If you had to pick 1 today, which...

[joeysarks]

For FCPX and Motion 5. Projects under 20 minutes, but extremely EFX heavy at times. Prolly wouldn't have a bunch of stuff open in the background, just working in FCPX or Motion 5 alone.

1. Macbook Pro Retina, just a baseline. Already have a 1080p monitor, nothing crazy just a cheaper Asus for gaming.

2. iMac 21.5 with i7, 16gb of ram, and 1TB hard drive. (i'd need to buy an external for FireWire)

3. iMac 27 with i7, 8gb ram, 1TB hard drive (i'd need to buy an external for FireWire)

4. iMac 21.5 with i7, 8gb ram, hybrid 1TB HDD/256GB SSD (no need to buy external)

 

[stridemat]

Do you need mobility?

 

[iAppl3Fan]

I vote for option 2. No need for a rmbp if you're doing alot of video tasks and never mentioned the need for mobility.

 

[joeysarks]

I vote for option 2. No need for a rmbp if you're doing alot of video tasks and never mentioned the need for mobility.

Sorry forgot to even mention that. Definitely not a NEED for mobility, but it's nice to have. If I got a laptop I would take it places. (if I ended up DJing a party which is rare, or live streaming from a friends house) Basically it's not a need but I would make use of it, if it was there.

 

[iAppl3Fan]

Sorry forgot to even mention that. Definitely not a NEED for mobility, but it's nice to have. If I got a laptop I would take it places. (if I ended up DJing a party which is rare, or live streaming from a friends house) Basically it's not a need but I would make use of it, if it was there.

If you want mobility too, your best bet would probably be a base 21" iMac with 16gb ram + base macbook air for DJing and mobility needs. That more or less would be around the price of a rmbp. Besides, taking a rmbp around in a party might be asking for trouble with accidents on your equipment. With this two system setup, you can do your video edits and have a free machine for other light tasks.

 

[FrizzleFryBen]

I'd go option 4. There is no better decision I've ever made than SSD for OS and apps. I also like the above suggestion to get a base 11" MBA with the money you saved over buying RMBP.

 

[joeysarks]

I'd go option 4. There is no better decision I've ever made than SSD for OS and apps. I also like the above suggestion to get a base 11" MBA with the money you saved over buying RMBP.

Does it really make that much of a difference having SSD strictly for OS and apps? I've always been standoffish cuz i've heard you wanna keep writing to an SSD down as much as possible. Kinda wanted to shy away from Desktop/Laptop setup too if only for the fact that I feel super guilty when I only use 1...which usually happens.

...but I can see bein uber paranoid about taking a MBPr anywhere lol

 

[FrizzleFryBen]

Does it really make that much of a difference having SSD strictly for OS and apps? I've always been standoffish cuz i've heard you wanna keep writing to an SSD down as much as possible. Kinda wanted to shy away from Desktop/Laptop setup too if only for the fact that I feel super guilty when I only use 1...which usually happens.

That once was a "problem". In my company, I have 6 MBAs floating around, some for years and have never had a problem. I replaced all the HDs in MBPs with Hybrid drives that have a 8GB SSD and 750 GB HDD that work in tandem (EVERYONE said it was very noticable). I also store my working database/CRM on an SSD on an xServe and after 1.5 years, not a single problem (has hundreds of read/writes per second, 24/7, 365. It used to be on a SAS RAID 1 and once on a single SSD, significantly faster.)

That's my experience