Solid Choice For My Needs - 15" MBP?

[MikeByMac]

Hi, guys. I'm new to the forum, and I'm getting ready to purchase a new MacBook Pro within the next week or so. I'm going to school for digital media production, so I'll need to be able to run Adobe CS4 (Photoshop/Illustrator/Etc.) and more importantly, Final Cut Studio 2.

I'm thinking the middle of the road 15" MBP. You guys know the specs. I'm thinking of upgrading to a 256 GB SSD to make working with and moving video files faster/easier.

Is the SSD upgrade worth the money? I'd imagine I'd have to spend $250 or so buying the HD and upgrading myself.

Is the set-up itself fine for my purposes? Obviously, a Mac Pro is ideal, but I need something portable, and within my budget ($2500 or so, all said and done).

Thanks,
Mike

 

[MacMini2009]

Are you talking about the 2.66GHz Macbook Pro? Yes it is fine for your needs. A SSD will definitely give your Macbook Pro a speed boost and if you have the money for it, get it.

 

[upinflames900]

Should be good...SSD makes it a little faster but will you need more storage than that?

 

[MikeByMac]

Should be good...SSD makes it a little faster but will you need more storage than that?

I'll definitely need more storage. My plan is to keep my working files on the SSD on the MBP, and when each project is done, move everything to an external. I'm thinking (hoping, actually) that the 256 GB SSD will be enough to cover the projects I'm actually working on at any given time.

 

[MikeByMac]

Are you talking about the 2.66GHz Macbook Pro? Yes it is fine for your needs. A SSD will definitely give your Macbook Pro a speed boost and if you have the money for it, get it.

Yeah, the 2.66.

 

[upinflames900]

I'll definitely need more storage. My plan is to keep my working files on the SSD on the MBP, and when each project is done, move everything to an external. I'm thinking (hoping, actually) that the 256 GB SSD will be enough to cover the projects I'm actually working on at any given time.

Consider Firewire for an external drive and then you should be good i think.

 

[NikFinn]

Is the SSD upgrade worth the money? I'd imagine I'd have to spend $250 or so buying the HD and upgrading myself.

I'm thinking (hoping, actually) that the 256 GB SSD will be enough to cover the projects I'm actually working on at any given time.

I'd be impressed if you could find a 256GB SSD anywhere for $250. Right now on newegg.com, the cheapest one is around $600.

 

[neteng101]

You're looking at $600 for 256GB SSD... nowhere near that $250 figure you're thinking of.