Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Portable FCP laptop? (on the cheap)

C

Chaos123x

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 8, 2008
1,698
34
I have a Octo Mac Pro that I am using to cut with Final Cut Studio 2.

I do all my heavy editing and rendering on the Mac Pro, but I would like to get a new laptop so I can do on the spot changes for clients (I don't have my own studio to bring them to). I used to do this with my 15inch 1.67ghz Powebook G4 but I just sold it. The Powerbook worked fine for my needs but the new version of FCS does not support g4's.

So what I would like to do is get a Macbook Pro but I don't want to spend a lot of money since most of my work will be done on my Mac Pro desktop.

Other than that the laptop will used for writing scripts, watching HULU, and playing MAME on my HDTV.


My options so far:

Option 1:
Get a 13inch Unibody (Cons: I like the small size, but the screen may be to small for clients, Display port inhibits going to HDMI,)


Option 2:
A used pre-unibody 15inch with at least a 2.16ghz Core Duo 2 (Slow Processor, possible bad GPU, no warranty, kinda big to carry around, and the constant Unibody envy will get to me.)


Option 3: Split the cost with my Girlfriend and share a brand new 15inch Macbook Pro with a dedicated GPU (Cons: Having to share a laptop, kinda big to carry around, Way more $$$ than I want to spend.)




I am really leaning towards the 13inch Uni-body, but I am not sure if FCS 2 or 3 will work correctly with the integrated 9400M GPU.

Anyone run Motion on a 13inch? If it run's better than a G4 I will be happy.
 
Go for the 15" Unibody. The screen size will be a bonus to show clients. Also, this notebook will be more likely compatible with future FCS updates.

Yeah, it will be kinda of a pain to share it. But if you really need just a portable editor/screen to show clients, make sure you schedule the MacBook in advice. lol.

I mean the 13" is ok, but the lack of GPU is a bummer, and screen size may be too small. I personally find it to be. But Final Cut Pro 7 will run on it fine but other apps (Motion, Color) won't run at all.
 
Motion is completely usable on the 9400m GPU...

15" is nicer to work on. But if it's just a portable 2nd option, you'll be fine on a 13". Both will push an HDMI display via the DP just as well.
 
bigbossbmb said:
Motion is completely usable on the 9400m GPU...

15" is nicer to work on. But if it's just a portable 2nd option, you'll be fine on a 13". Both will push an HDMI display via the DP just as well.
Click to expand...

Oops, I thought Motion required a dedicated GPU. :eek:
 
I have been editing professionally on a MacBook! -not by choice and it's limited but I like the size for traveling. So a 13" MBP would appeal to me. There are displayPort mini to HDMI adapters.
 
looked at refurbs?

no great deals right now, but if we see a model refresh you could find something that matches the price of the upper model of the MBP "13.
 
Out of curiosity, how much is the 2.16 MBP? I am thinking of selling my 2.6g 4,1 MBP and am curious about how much it would go for...
 
TRMN8R said:
Out of curiosity, how much is the 2.16 MBP? I am thinking of selling my 2.6g 4,1 MBP and am curious about how much it would go for...
Click to expand...

The 2.16 were going for $799.


But thanks for the advice guys I just made a purchase!

I got a 15inch Unibody MacBook Pro with 4gigs of Ram
250gb hard drive it's only 2.4ghz but it does have a dedicated 9600gt with 512mb.

Paid $1200 used.

Do think that was a good deal? I hope it makes a great companion for my octo Mac Pro desktop.
 
Chaos123x said:
The 2.16 were going for $799.


But thanks for the advice guys I just made a purchase!

I got a 15inch Unibody MacBook Pro with 4gigs of Ram
250gb hard drive it's only 2.4ghz but it does have a dedicated 9600gt with 512mb.

Paid $1200 used.

Do think that was a good deal? I hope it makes a great companion for my octo Mac Pro desktop.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good deal to me. Glad to hear you went with the 15" - it definitely is worth it when you use FCP (Canvas, timeline, and all).
 
anyone running a 13/15" mbp with FCS. I planned on doing the same as the OP getting a mac pro nicely equipped and a mbp (either 13 or low end 15") for the occasional editing. The thing that concerns me most is the non dedicated graphics card. I really don't run motion (for now) just FCP.
Any input would be much appreciated!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back