Macbook Pro for Final Cut Studio now or wait?

[waywardsage]

I've been debating endlessly in my head about when to buy my first Macbook Pro.

I've settled on the Macbook Pro 17". But i'm disappointed in the lack of an LED backlit screen. I would like it to have an eSATA port built in, (the external express cards are pretty cheep. But I like a clean look to my computing.)

Now that the Mac Pro Penryn chips are pretty much confirmed before the end of the year, the rumors of the Macbook Pro Penryn are likely to come at Macworld in January.

I want to buy my Macbook Pro to run Final Cut Studio 2 and work on building my side video editing business, (it's been a long time comming.) My fulltime job has really kept me busy at the moment. So even if I bought it this month, i'd still have to probably hold out till Xmas to really get into working with it.

So my questions are:

1. Does waiting for the Penryn Macbook Pro thats likely in January make sense for me? Seeing as I don't really have the time to devout to playing with it till December anyway?

2. Do all the Final Cut Studio 2 applications work well in the current top of the line Macbook Pro 17"?

I was shopping around in August but decided to wait. The time flew by, so i'm considering putting my purchase on hold till January so i'll get a top of the line model for my money.

 

[zioxide]

1. Does waiting for the Penryn Macbook Pro thats likely in January make sense for me? Seeing as I don't really have the time to devout to playing with it till December anyway?

Seems like you answered your own question.

2. Do all the Final Cut Studio 2 applications work well in the current top of the line Macbook Pro 17"?

Yeah, it runs fine.

 

[Butthead]

As the other poster mentioned, you've already answered your own question on the timing. Wait for the Penryn MBP that will likely be annouced in January, but could take a few months more.

As to video editing, no one could tell you without you specifying in detail what your needs are.

Propose detailed explanation of what you wish to accomplish, on say, creativecow.net FCP user forum (basics forum maybe), and also on lafcpug.org forums. Should be enough people with experience in various formats, type of video editing you're anticipating to help answer your questions.

If you don't need portability, a Mac Pro will provide much more muscle/speed in FCS2. Somethings like 2k res editing, are more limited on a MBP.

If you need portability, consider that eSATA storage solutions will require a separate power source, whereas the FW ports can drive a 2.5in HD.

3.5in external storage on the MBP 17in is probably not recommended off of the FW ports (you'd need a separate PS to power the external drive) as with the Intel transition, Apple is using lower power/current capability FW ports as mentioned on the Weibetech site. The older PB's could supply more current to the FW ports and drive most single 3.5in externals or a RAID of 2.5in drives off of the FW ports themselves, no additional power source required.

 

[Multimedia]

I'm A Hold Out For The Next 45nm Revision Of The 17" HD Model

It know has everything we want. The 1920 x 1200 screen is a huge deal that I was waiting for but wasn't sure if Apple would ever offer it. Thank God they finally have - a for a very small $100 extra. OK so why haven't I pulled the trigger then?

1. Would like it to be running faster than 2.5GHz so it has a total of more than 5GHz instead of "almost"

2. 2.8GHz C2D Penryns are on the way

3. Penryn will run cooler, faster and longer (battery life) overall with larger cache to boot.

4. Possible LED screen the next refresh although that's not a deal breaker for me.

5. Leopard will make it run faster and has a lot of enhancements we'll really appreciate on a mobile Mac.

6. Why buy Rev A of the HD model when you can buy Rev B early next year with 45nm Penryn?

7. Bigger HDs are shipping now including 320GB @ 7200 rpm

8. I enjoy procrastination immensely.

9. Would love to see Steve show it to us at the January 15th SteveNote.