What MBP to buy?

[mandobaron]

Hi everyone,

My old MBP finally bit the dust and it's time for an upgrade. I am undecided between the following models:

Maxed out crystalwell 15" on MacMall for $2400
http://www.macmall.com/p/Apple-MacBook-Pro/product~dpno~9824842~pdp.ieeafbh

Maxed out new 13" Broadwell MBP from apple store with edu discount for $2650

I do a lot of video editing (1080p @ 50mbps in iMovie) and audio recording (currently GarageBand, but perhaps a higher end DAW in the future?), and maintain a large iTunes library on my computer (~400GB in mostly lossless).

The screen size isn't the biggest issue, because I am hooked up to an external monitor when I am at home.

My main requirements are the 1TB HD and a speedy enough system to do all my video and audio editing.

Is one of these computers a clear winner, or is there something else I should be looking at?

Thanks,
Baron

 

[Meister]

Both will work, but for video editing I recommend the 15".

Wtf is Crystalwell

 

[redheeler]

Wtf is Crystalwell

http://www.macworld.com/article/2059743/what-is-crystalwell-.html

 

[Meister]

http://www.macworld.com/article/2059743/what-is-crystalwell-.html

Thx. It seems like I completely missed that one

 

[mandobaron]

External HD instead?

Follow up questions:

Could a baseline 13 inch Early 2015 MBP do what I want? 8gb RAM, Iris 6100 graphics, and 128gb HD. I could buy an external HD that I would keep attached all the time.

I don't really know what sort of specs I absolutely need for the kind of work I do.

Looks like that big internal SSD is what really brings the price up.

If I went for a 128 or 256 internal and bought a big external drive, would a cheap USB 3.0 drive be able to keep up with my video editing needs? Looks like you can get 1TB USB 3.0 drives for around 60 bucks. sure beats the $500 upgrade from 512 to 1TB internal...

Thanks,
Baron

 

[Meister]

Follow up question:

Looks like that big internal SSD is what really brings the price up.

If I went for a 128 or 256 internal and bought a big external drive, would a cheap USB 3.0 drive be able to keep up with my video editing needs? Looks like you can get 1TB USB 3.0 drives for around 60 bucks. sure beats the $500 upgrade from 512 to 1TB internal...

Thanks,
Baron

I have a 13" rmbp with 256gb and I use external hdds for video and photo editing. I can tell you that an hdd will slow you down. Always better to go from ssd if possible.

 

[blaine07]

I personally just ordered a external SSD USB 3.0 enclosure and a Samsung 250gb ssd drive. I'm hoping it's my solution for some extra storage. Also have some storage on home network(that can be accessed on/off network). Unsure about exact speeds, but works for me.

 

[inhalexhale1]

Both will work, but for video editing I recommend the 15".

Wtf is Crystalwell

I agree. Go with the entry 15" and upgrade to the 1TB option. It's roughly the same as your budget, at least for the maxed new 13". You'll get a better processor and graphics with the larger MacBook.

 

[mandobaron]

Thanks everyone, Looks like the 15 inch is the way to go.

Also, I think people caught this, but I meant Broadwell for the 13, not haswell. My mistake. I have updated the original post