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Is a Black MacBook good enough for design?

R

RustyMac

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 21, 2007
76
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We currently own two laptops (brand new Black MacBook 2.4 & 17" MacBook Pro 2.6). We are returning the 17" MBP because of screen issues. We are thinking of just sticking with one new laptop (my fiance's Black MB) which she doesn't use as much. I am thinking of holding off to buy a new 17" MBP and waiting to see if they redesign them. I wanted to know, if I max out the ram (4 gigs) on the Black MB and attach an external screen, will this be a decent machine to run Adobe CS3 (graphics and web work done on Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Dreamweaver and Flash)?

Also, what is the best screen to purchase? I've heard to go with Samsung and buying it at Newegg.
 
not sure about the newegg, but samsungs are good bang for buck as most of them havw about 3000:1 contast ratio and 2 ms response time, which is awsome for graphic editing such as flash.
 
Yeah. More than enough for the CS you're talking about, don't even sweat it. As for a secondary screen, good question and no help here. I'll refer to others on that.
 
Since the most important components for Photoshop are the CPU and memory (graphics card doesn't matter because it's all 2D work), it's obvious there won't be much difference. 2.4 vs 2.6 CPU is minor, you said you will bring memory up to 4 GB, so you will have a practically identical machine.

As far as the monitor is concerned - how much are you willing to cough up? What size are you after? Since professional graphics work usually requires you to have a quality display with good colors, I'd recommend something like the Samsung 245T. I think meets all of your demands, it supports 1080p, 24" is also one of the more popular sizes lately and the most a MacBook can handle.
 
I'm running the AdobeCS3 Master Collection which includes:

– Adobe InDesign CS3 for professional page design
– Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended for new dimensions in digital imaging
– Adobe Illustrator CS3 for powerful vector graphics creation
– Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional for Adobe PDF creation and collaboration
– Adobe Flash CS3 Professional for creating rich interactive content
– Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 for developing standards-based websites and applications
– Adobe Fireworks CS3 for web prototyping and designing
– Adobe Contribute CS3 for updating websites and blogs
– Adobe After Effects CS3 Professional for industry-standard motion graphics and visual effects
– Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 for capturing, editing, and delivering video
– Adobe Encore CS3 for preparing DVD titles
– Adobe Soundbooth CS3 for creating and editing audio quickly and intuitively

Haven't used everything, but I'm extremely happy with my purchase and the way it's running on my BlackBook 2.4 Penryn! :cool:
 
jecapaga said:
Nice SFstate...I can only repeat that you won't have any lag with the basic CS you're talking about. Good to hear others.
Click to expand...

I've used InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Acrobat, and will be utilizing Premier Pro for some video starting Saturday morning. Everything else has been at a good pace, with no lag. The Master Collection was a steal at SLO Education Discount $541 OTD! :p
 
It'll be more than enough to run it, but one thing that I would point out is that I have two laptops, a MB and a MBP, with roughly equivalent CPUs. When running photoshop (doing anything in it really, even simple filters and resizing) the fan goes wild in the MacBook, spins up to 6000rpm and it gets quite hot, whereas the MacBook Pro doesn't even seem to notice, and the fans stay at their lowest 2000rpm, with very little heat difference.
 
Matek said:
Since the most important components for Photoshop are the CPU and memory (graphics card doesn't matter because it's all 2D work), it's obvious there won't be much difference. 2.4 vs 2.6 CPU is minor, you said you will bring memory up to 4 GB, so you will have a practically identical machine.

As far as the monitor is concerned - how much are you willing to cough up? What size are you after? Since professional graphics work usually requires you to have a quality display with good colors, I'd recommend something like the Samsung 245T. I think meets all of your demands, it supports 1080p, 24" is also one of the more popular sizes lately and the most a MacBook can handle.
Click to expand...

This looks like a sweet display. Will this work down the road if I want to attach a MBP to it? Also, what is the better RAM to buy? And what set up (1x2gigs or 2x1gigs)? What are the best brands? Is it ok to mix brands (using what's inside now with whatever I purchase)? Is it easy to install (I am use to older iBooks)?
 
RustyMac said:
This looks like a sweet display. Will this work down the road if I want to attach a MBP to it? Also, what is the better RAM to buy? And what set up (1x2gigs or 2x1gigs)? What are the best brands? Is it ok to mix brands (using what's inside now with whatever I purchase)? Is it easy to install (I am use to older iBooks)?
Click to expand...

For what it's worth, I'm running the same setup using the CS3 suite as well. Can't complain about performance, everything is as smooth as can be.

I'm using a Macbook 2.4Ghz with 4 GB of RAM. I upgraded myself, it was VERY easy to do. Check out this step-by-step guide.

For RAM, don't buy from Apple - as I'm sure you know. You can search around for PC2-5300 DDR2 667 compatible RAM - more info here. Example here. You'll want to get 2 x 2GB sticks (there are only two slots, so you want to use them wisely).

As for the monitor, I'm running the same external setup with a 24" Samsung 245BW - nothing short of impressive.

So to sum it all up, a Macbook and external monitor should be more than enough to run the CS3 Suite. Upgrade to the 4GB memory and you're laughing.
 
This looks like a sweet display. Will this work down the road if I want to attach a MBP to it? Also, what is the better RAM to buy? And what set up (1x2gigs or 2x1gigs)? What are the best brands? Is it ok to mix brands (using what's inside now with whatever I purchase)? Is it easy to install (I am use to older iBooks)?
Click to expand...
Sure, it will work with the MBP really well.

As far as RAM is concerned, like Alex M said, don't buy it from Apple, it's totally overpriced. Memory is an interesting piece of hardware, many people aren't aware that ALL memory modules with the same specifications (e.g. 2GB DDR2-667) will give you the exact same performance. Producers often abuse this, pump up their prices and quote special features (special mac compatibility, uber multimedia performance, lowest response time on the market, i've even heard about ones with inaudible operation!). That's why I always tell people that ask me for advice to get the cheapest available (like this one).

The only thing you should be careful about is getting two modules with the same capacity, because that will enable dual-channel, a performance-improving feature. Because current prices will ultimately just go up with the introduction of DDR3, I suggest you buy 2x2GB, you can get it for about 60 USD, which is a bargain IMHO.

It is usually OK to mix brands, although in rare cases you may encounter incompatibility problems.

Just like Alex M, I installed memory into my MacBook myself and it is a very simple process. If you ever held a screwdriver in your hand, you should be able to do it.
 
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