MacBook Pro vs MacPro

[YoungCreative]

Question: If you could have only one machine for editing, would you get a MBP (indicate screen size) or a Mac Pro with the 23" monitor.

1) MBP 15"
2) MBP 17"
3) Mac Pro w/ 23" Monitor

I like the fact that I could go mobile, but a 160 GB hard drive seems awfully small...and it isn't practical to haul around Firewire drives. I do both video and graphic arts, so the drive will need to hold CS3 as well as FCP (along with all the assets and work files.) I think that i would fill up 160 GB in the first day!

Has anyone edited with both a MBP and MacPro? Is there that big of a difference with performance? Do you think I would have regrets one way or the other?

Right now, I am leaning toward the MacPro to avoid having a zillion wires hanging around and also the ability to add larger hard drives.

Let me hear your thoughts/experiences.

Right now I work on a 20 inch iMac (G5). The bright side is that I get caught up on my sleep as Movies render and iDVD encodes. I don't dare drop FCP on to this machine!

 

[FF_productions]

I owned a MacBook Pro and now I currently own a Mac Pro.

I hated editing on a portable, you need to have a normal keyboard to get something done.

Portability is a huge convenience, having the ability to take it anywhere is awesome. But if portability isn't required, its silly to get a laptop.

The Mac Pro has so much POWER, expandability and even more POWER.

If you require moving around a lot, get a MacBook Pro. If not, get the Mac Pro, and enjoy. It will be a hell of a jump from a G5 iMac.

 

[marioman38]

I use a MBP as my only machiene for FCP and Photoshop. It handles everything fine. I imagine the SR ones are even better with the new GPU. I'd go for the 17" HR. It has the same amount of pixels exactly as the 23" ACD. It's portable for field work, or sharing photos with your parents when you visit them etc. As "FF_productions" said, the portablility aspect is great to have. Even if you may not think you needed it, i've had a few "Oh thank-god I got a laptop" moments. Plus upgrade it to 4GB ram, it'll fly.

 

[mr_matalino]

Only computer? I'd have to go with a powerful portable. While the MacPro is a no-brainer for digital editing, you can always buy an external monitor/keyboard/external HD. You can't take a big tower with you to show your clients. MBP's are still very powerful to use. If you don't need a portable, MP all the way.

 

[Fearless Leader]

the mac pro are, as well as all pro desktops from apple, are just powerhouses. My 3 or 4 year old powermac G5 is just now starting to show its age and is faster than my MBP 1year old.

I would go Mac pro hands down. When I spend that much on a computer I want it to last a good long while. I take my MBP everywhere and its amazing, but no matter what It just gets beat up more, cause I take it everywhere.

But If I had it all to do over, I'd get a mid line MP and a MB for the portable.

 

[LethalWolfe]

If I could only have one machine for editing it would be a tower, unless I'm editing in an environment that requires portability.


Lethal