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Is 13.3 MBP somewhat future proof?

G

ghostnotes

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 20, 2009
3
0
Hey,

I plan on buying my first ever mac here in the next day to a week. I've played around with some at best buy and a local apple dealer and I must say i was pretty impressed. I'm very much into music and will be doing lots of recording this fall in a professional studio but im looking for something to record music while on the move or program different drum loops/looped music. I also want to be able to game but that isn't important. I have a high end desktop PC to take care of games like crysis and etc. but it'd be nice if my MBP could play them.

I plan on buying a refurbished 13.3 MBP 2.26 Ghz core 2 duo, 160 gb HD 2gb RAM...

Will this handle games? I really am interested in the new Star Wars: The old republic but it isn't coming out for a year.. Will the 9400M card handle it?

What about music, photo editing and HD video editing? I want to record, use the laptop for playing drum loops in a live setting and also editing recreational video footage shot from an $800 HD camcorder. Will it work?

Sorry for so many questions but I've got all the cash ready to blow but I just need to be sure im making the right decision.
 
The 13 mbp has a unified audio-in/out port so that may be of issue if you're doing some audio stuff.
In regards to gaming, this latest macbook pro doesn't run windows well...the audio is low & distorted and the microphone doesn't work with the latest drivers available from apple.
 
There is no such thing as a future proof computer, you should be fine w/ everything unless you do a lot of gaming then you may want the 15" or 17" for the better graphics card. I have the 13" uni & it is awesome! Hope this helps
 
Anyone who asks about a "future-proof" product from Apple gets grilled for using that term, and I think rightfully so. A 13" MBP won't be the latest and greatest forever, thereby making it "future-proof". It will last you several years, if that's what you're asking. Otherwise, in order to truly be "future-proof", you'll have to purchase a product that hasn't been invented yet. Let me know when you find it.
 
The MBP is going to handle video editing very well, iMovie is fine for little things but if your doing high end stuff you should think about investing in better software. The same is true for audio, I have heard 0 complaints about the audio in but all the same if yor doing high end stuff investing in a USB audio interface and better software might be a good idea.
 
windowsblowsass said:
The MBP is going to handle video editing very well, iMovie is fine for little things but if your doing high end stuff you should think about investing in better software. The same is true for audio, I have heard 0 complaints about the audio in but all the same if yor doing high end stuff investing in a USB audio interface and better software might be a good idea.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much! I was planning on possibly getting an interface to go with the firewire 800 and then buying ableton live and logic and sometime in the future final cut so i appreciate the reminder that software is the key to higher grade quality. It seems like i should go ahead and buy the 13" MBP.
 
With the New 13 uMBP what is the deal with the unified Audio port, why did they make one port do both as you lose the ability to multitask when editing video, I just do not get it, so that is one reason I am sticking with my uMB 2.4/4GB/500GB because it has both ports.

Oh well sometimes the Grass isn't always greener on the other side :(

However I am able to run Windows XP on my Boot Camp and I run the following with very little problems

Halo PC
COD 1, 2, 3 4, 5
Spore
Left for Dead Struggles a little so I turn down the settings and it seems ok, but the 15 uMBP with the Dual GPU would handle it better, also I can not get Crysis to run right, but it runs fine on my friends Early 2009 uMBP 15 with the 2.53/4GB/320GB running windows xp on boot camp
 
Wicked1 said:
With the New 13 uMBP what is the deal with the unified Audio port, why did they make one port do both as you lose the ability to multitask when editing video, I just do not get it, so that is one reason I am sticking with my uMB 2.4/4GB/500GB because it has both ports.

Oh well sometimes the Grass isn't always greener on the other side :(

However I am able to run Windows XP on my Boot Camp and I run the following with very little problems

Halo PC
COD 1, 2, 3 4, 5
Spore
Left for Dead Struggles a little so I turn down the settings and it seems ok, but the 15 uMBP with the Dual GPU would handle it better, also I can not get Crysis to run right, but it runs fine on my friends Early 2009 uMBP 15 with the 2.53/4GB/320GB running windows xp on boot camp
Click to expand...

Well it seems there's so many versions of uMB and uMBP's out idk which is which. Where can i find one similiar to yours? Whats the price range for gently used or preferably, refurbished?
 
You can find them refurbished on Apple for like $999 then upgrade it yourself.

I have not had any trouble with mine and once you up the ram to 4GB and I went from 250 to 320 and now 500GB 5400 rpm on the HDD and all things are good.

I loaded Win XP SP3 on my bootcamp and it all works ok.
 
The 13" MBP CAN NOT handle HD video editing or modern games

I know people will freak out because I said this, but it’s the truth and you’d understand this if you had a 13” MBP.

Just watching a HD video causes my CPU get up to 85*C....Although I haven’t done it, I’d say editing one would cause it to catch on fire.

If you want to game and edit movies, buy a proper desktop with adequate cooling, or at the very least, buy Apple care and accept that you will have hardware problems in the future.
 
zw-gator said:
Just watching a HD video causes my CPU get up to 85*C....Although I haven’t done it, I’d say editing one would cause it to catch on fire.
Click to expand...

I have a 13" MBP and edit video fine. I've even edited with a white plastic MB with a integrated Intel video card before. No problems whatsoever.
 
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