Questions on base 13" MBP

[dlsife]

About to purchase my first Mac. I prefer the 13", but will consider the 15" if the 13 can't handle what I want to do. I plan to use this for:

Basic iMovie editing
Basic iPhoto/Aperture editing
Netflix viewing

I don't play games, etc.

Will the dual core processor/integrated graphics on the 13" get this done? I assume so, but someone who knows for sure please set me straight. Thanks in advance.

Secondary question: I plan to run this to a 24" external monitor via HDMI/DVI. Does that change the answer?

 

[johnhurley]

About to purchase my first Mac. I prefer the 13", but will consider the 15" if the 13 can't handle what I want to do. I plan to use this for:

Basic iMovie editing
Basic iPhoto/Aperture editing
Netflix viewing

I don't play games, etc.

Will the dual core processor/integrated graphics on the 13" get this done? I assume so, but someone who knows for sure please set me straight. Thanks in advance.

Secondary question: I plan to run this to a 24" external monitor via HDMI/DVI. Does that change the answer?

There just is not much that is "base" about the base 13 inch.

It should be fine for what you are describing.

50 or 60 bucks would handle doubling the memory up to 8gb ... and it is easy to do.

With a lot of video editing you might be well served by using an SSD ... but it depends on how big your files are and how much storage you need.

 

[Prodo123]

Get the 13" with 8GB 3rd-party RAM and a SSD.

 

[danpass]

I do the same, got a refurb i7 and returned the new i5.

It is quicker than the i5. I also popped in 8GB of RAM and it really flies with that.

 

[DWBurke811]

I assume the monitor is just 1080p? The i5 13" will be fine, but with how cheap 8GB of RAM is from new egg(like $35 shipped cheap) there's really no reason not to get new RAM. And the performance difference between a HDD and SSD is night and day, I recommend the OCZ Vertex 3.

 

[dlsife]

Yes, I should've said that I'll be upgrading to 8 gb RAM, but no SSD as I'm not technically savvy enough to upgrade that.

 

[DWBurke811]

It's really stupid simple to swap the HDD for a SSD.

 

[dlsife]

It's really stupid simple to swap the HDD for a SSD.

I didn't know that. I assume you'd need an external HD to store the system image in order to put it back onto the SDD once installation is complete?

 

[DWBurke811]

Yeah, after the bottom is off it's like 6 screws and one plug. There's videos online with walk throughs, but even w/o one just looking at the insides it's pretty straight forward.

The external is up to you, I made a backup image on my NAS, but didn't use it; I did a clean install of 10.6.8 and then installed my apps.

 

[johnhurley]

I didn't know that. I assume you'd need an external HD to store the system image in order to put it back onto the SDD once installation is complete?

It is not hard to re-install the operating system from apple ... it just takes a while to download it depending on how much bandwidth you have available ( my home system it took about 40 minutes on a good fast cable based system ).

If it is brand new then you don't have to worry about migrating any apps etc. You start by making a USB flash based recovery disk ( any 2 gb flash drive will work ).

 

[elpmas]

It'll be fine, get a SSD and you shouldn't have much to worry about. But if you can, I think the 15" screen would be nicer