Little help deciding.

[ohcheese]

Hey everyone!

I'll be buying a mbp soon and have been reading alot lately. Still, I haven't figured out which model to go with.
It will be used for video editing (fcp) and after effects.
I am able to buy the top 15" model, yet I am in doubt about this. Wouldn't it be better to go with a lower model (even the 2.4) and upgrade that with more ram and/or an ssd?
Or will I need the stronger cpu and the 512mb gpu?

Any advice is appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[Ksb-online]

Hey everyone!

I'll be buying a mbp soon and have been reading alot lately. Still, I haven't figured out which model to go with.
It will be used for video editing (fcp) and after effects.
I am able to buy the top 15" model, yet I am in doubt about this. Wouldn't it be better to go with a lower model (even the 2.4) and upgrade that with more ram and/or an ssd?
Or will I need the stronger cpu and the 512mb gpu?

Any advice is appreciated!

Thanks!

Stronger CPU and GPU will help in the long run and will be better in the future .. thats what I think, I'm just about to put an order in for the 17" i7 2.8 , get the best now so it lasts me longer

 

[0007776]

I'd go with the top end 15", you can upgrade the ram in the future, but the CPU and GPU can't be.

 

[FaberUK]

First post on this site, but you're in the exact same boat that I'm in.

Atm I'm thinking just upgrade the RAM to 8gig and stick with the lower i7 chip. After Effects would appreciate the RAM more than the speed bump. I'm thinking 8gig ram and replace the optical drive with a harddrive caddy. Either Raid 0 both drives or use the second hard drive as the scratch disk.

Guess the update will always be around the corner, but you can always sell and upgrade.

(be kind, i'm new)

 

[Ksb-online]

First post on this site, but you're in the exact same boat that I'm in.

Atm I'm thinking just upgrade the RAM to 8gig and stick with the lower i7 chip. After Effects would appreciate the RAM more than the speed bump. I'm thinking 8gig ram and replace the optical drive with a harddrive caddy. Either Raid 0 both drives or use the second hard drive as the scratch disk.

Guess the update will always be around the corner, but you can always sell and upgrade.

(be kind, i'm new)

Its best and cheaper the get the RAM and hard drive updates after from 3rd party companies, you can search on this forum for recommended parts, so effectively you might as well get the extra cpu power

 

[ohcheese]

Its best and cheaper the get the RAM and hard drive updates after from 3rd party companies, you can search on this forum for recommended parts, so effectively you might as well get the extra cpu power

I'll be getting the ram and ssd from 3rd party companies, without any doubt.

But 2200 is my max budget. And a 2.4 or 2.53 pro with 3rd party upgrades is about as expensive as a standard 2.66 model. So I would like to know which would suite me best.

 

[ohcheese]

Any more thoughts on this?

 

[bakasam]

I'm looking to buy a mbp too but I think im gonna wait for the next refresh which is rumored for early 2011 (Jan-March) or summer 2011 when lion is supposedly kicking in.

Unless you are in desperate need of a laptop I would suggest to wait it out too. You get new/better hardware for the price and a new os

Edit: Seeing as you are looking for a 15-17" that may be a different case seeing as you get the i7 already. I've been looking at the 13" for portability and its on a Core2 Duo so im hoping for something better in the next update. But nonetheless I would wait seeing as a refresh is around the corner. But if you are in need of it right away i'd get the high end mbp

 

[ohcheese]

It's for my studies so I can't wait untill then to get one..

 

[duotone]

Believe me, you will want the max'd out 15" i7, otherwise you'll be waiting way too long for things to happen instead of making money working.

- Max the ram (3rd party ram)

- 7200 rpm hard drive (This is a $50 addition from apple and worth much more)

- 24" monitor to edit from and your 15" extended to view the cuts. This is so nice I'll never edit without it again.

- FW800 / 7200 rpm external hard drives

- French roast coffee. LOTS!