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objective pro opinion wanted

S

sbb155

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 15, 2005
498
5
Here is my situation:
I have a MB, core duo, not core 2 duo.
I need a vidoe editing rig, my budget is $3200.
I originally was going with the pro 2.6, and extra RAm, drives, etc. form 2nd party.
However, occasionally, I would need to be mobile. What I mean, is that I would need to be able to edit outside of my office. This may happen 1-2x per month for a few hours only.
I use FCE. Not FCP.
So, my dilemma is to get a 17"MBP vs the mac pro.
I know the pro is a great machine, but for FCE, HOW inferior is the 17"? A lot or just a little?
According to geekbench, the pro is twice as fast... That is great..but is 2x enough?
Note, I already have a MB portable, but anything major cannot be done on it..but I plan to keep.
Thoughts?
 
I have both a Quad Core Mac Pro and 15" MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo... I can easily tell the speed difference when rendering using the Mac Pro, but the speed on my MBP is perfectly acceptable. I wouldn't even know that it could be any better if I hadn't used the Mac Pro. I wouldn't say it's necessarily even perceived as being 2x faster on the Mac Pro. In my opinion, you'll be fine, and ultimately happier, with a 17" MBP.
 
I do print design, not video, but I think that if you are in the office for 18-19 days out of 20 a month and have the potential to work at twice the rate with a Mac Pro, get a Mac Pro. Maybe you can find a way of getting round the need to work on a laptop rest of the time – invite your clients to see you or take notes and work in the office for the another half of the day.
 
agree with chriswheat. Go with the MBP17. You need the mobility and it will handle FCE fine.
 
irishgrizzly said:
I do print design, not video, but I think that if you are in the office for 18-19 days out of 20 a month and have the potential to work at twice the rate with a Mac Pro, get a Mac Pro. Maybe you can find a way of getting round the need to work on a laptop rest of the time – invite your clients to see you or take notes and work in the office for the another half of the day.
Click to expand...

This is how I see it too. The MBP seems a huge compromise for a few hours once or twice a month.
 
I have direct experience with FCE and the MacBook Pro Core Duo (not Core 2 Duo). It's downright painful at times, because FCE is so poorly written when it comes to threads, et al. Specially if you're spooling video off of a tape-driven camera. Prepare to stop doing anything else.

That said, if you're only going to be mobile a small amount, then keep the current MBP, and buy your Mac Pro to go with it. While it IS painful to use FCE on a Core Duo MBP, it's still perfectly doable.

Seems like the best idea, really.

jas
 
Since you already have a portable I'd say gut it out once or twice a month editing on that and work more efficiently the other 20 some odd days on a Mac Pro. $3200 will buy a lot more desktop than it will laptop.


Lethal
 
If you're saying your Macbook simply cannot do pro apps, namely FCE, you're a liar.

I know guys who run Final Cut pro on Macbooks. You're using it for mobile 2 times a month, keep the MB for mobile editing, and buy yourself a Mac Pro with a sizeable display, and plenty of RAM.
 
iCheddar said:
If you're saying FCE simply cannot do pro apps, you're a liar.

I know guys who run Final Cut pro on Macbooks. You're using it for mobile 2 times a month, keep the MB for mobile editing, and buy yourself a Mac Pro with a sizeable display, and plenty of RAM.
Click to expand...

I agree with iChedder. I ran Final Cut on the Macbook for basic editing with no problem. But I should stress the word 'basic'. If you're going to be doing any heavy rendering on the move or working with really complex projects then I'd lean towards the MBP. Otherwise go with the MacPro and a decent monitor and install some extra RAM. Also I'd look at upgrading the RAM to 2GB in your MB (if you haven't already) and swapping out the hard drive for a bigger and faster one for when you're cutting on the move.
 
I have FCS2 on my MBP 15" Core Duo and it runs just fine (although you have to have an external monitor to run Color). However, the main limitation form e is storage. I have a sata express 34 card that I use with an esata raid but, the MacPro handles this much more gracefully.

So, I would say that it really depends on the type of projects you are working on. If there is a lot of media or intense, cpu-grinding effects then you really should stay in the MacPro realm.

-mx
 
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