Several Questions About a New Mac Book Pro

[foxtamerind]

Hi all,

I'm a web designer/developer, and need the capacity to do motion graphics. I'm planning a switch from a 24" G4 iMac to a 2010 Mac Book Pro, for purposes of co-working and travel. I also plan to hook up to a larger secondary monitor while at home. Also, I'm limited on budget (I'm trying to stay under $3K.

Here are the several questions:

• Is the SSD worth an extra $700 compared to the SATA?
• Is there a huge difference in performance between the i5 processor and the i7 2.6GHz processor?
• I'm planning on going with 8Gb RAM because of motion graphics, is it worth it?
• Does any one have any suggestions on an anit-glare monitor under $200?
• Does Apple offer any small business discounts (from what I see they don't really)?

Thanks,
J

 

[spinnerlys]

Hi all,

I'm a web designer/developer, and need the capacity to do motion graphics. I'm planning a switch from a 24" G4 iMac to a 2010 Mac Book Pro, for purposes of co-working and travel. I also plan to hook up to a larger secondary monitor while at home. Also, I'm limited on budget (I'm trying to stay under $3K.
...

Is the SSD worth an extra $700 compared to the SATA?

An SSD is up to three times faster than a normal HDD, both are connected via the S-ATA interface, but it is better to use an external HDD, even 2.5" Firewire 800 ones, for storing and working with your media.

Is there a huge difference in performance between the i5 processor and the i7 2.6GHz processor?

Not much, but if you want to save minutes during renderings, the i7 might be worth it.

I'm planning on going with 8Gb RAM because of motion graphics, is it worth it?

That depends on the applications you want to use and if they are capable of using more than 2/3GB of RAM. But if you have many applications open at the same time, the more RAM the merrier. Btw, you can always upgrade later if you need more RAM, it is cheaper to use other vendors than Apple to acquire RAM anyway.

Does any one have any suggestions on an anit-glare monitor under $200?

You mean as an external? How big shall it be? And aren't most external displays, not made by Apple, not-glossy/glassy?

Does Apple offer any small business discounts (from what I see they don't really)?

That I don't know. Maybe MRoogle (signature) can help you there.

 

[nwcs]

The only real discounts for Apple's stuff other than education that I know of is through NAPP. We get a corporate rate. When I got my MBP earlier this year I saved several hundred dollars, more than offsetting my membership. As a web designer you would benefit from NAPP a lot.

http://www.photoshopuser.com/?aid=mipssp

Thought I'd add a few extra thoughts. I'm a developer and a photographer. I can't justify the extra money for the SSD yet. Instead I got the 7200rpm drive and in a couple years I'll move to a SSD to extend the life of the computer. I've read that the i7 is about 15% faster than the i5. I have the i7 but I haven't tried the i5 so I can't verify this on my own.

I think the 8GB is always worth it. If not right now today then very soon. But most likely it will be of benefit to you.

 

[ECUpirate44]

Hi all,

I'm a web designer/developer, and need the capacity to do motion graphics. I'm planning a switch from a 24" G4 iMac to a 2010 Mac Book Pro, for purposes of co-working and travel. I also plan to hook up to a larger secondary monitor while at home. Also, I'm limited on budget (I'm trying to stay under $3K.

Here are the several questions:

• Is the SSD worth an extra $700 compared to the SATA?
• Is there a huge difference in performance between the i5 processor and the i7 2.6GHz processor?
• I'm planning on going with 8Gb RAM because of motion graphics, is it worth it?
• Does any one have any suggestions on an anit-glare monitor under $200?
• Does Apple offer any small business discounts (from what I see they don't really)?

Thanks,
J

1. The SSD is going to give you a nice performance boost. It's up to you if its worth the money. Personally, I would go with a 7200 RPM SATA and wait for SSD prices to go down.

2. I dont know what the exact percentage is, but I do motion picture work as well and the i7 has done well thus far.

3. The 8 GB of RAM is a must.

4. Try mroogle.

5. mroogle.

 

[foxtamerind]

Re:Several Questions About a New Mac Book Pro

Wow, yall are quick!

Ok, here's another part of the equation. I always keep my files and programs on a 1Tb Iomega Minimax external-hard drive with firewire, does that change if SSD is really worth it?

Also, is there a better/cheaper place to get new mac products other than Apple.com?

I think everything else has been answered.

Thanks alot!
J

 

[tjb1]

Wow, yall are quick!

Ok, here's another part of the equation. I always keep my files and programs on a 1Tb Iomega Minimax external-hard drive with firewire, does that change if SSD is really worth it?

Also, is there a better/cheaper place to get new mac products other than Apple.com?

I think everything else has been answered.

Thanks alot!
J

You mean will it perform better if you have an SSD in the computer and still load everything from the External? If thats your question, no because it will be limited to the firewire speeds and even if it wasnt it would be limited by the hdd speed which is still lower than the SSD speed. If you want the speed of the SSD, the programs need to be on the SSD...files dont really matter.

And you can check this website for prices - http://www.macprices.net/picks.shtmlhttp://www.macprices.net/picks.shtml