I've got to buy a mpb tomorrow! Should I get the 2.66Ghz or the 2.8Ghz for final cut?

[sensithreads]

Unfortunately I have waited as long as I can. I am a student in the uk and I am getting a mac bought for me to support my study. Because it is a 1 year course I really need to make my purchase asap. I only got confirmation on funding a couple weeks ago so I waited til now encase we got an update but I think it would be silly to risk leaving it any longer in case they say it isn't a justifiable expense anymore (I can always exchange for a new one if they come out within 14 days of delivery)

So I'm gonna have to bite the bullet and buy a mpb tomorrow. I want to use it for various things, one of which will be final cut pro. I take it I would be advised to get the 2.8Ghz over the 2.66Ghz, with it's better processor and GT with 500mb over the 256 in the 2.66Ghz model. do you guys think £200 extra seems like a justifiable expenditure for this extra power? Should I get the 7200 hard drive for an extra £40?

Thanking you for your advice in advance.

 

[tofagerl]

No on CPU, yes on 7200rpm drive.

 

[Cali3350]

The processor speed difference is absolutely negligible and you shouldn't worry about it at all. The HDD speed difference is quite noticeable and you absolutely should upgrade it.

 

[2contagious]

Final Cut Pro takes up graphics card performance doesn't it?

 

[sensithreads]

Yes i believe so. the 2.66Ghz has a graphics processor with 256MB of GDDR3 memory, the 2.8Ghz has one with 512MB. This sounds like a big difference..

 

[Chaos123x]

Both should work fine. Shoot I ran FCS2 on a Powerbook g4 up untill a day ago.

But the more power the better, is this going to be your main machine for editing? Or do you have Mac Pro desktop too?

If it's your main machine I would get the faster model. They are about the same price on the apple refurb store anyway.

But of course it would be nice if you could wait for the i5 and i7 models which may come any day now.

I would buy a refurb and then sell on craigslist for the same price, soon as the other ones came out

 

[TrevorCuts]

Upgrade to the 7200, but definitely invest in a fast external w/ firewire 800.

You should never have your media on the same drive as your processor.

 

[Outrigger]

Yes i believe so. the 2.66Ghz has a graphics processor with 256MB of GDDR3 memory, the 2.8Ghz has one with 512MB. This sounds like a big difference..

A Farrari with 500hp driving down the highway during morning rush hour can only go as fast as the traffic allows it, pretty much the same speed as the minivan with 250hp on the next lane. Get it?

 

[Chaos123x]

Oh yes don't forget the FireWire 800 external drive VERY IMPORTANT.

 

[Habitus]

Unfortunately I have waited as long as I can. I am a student in the uk and I am getting a mac bought for me to support my study. Because it is a 1 year course I really need to make my purchase asap. I only got confirmation on funding a couple weeks ago so I waited til now encase we got an update but I think it would be silly to risk leaving it any longer in case they say it isn't a justifiable expense anymore (I can always exchange for a new one if they come out within 14 days of delivery)

So I'm gonna have to bite the bullet and buy a mpb tomorrow. I want to use it for various things, one of which will be final cut pro. I take it I would be advised to get the 2.8Ghz over the 2.66Ghz, with it's better processor and GT with 500mb over the 256 in the 2.66Ghz model. do you guys think £200 extra seems like a justifiable expenditure for this extra power? Should I get the 7200 hard drive for an extra £40?

Thanking you for your advice in advance.

Go with the 7200 drive; it's a must.

Enjoy your new MBP!

Habitus

 

[sensithreads]

Thanks for the advice guys. I am definitely going to get the 7200 hd and I may well consdier getting a firewire external. In regard of the processor it sounds like your saying get the 2.8Ghz one, which is kinda wat I expected. I know the i5/i7's are gonna be a lot better, but I really can't risk waiting any longer. Fingers crossed we get an update in the next few weeks, but if not I'm not gonna cry too much seeing as I'm getting most of the money for the thing given to me

 

[vant]

This is a hard choice, but I'd say neither. One or two more weeks of waiting shouldn't hurt. I have a slight feeling that this 'refresh' is going to be more like an 'evolution'.

 

[Cali3350]

This is a hard choice, but I'd say neither. One or two more weeks of waiting shouldn't hurt. I have a slight feeling that this 'refresh' is going to be more like an 'evolution'.

It will def be one of the larger refreshes but if he needs a notebook he needs a notebook. No point in hurting oneself to wait.

 

[carl l]

Get the best you can comfortably afford. The 2.8 is certainly the better buy as you have upgraded features throughout the system. Also, you may need to custom order as the 7200rpm HDD and anti-glare screen are must-have options.

 

[Bearxor]

Ignore the calls for a 7200rpm hard drive. I have a 2.4ghz MBP with a 5400rpm drive and it records video to the drive fine. A high-density 5400rpm drive is perfectly fine and I use it every day to edit news.

Personally, I would go with the 2.66 with a Matte screen and upgrade the hard drive on my own with a huge hard drive. Buy an external drive later when you need to offload old clips.

 

[SweetDaddyJones]

get an imac instead

A Macboock Pro is a very attractive option but have you considered the an imac instead? How often will you actually need to edit or do anything out in the field?

For the equivalent cost of an mbp you can get yourself a rather tasty Imac with tons more power and graphics capability, not only will it last alot longer (5 years plus). You'll be gratefull for the xtra screen real estate and going forward, when you start using things like motion and color or even after effects, you'll find that you work alot faster and have way more freedom to experiment thanks to greater specs across cpu graphics and ram.

Get yoself an i mac instead, accesorize with one of these cases
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/427161/

In the same time I've had my imac a very good friend of mine has burned out 2 MBPs doing similar stuff with it.

No job is too small or too big on an imac. an MBP will hurt your pocket and limit your potential going forward

Ignore the calls for a 7200rpm hard drive. I have a 2.4ghz MBP with a 5400rpm drive and it records video to the drive fine. A high-density 5400rpm drive is perfectly fine and I use it every day to edit news.

Personally, I would go with the 2.66 with a Matte screen and upgrade the hard drive on my own with a huge hard drive. Buy an external drive later when you need to offload old clips.

for sure maximize your spend on the core stuff that you can't upgrade easily like the processor and graphics card. everything else, buy lowest spec und upgrade yourself, very easy and much much cheaper, get your memory from crucial and hard rive from yo favorite computer store, you'll save yoself alot of money by upgrading these parts yourself

 

[Jaro65]

As far as external FW800 drives, I have a couple of WD Studio drives in a FW 800 chain. They work great.

 

[otispondscum]

Upgrade to the 7200, but definitely invest in a fast external w/ firewire 800.

You should never have your media on the same drive as your processor.

Out of curiosity, why is it bad to have your media on the same drive as your processor?

 

[6-0 Prolene]

Ignore the calls for a 7200rpm hard drive. I have a 2.4ghz MBP with a 5400rpm drive and it records video to the drive fine. A high-density 5400rpm drive is perfectly fine and I use it every day to edit news.

Personally, I would go with the 2.66 with a Matte screen and upgrade the hard drive on my own with a huge hard drive. Buy an external drive later when you need to offload old clips.

So because 5400rpm is "fine," 7200rpm should be avoided? Makes perfect sense.

 

[Schtumple]

So because 5400rpm is "fine," 7200rpm should be avoided? Makes perfect sense.

I have a 500gb 5400rpm in my MBP and it is fine for importing video.

Getting 7200rpm only serves to waste battery power for a tiny marginal gain in actual real world performance.

 

[6-0 Prolene]

I have a 500gb 5400rpm in my MBP and it is fine for importing video.

Getting 7200rpm only serves to waste battery power for a tiny marginal gain in actual real world performance.

One could say the same for CPU, GPU, Firewire 800, etc.

Lots of things are "fine."

 

[awdougherty]

You could get away with the 5400RPM drive if you use Firewire 800 external drives as your capture and scratch disk. My MBP has a 5400 RPM drive, an ATI X1600 256MB processor, and an old Core2 Duo and it handles the latest FCP well enough to work smoothly.

It may be a peculiarity of Final Cut, but every editor I know does two things. 1) They keep their media and scratch disk on a drive separate from their OS, and 2) they keep their actual FCP project file off the media drive. I think it may have something to do with trying to write to the project while it's trying to write media to the disk... can cause some instability. But I honestly don't know 100%. But it's something I always see and something I always do.

 

[shambo]

What is more, is more. Go with the 2.8Ghz bad boy.

 

[Schtumple]

One could say the same for CPU, GPU, Firewire 800, etc.

Lots of things are "fine."

Well no, a CPU or GPU upgrade does give you a bit more of a bump.

 

[6-0 Prolene]

Well no, a CPU or GPU upgrade does give you a bit more of a bump.

Both of which would cost a fair amount of money and make minimal difference to a student working with Final Cut for the first time.

Honestly, s/he'd be "fine" with a MacBook and using some of the money s/he saved on camera equipment or something else. That doesn't mean a 7200rpm drive wouldn't be faster.