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Sorry to start a new 2011 MBP ?? but need help from the pros

R

reneesees

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 30, 2011
13
0
I know all these "which config to get?" are annoying and I am sorry to start a new one! I searched but did not find what I was looking for so this is my last resort.

This will be my first Mac, period. I had one wwaaayy back (1997) but my company went to PCs so that really doesn't count! :rolleyes:

I do photography and edit high res pics daily. I store all my pics on a WD external 1tb drive because my current hp compaq 6710 just can't handle anything. It takes me an entire morning just to open photoshop....

Other than light work documents, surfing web and editing short videos, that is all I do on a laptop. I am a mom and my kids will now inherit aforementioned hp and I could care less if they throw it out the window.

Looking at the 15" but have no clue about SSD or if I should get the non glare hi res. I need help in deciding how much of a machine I need, price is not so much an issue.

Again, I know these posts are tiring to read but I consider you guys to be the best resource. I am amazed daily by your knowledge. Thank you for reading!
 
I'm a serious photographer and I like the gloss. If I had to work outside or had to use the laptop in glare conditions, I would consider the matte. But the gloss is the future and it matches iPhones, iPads, and Apple's current and future large displays. It can be annoying in bright light and it is slightly "oversaturated" when compared to a more average monitor, but it is beautiful. If you're serious about colour correction, you'll want a real external monitor anyway (and probably not an Apple).

Any SSD under 512 is too small for me unless I have a storage HDD as well. So I have a 100GB SSD for the system and 750GB for storage in the second bay.
 
If you plan on keeping the data in an external HD, then getting the 128GB SSD from Apple is quite a good deal. However, you can always add an SSD later on so personally, I would just get the HD version as playing around with externals is never fun.

Glossy vs matte is an opinion question. Some people prefer matte due to the lack of reflections but in other people's opinion, the glossy screen has better colors. I would go to a store and check them out. I would go for hi res anyway as more screen estate is very nice with apps like Photoshop.

Oh, and my post count likes threads like this :p
 
My only problem is the glossy vs anti-glare display.....

I've went to the store for about 2 hours playing around with both looking at them side to side. Clearly the glossy one looks better despite reflections, but it is pretty much certain that it would be unusable outside, which doesn't matter much to me since I will be staying indoors.

The anit-glare to me just appears like theres nothing special as if you look closely, it kinda loses some sharpness compared to the glossy display. It doesnt have that "looks very smooth/sleek/sharp" feel as colors are indeed washed out.

High res is an absolute, but as for glossy vs anti-glare.... I am leaning more towards the glossy as despite the reflections in apple store, it is very much usable...
 
I will be honest and say that if you dont know what an SSD is you dont need it. I am not being rude in anyway but for what you want to do you will see no benefit from a128Gb SSD as your boot drive. Not one that is worth the hassle of having to have your 1tb external drive at your side all the time.



From what you are talking, I think you would do the best with something like this http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Samsung/YHM100UI/ it is a 1 TB internal hard drive that you can put in, in place of the stock hard drive. if you are even the slightest bit handy it will be no problem. Theres even instructional videos on that website that can tell you how to do it. Watch it and you will see how easy it is.

I only suggest this as with the bundle that comes with taking care of kids and keeping up with them I think you need simplicity and not to mention how much more performance you will see from this over what you are coming from with all your data on a USB external hard drive, this is going to be a very quick feeling and nice set up. If you buy the 15" with the low level hard drive (500gb 5400rpm) then put the 1TB hard drive in the and use the 1Tb external that you have as simply a back up you will have the best of both worlds. A much faster system but the ability to up and take your laptop with you along with 100% of your data. Otherwise you will have to leave 90% of your images at home or the need to take your clunky external with you.

Dont complicate your life with all of the options that some of us put into our machines that are dedicated to a certain purpose:)
 
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If you want and ssd don't get the one apple sells. Buy and aftermarket. Vertex 3 and intel are coming out with new ones soon.

I i recall, the ssds Apple use lack sandforce controller. Which could make the drive more
Slow over time.

I would get the ssd. As we probably will see much faster external drives now that thunder bolt is out. Going to have to wait though
 
THANK YOU ALL so much for your kindness and information!!! Good gosh, this is beyond helpful.

I guess where my concern began with the external HD was I have had to wipe my hp three times so I am constantly throwing files on the external because I am scared something will happen again with this computer. I am used to that mentality so trying to compare to how this would work with a MBP and not really having a full understanding of the specs.

You can be honest and no rudeness worries! I can take it!:D
 
reneesees said:
THANK YOU ALL so much for your kindness and information!!! Good gosh, this is beyond helpful.

I guess where my concern began with the external HD was I have had to wipe my hp three times so I am constantly throwing files on the external because I am scared something will happen again with this computer. I am used to that mentality so trying to compare to how this would work with a MBP and not really having a full understanding of the specs.

You can be honest and no rudeness worries! I can take it!:D
Click to expand...

That is why I am suggesting the simplest option that I can think of for you. What some people are suggesting with an SSD is far more advanced in terms of file management than I think you want to get into. It is not hard but you have to stay on top of it and be ready to be tied to your external hard drive.....at that point you might as well buy a desktop :) With what I am talking about you put all of your data onto the internal hard drive of the Macbook Pro and do a 100% copy of the computers hard drive every few days onto your external 1TB hard drive in case you ever have a problem. Leave the external on your desk and use your laptop with all your data where ever you want with no wires attached Easy easy easy
 
rmitchell248 said:
That is why I am suggesting the simplest option that I can think of for you. What some people are suggesting with an SSD is far more advanced in terms of file management than I think you want to get into. It is not hard but you have to stay on top of it and be ready to be tied to your external hard drive.....at that point you might as well buy a desktop :) With what I am talking about you put all of your data onto the internal hard drive of the Macbook Pro and do a 100% copy of the computers hard drive every few days onto your external 1TB hard drive in case you ever have a problem. Leave the external on your desk and use your laptop with all your data where ever you want with no wires attached Easy easy easy
Click to expand...

The video made that look easy. Easy enough for a mom.
 
Keep in mind that many of us that have an SSD use it only as the storage for only our operating system because it is a faster drive. So that means just your programs go on there, ONLY mac osx photoshop, internet (safari), mail ect ect. None of your data goes there, none of your photos, none of your documents.... so the only place it will be faster is when you click on photoshop and it opens or if you click on mail and it opens.... You may open photoshop CS5 in 1 second now rather than 5 seconds.

The time it takes to access your photos from your external hard drive will still be very slow even if you buy the SSD option.

The only way the SSD would be a better choice is that if you can afford the 500GB version and if that would be enough space to hold ALL of your data and if it would be enough for many years to come... Not likely!

i must run to meeting now. Dont let these guys talk you into a system that will take a full time IT guy to back up and operate ;)
 
I think most of your questions have been answered, but as a multimedia professional, I figured I could add my own advice to the already generous offering given above.

First and foremost, I understand where you're coming from. I worked on Macs before moving to PC's for many years, in the design and digital illustration field. Having come back to Macs several years ago after a long hiatus, I am happy to report I'm 100% satisfied with my re-transition.

The performance increase you'll see going from your old unit to one of the new MacBook Pros will likely be staggering, so there's no worries there. As for your external hard drive, this can be easily turned into a Time Machine backup. The benefit is you no longer need to pick and choose which files are important enough to warrant living on the external drive. You'll have a complete backup of the entire machine (although I would definitely suggest some off-site redundancy -- Mozy, Dropbox, etc. -- so you can keep extremely important files safe from those unfortunate times when both the drive and the computer fail -- happened to me this year -- or, worst case scenario, one of the kids burns down the house while using the old HP).

SSD's are fantastic, but they're also quite pricey, and the performance gains are subjective -- each individual will argue it is either not worth it, or totally so, and thus you're better off deciding this one on your own (after doing a bit of research, preferably from an objective source).

As for the glossy vs matte debate, there is a line drawn in the sand for me. While the glossy display is subjectively more appealing to most eyes, there is an argument that the visual pop comes at the cost of accuracy. And while the matte display may be more accurate, it is also rather drab looking. As someone who works with photography daily, I would suggest calibrating either display with a good calibration tool and making the decision based on the environment you work in. Myself, I keep the back of my iMac and MacBook Pro (and my new baby, on its way as we speak) to the window, to reduce glare...because matte is simply boring.

Hope that helps.
 
So is it possible to get a 750gb HD and a smaller SSD drive installed in the same new MBP?
 
I can't believe I still hear photographers saying they want glossy because it looks nicer on the screen... Its about how It looks on print. I hope you guys don't care too much about color correction or simply are ok with your prints being "close to something like this", Although that mentality as well is out the window...

OP, get the anti-glare simple as that and like previously mentioned an external screen like eizo is an option as well. But apart from that I think the 15" up to.max in RAM is a pleasing machine to photoshop in.
 
Commonmind said:
-- or, worst case scenario, one of the kids burns down the house while using the old HP).
Click to expand...

That simple sentence pretty much made my day. (not the burning down of the house, the damn hp is the hottest computer I have ever owned and I often worry about the hazard....so much so that when I leave my house, I turn it off! Just like I would my flat iron!:D) OCD, I know I know.

THANK YOU ENDLESSLY for all of your advice. You guys ROCK!
 
legreve said:
I can't believe I still hear photographers saying they want glossy because it looks nicer on the screen... Its about how It looks on print. I hope you guys don't care too much about color correction or simply are ok with your prints being "close to something like this", Although that mentality as well is out the window...

OP, get the anti-glare simple as that and like previously mentioned an external screen like eizo is an option as well. But apart from that I think the 15" up to.max in RAM is a pleasing machine to photoshop in.
Click to expand...

Judging print calibration from ANY TN panel, glossy or matte, is an exercise in frustration, especially a laptop screen that cannot be easily calibrated. My point was that for many clients, the on-screen look is just as important. And by using your laptop to judge the JPG output, you can be assured how it looks on their iPhone and iPad is how it looks on your laptop. And how your work looks in a client presentation or slideshow using your screen is very important, too. I don't see how the matte option would improve your calibration to make it more accurate.

Use an external monitor for prints.
 
I'm a semi-pro photographer. I chose the 15 MBP today. I also chose the glossy hi-Rez option, as well as the 7200 speed 500gb drive.

If you are showing off your photos to prospective clients, the glossy screen will look better to them, more vivid color, deeper blacks.

I had a white iMac that had a matte screen and then upgraded to a 21.5 iMac with the glossy and I've never had q glare issue. I've also had a MacBook air and an iPad. All glossy. It rarely bothers me.
 
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