Macbook Pro 15 inch or 13 inch plus iMac?

[coltonjlee]

Hello all,

I'm a student filmmaker. I use FCP. I just bought the new 15 in. Macbook Pro to use for school and video editing. I love it BUT as I am a poor college student it was a huge chunk out of my wallet and I'm considering trading or returning for the 13 in.

My original plan was to use the 15 in for everything and start earning money but now I'm starting to think that it would be smart to get the 13in and then when more money is earned buy the imac 21.5 which would be a nice combination. I would only be using the 13 in for light editing and iMac for heavy stuff. I'm not sure if I need ALL that mobile power that the 15 has, I believe the 13 would be just fine for small editing tasks away from home.

I would like your opinion. Do you think it would be better to keep the laptop or trade and save some money now with the 13 in and get an imac later on when the new ones come out.
Since I already bought the 15 I'm not sure what to do.
Your opinion is appreciated!

 

[alust2013]

Either way, the 15" will be less expensive, so stick with that.

 

[WestSt]

A 13" will do the job just fine performance wise - you'll just spend more time rendering (have a snack, sleep, shoot some stuff). But you'll really miss some screen real estate! That might be the thing you'll feel limiting to your work flow, as long as you are not constantly on tight deadlines and waiting for renders is not an option (assuming you're not - if you were, a laptop probably wouldnt cut it anyway).

Getting the 13" and a cheap 22" monitor an option?

 

[coltonjlee]

Yeah I have a 23 inch cinema display that I will be hooking up to the laptop.

I guess the real question is whether I really need the power of the 15 inch if i will only be doing rough cuts while at school. Maybe the 13in will suffice? Only disadvantage is lack of graphics card for motion and color. I really do like the portability of the 13. I can always buy an iMac later on when I make some more cash off video work.

 

[coltonjlee]

I will be editing HDSLR footage from my canon 60d which i know is very cpu taxing