Is the high end 15 MBP sufficient for 3D scanning?

[syunysi]

Hi all,
I am going to pull the trigger on the high end 15 MBP (upgrade to Apple 128GB SSD) for work use. Before today, I always thought that the 3D scanner that will be used for my research has a Mac version software, unfortunately, my colleague told me that it hasn't. I am kind of in a dilemma now, I wonder if the high end 15 MBP can support the system requirements of the scanner (please see the link http://www.nextengine.com/faq#system). Also, if I use BootCamp, would you guys recommend that I keep the stock drive? (I have little media and all images are stored in my external). I am worried that 128GB SSD is not enough to run Windows and OSX.
Thanks.

 

[Kyzelios]

Yes, the MacBook Pro should be able to handle the 3D scanner that you need without any problems.

A 128 GB solid state drive should be large enough to run both Mac OS X and Windows side by side if you aren't storing other data on the disk (like music and photos). If you are looking at storing any large amount of data then I would recommend a traditional hard disk.

In terms of running Windows on your MacBook Pro, I would recommend using Boot Camp over a virtualization solution such as VMware Fusion; you'll see much better graphics performance running Windows natively on the hardware.

Hope that helps, have a great day!

 

[alust2013]

I agree with the above poster. That will have no issues running your 3D scanner, and you may want to consider an upgrade to 8GB RAM as well.

 

[syunysi]

thanks guys. I think I can place my order now.

 

[syunysi]

I have a rather stupid question about using Bootcamp. The 3D files must be huge, I wonder if I can store them on the Mac partition when using Windows.

 

[Kyzelios]

I have a rather stupid question about using Bootcamp. The 3D files must be huge, I wonder if I can store them on the Mac partition when using Windows.

If I remember correctly, Boot Camp will install an HFS+ access driver however it only supports read-only access to your Mac OS X (HFS+) partition.

Your best bet would be to partition the drive in two equal halves or at least ensure that you'll have enough room on both sides of the fence so to speak.

Alternatively, you could create a FAT32 partition for sharing data, however keep in mind that the file size limit on FAT32 partitions is 4 GB.

Mac OS X can also natively read NTFS partitions (used by Windows by default) should you need access to those files under Mac OS X.