Adium
-iTunes
-Safari

There are MANY more but those are the ones that are open 99% of the time. My computer handles it all like a champ.

If you want portability, get the 13 inch to carry around and a larger monitor for back home you can connect it too. Put as much ram in it as you can afford because that is where you will see your difference in speed in the CS programs.

Oh, and save some money for a nice wacom. I love the intuos 4 wireless + art pen. FLAWLESS combination :)

Oh, and I'm also another one where my mac laptop outperforms my xeon based windows workstation at work. (Which is why my work machine is sitting there doing nothing while I'm on my laptop :D )
 
Haha, Okay thanks all! Anyways, other dillema; Get the 256MB or 512MB videocard? I got like 2.1k EU to spend, excluding applecare. What would be a good setup to start with? I will probably be upgrading to an SSD and 8GB ram, but the 4GB will do fine the first year I guess. Just want to know, the 1GB graphics in the Sony vaios, they are Shared right? This will be the first Mac im buying, so just want to make sure I do everything right.
 
MacMarf said:
Haha, Okay thanks all! Anyways, other dillema; Get the 256MB or 512MB videocard? I got like 2.1k EU to spend, excluding applecare. What would be a good setup to start with? I will probably be upgrading to an SSD and 8GB ram, but the 4GB will do fine the first year I guess. Just want to know, the 1GB graphics in the Sony vaios, they are Shared right? This will be the first Mac im buying, so just want to make sure I do everything right.
Click to expand...

I still got get why you want 1GB VRAM???
Putting 1GB in a laptop makes no sense, 8GB RAM tho is great if you work with huge photoshop documents
 
cluthz said:
I still got get why you want 1GB VRAM???
Putting 1GB in a laptop makes no sense, 8GB RAM tho is great if you work with huge photoshop documents
Click to expand...

I dont want it, I was just wondering if it was dedicated or shared.;)
 
Make sure you budget for the wacom!!! :)

Also if you ever think you may pick up Corel Painter (amazing program) they usually have bundles for wacoms and painter together and you can save lots of $$$
 
MacMarf said:
Okay, Thanks guys! Just went to MediaMarkt, he kept saying; Look how the MBP has no vents, look how the Acers and Sony have 1Gig of video ram (Anyone knows if this is shared Vram and whether the MBP has dedicated?) I really need a laptop with dedicated video ram.The only bottleneck for me buying a MBP now would be the lack of Vram, or do I miss something here? I have no Idea if 256 or 512 would last me that long. One more thing, I know windows notebooks drop in price like bricks, what would the MBP be worth if I put in a 128GB SSD and 8Gigs of RAM in 4 - 5 years?

Thanks for all your fast and great help!
Click to expand...

13" is shared VRAM, the 15 and 17" have dedicated (albeit slow) VRAM.

CS5 runs without issue on my 13" with 4 gig of RAM, but things can get painful when you have more than a few programs running.

The macbook's vent is under the screen, but macbooks do tend to get very hot both internally and to the touch.

HLDAN's recommendation could be for a variety of reasons, but the main reason I would suggest a PC over a Mac is due to the fact that you will always be wanting more power. Sure the mac may last 5+ years, but in that time, you could purchase 2 PCs for the same price, resulting in a total upgrade 1/2 way through that 5 year period.
 
the highend MBP15 is too expensive imho. hardly any programs effectively use the extra 256MB VRAM anyway since the bus slows it down so much it is of no use. the i7 is just 10-25% faster then the i5 and imho right now 8gb RAM would be overdoing it, you can do that in 3 years or so.

i think any laptop for 5 years is stretching it big time, but it might be possible....i still use a p4 desktop at times.

i think you could better order it online with the applestore then mediamarkt. that way you can get a 13% student discount plus a free ipod anyway, plus they have the High Res Anti Glare screen which to me is a *much* better option then the 512mb VRAM MBP15.
 
Tell your dad that numbers are misleading. vram on the gpu will have very little effect on any of those programs.

You can also mention it's an investment of sorts. Macbook Pros tend to last a very long time. There are people that are still using the old pre unibody MBPs without much problems.
 
Like we have all said, for what you listed in your OP, a MBP is more than capable. Upgrade your RAM if you do a lot of CS5 work, upgrade your hard drive to SSD or a Momentus.

The only reason you would even worry about VRAM is if you game a lot on an external monitor, or do a crap ton of HUGE video editing. But like you already said, you don't care about its gaming power, and multimedia design will have some video editing going on, but nothing that will be too taxing.

For me, I got a 2.4 i5 15" hi-res anti-glare, upgraded my RAM to 8GB, and upgraded to a momentus hybrid hard drive(I am waiting on SSD until prices come down). For me, this is plenty fast enough and powerful enough to us PS, InDesign, and Illustrator, sometimes even using all 3 at once. I am also going to have my browser open during this with multiple sites pulled up, etc. The images I am editing on pretty darn big, talking 10+megs a piece.

I had been doing this work on an '08 iMac, and that was better than a late '09 PC that was loaded with all the goodies, quad core, 1gb of VRAM, etc... and why did the iMac, and now MBP, do a better job with "worse" specs? Better OS, and invested wisely in what makes a difference, RAM and Hard drive speed.
 
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