Need help with configuring MBP for video editing

[FPM]

Hello,

I am going to be buying a 15" MacBook Pro late 2011 model shortly. I have been researching for hours and am still not sure about what harddrive to get and how much RAM to get.

I will be getting the 2.4GHz i7 processor, a hi-res glossy screen, (most likely) a 750 GB ATA drive @5400 rpm, and maybe 8GB of RAM only if I have to! Otherwise, I'll get the 4 GB of RAM.

Money has gotten very tight lately. I am using the MBP for video editing a new webseries I will be launching later this year. I will probably use FCP X. and that will most likely be the sole purpose of my MBP with the occassional web browsing for school. Please Help! I just want to know if I need the bells and whistles of more RAM and SSD because as far as I see it, If I'm paying over 2 grand for a computer for video editing, even at its standard form it should be able to get the job done right?? lol What would be the best option for me as well as saving as much money as possible?

Thank You

 

[miles01110]

Buy the RAM from newegg and install it yourself.

 

[mickpearcey]

Buy the 2.4 with the Hi-Res option, forget about the RAM upgrade with Apple.

Buy 8GB or even 16GB third party, you can pickup an 8GB set for £30.

You could put the 750GB HDD in the optibay and put a speedy SSD in the main bay for the OS and Apps. You'd just need to purchase a data-doubler and a USB drive casing for your removed optical drive... that way you can still use it via USB.

 

[FPM]

You could put the 750GB HDD in the optibay and put a speedy SSD in the main bay for the OS and Apps. You'd just need to purchase a data-doubler and a USB drive casing for your removed optical drive... that way you can still use it via USB.

Thanks guys for the RAM advice I appreciate it

Not big on the lingo sadly I'm fairly new to this. As my profile states lol So this last paragraph, does it mean i should buy the 750 gb drive for now and then get an attachment to upgrade to an SSD later? Sorry if I sound naive you can name call if you so wish.

 

[Macman45]

+1 on the Ram, but you will need at least 8GB...Buy from crucial, new egg anywhere but Apple....I use Crucial myself. Apple charge an arm and a leg for memory, and installing it yourself is no big deal, and doesn't void your warranty.

 

[mickpearcey]

The best thing to do in my opinion would be to keep the HDD order to default which would be the 750GB 5400RPM drive and then purchase a reliable third party SSD.

SSD drives are considerably faster than their mechanical counterparts but the ones which Apple offer are over priced and aren't as fast as the third party options.

If you put the SSD in where the current HDD is and use it for the Operating system and apps, then the speed of the machine will fly. When I changed to SSD my boot time went from 24 seconds to 11 seconds and apps open instantly. Then take out the super-drive and insert a data-doubler containing the 750GB HDD for storage use.

I realised that I may need to use a CD/DVD in the future so I purchased a USB housing for the super-drive. Now when I need to burn a DVD or CD I just plug it in via USB.

If you search these forums, I'm confident you'll find tutorials etc.

 

[FPM]

You're awesome. 24 seconds! that's 100 times better than my stupid acer haha so I'm sure I'll be happy no matter what but thank you for the info. Does switching out the HDD for the SSD void my warranty though? I now know switching RAM doesn't but what about that?

 

[Angelo95210]

You definitely need the 8GB is using FCPX. You will need also a fast storage drive for the video files (the SSD will not be large enough for this). A thunderbolt one would be great.

 

[mickpearcey]

RAM and HDD replacement doesn't void the warrant because they're user replaceable.

But if you were to change out the optibay etc then it would, but its a simple go around there, if you needed to take your machine back into Apple then just remove the second HDD in the optibay and put the super-drive back in... what they dont know cant hurt.