Which Macbook Pro 15-inch for CS5 design work?

[bragmonkey]

Hi there,
(I am currently using an older Macbook Pro 15"- intel core duo, 2.16 ghz. I run CS3 and it works well.)

But..
I just got a new job in marketing. I will be using CS5- mostly Photoshop for photo editing, Illustrator and InDesign for print work. My new boss will be giving me $1000-ish towards a new laptop.

A person at the Apple Store said that I should get the mid-range 15-inch at the very least. Do you agree? Would the base 15-inch be adequate or is the graphics card a real problem in the base model?

I have some money to spend as well- although, money is tight. So, which 15-inch would you recommend?

Thanks!

 

[Krafty]

CS5 has been running flawlessly on my Core i5 17", especially after the 8GB RAM upgrade. If you could get a refurbished previous model (due to your tight budget), that would also suite your needs as well as a giant upgrade from your current Mac. Perhaps maybe you could shell out $200 more dollars.

 

[phantomsd]

I'm currently running CS5 on my 2007 15-inch MacBook Pro 2.16 Core 2 Duo. Mostly Photoshop/Illustrator. I haven't experienced any severe issues... there are beach balls every now and then.

I'm a VERY patient person and can probably "get by" with 1-2 more years of usage out of this machine BUT the new 2011s are REAL TEMPTING. Might just pull the trigger next month on a 17-inch or a Mac Pro.

I say give it a try at first and if its not working out for you then upgrade!

 

[iMackPro]

id go 2.2 17"

 

[Fast Shadow]

If you're doing any kind of design work you're going to want the 17" unless you're going to be tethered to a secondary display all the time. Between all of your tools and palettes and the canvas itself, 1900x1200 really is worth it.

 

[frunk]

I always thought that CS5 wasn't Multi-core efficient. Doesn't RAM matter more? I'd get the base 15" and put 8GB of RAM in that puppy. Add an SSD IF you can.

 

[zwodubber]

I had CS5 running on my 2007 15" 2.4 intel core 2 duo with 4GB of RAM and it ran fine, although it's much better on the 2011 core i5 that replaced it

 

[slicktor]

I'm running CS5 on my 2010 base model 15". I normally use photoshop, illustrator and indesign. Recently i started using After Effects quite a bit and I definitely think upgrading the ram will definitely help. I can feel my computer lagging behind and getting slowed down with rendering and just having too much going on.