Macbook suggestions for A/V work?

[joe h]

Hello,

On an earlier post, people clarified that with today's technology a
5400 rpm drive is completely fine for small to mid-sized 24/96
projects. Maybe even large projects, but certainly small to medium
sized ones.

So there are three Macbook ideas:

The Macbook air:
This has a solid state drive. I thought that gave it better
throughput. But maybe not? This Macbook has less i/o connectors than
the Macbook Pros

Macbook Pro 13":
This looks like a good value at $1199. It has the I5 processor

Macbook Pro 15":
You get the I7 processor and the larger screen at $1799


I was thinking of maybe the 13" model. I'm not going to be doing any
heavy audio/video work for some months. Then maybe six months later I
could drop in some more ram and the latest I7 processor with the $600
I saved. Maybe the 13" gives you some more portability, and then you
could hook it up to a full-sized monitor if you had to do a large mix
that needed a lot of screen real estate.

Just trying to catch the spirit of what people think here, because
this group has a lot of really smart people.

[cedricl[_2_]]

On Mar 10, 2:16*pm, joe h > wrote:
> Hello,
>
> On an earlier post, people clarified that with today's technology a
> 5400 rpm drive is completely fine for small to mid-sized 24/96
> projects. *Maybe even large projects, but certainly small to medium
> sized ones.
>
> So there are three Macbook ideas:
>
> The Macbook air:
> This has a solid state drive. *I thought that gave it better
> throughput. *But maybe not? *This Macbook has less i/o connectors than
> the Macbook Pros
>
> Macbook Pro 13":
> This looks like a good value at $1199. *It has the I5 processor
>
> Macbook Pro 15":
> You get the I7 processor and the larger screen at $1799
>
> I was thinking of maybe the 13" model. *I'm not going to be doing any
> heavy audio/video work for some months. *Then maybe six months later I
> could drop in some more ram and the latest I7 processor with the $600
> I saved. *Maybe the 13" gives you some more portability, and then you
> could hook it up to a full-sized monitor if you had to do a large mix
> that needed a lot of screen real estate.
>
> Just trying to catch the spirit of what people think here, because
> this group has a lot of really smart people.

I'd go with the 15" MacBook Pro and think about maxing out the memory
at some point. They've made it much easier to upgrade memory and hard
drives, but, changing out the processor would be a major PIA to do on
an Apple laptop (if it's doable at all). I run a second monitor on
mine (an older late '07 early '08 model) all the time.

[John Albert]

"Then maybe six months later I could drop in some more ram
and the latest I7 processor with the $600 I saved."

Let us know how you do that.
I don't believe the CPUs in MacBooks are upgradeable - I've
never heard of it being done.

- John

[joe h]

Why would they not be upgradeable?

I've upgraded Windows CPU's a number of times. I've also done that
with a desktop Mac "back in the day".

If it's part of the same class of processor with the same socket/pin
pattern, I can't see why it would not be possible.

But that's going on experience on Windows and desktop machines. If
such upgrades can't be done on a Mac notebook, I would be curious
about either the structural or BIOS limitations that would prevent
swapping out a CPU chip.

[joe h]

Thanks for the tip-off.

I have upgraded computers of various sorts many times. But after what
you said I did some digging online and found that (apparently) Apple
hard-solders the cpu to the mobo. I've never seen that before in my
life!

That totally changes my strategy. I actually buy computers
anticipating to upgrade them over time. But with this one I'll put
off buying the computer until exactly when I need it, and then just
buy whatever makes the most sense for the 24-month-out needs from that
point. I can wait until May, and buy then maybe there will be a few
hundred extra clock cycles on the CPU, etc.

I have a lengthy to-do list, so I'll get other things done in the mean
time and let Moore's Law move forward in the background.

[Peter Larsen[_3_]]

joe h wrote:

> Just trying to catch the spirit of what people think here, because
> this group has a lot of really smart people.

In my opinion you should get a stationary computer for AV-work.

Kind regards

Peter Larsen

[Peter Larsen[_3_]]

joe h wrote:

> Why would they not be upgradeable?

Well, for a starter you could try replacing an iphone battery. You are not
supposed to upgrade a mac-product of any kind, shape or form, you are
supposed to buy a new.

Kind regards

Peter Larsen

[Luxey]

On Mar 11, 8:19*am, "Peter Larsen" > wrote:
> joe h wrote:
> > Why would they not be upgradeable?
>
> Well, for a starter you could try replacing an iphone battery. You are not
> supposed to upgrade a mac-product of any kind, shape or form, you are
> supposed to buy a new.
>
> * Kind regards
>
> * Peter Larsen

That's why things went wintel way.

[david correia]

In article >,
"Peter Larsen" > wrote:

> joe h wrote:
>
> > Why would they not be upgradeable?
>
> Well, for a starter you could try replacing an iphone battery. You are not
> supposed to upgrade a mac-product of any kind, shape or form, you are
> supposed to buy a new.
>
> Kind regards
>
> Peter Larsen



The MacBook line this fellow was talking about has a simple design for
ram and hard drives upgrades. One screwdriver and a couple minutes does
it. Yes, easy enough for a caveman ;>

In fact, ram is incredibly easy in every Mac model. You don't even need
a screwdriver to change ram in a Mini. Hard drives are harder to replace
in a Mini and an iMac but doable. The Mac Pros are of course elegantly
simple. I think a butler with white gloves comes over and does it for
you ;>




David Correia
www.Celebrationsound.com

[hank alrich]

Peter Larsen > wrote:

> joe h wrote:
>
> > Why would they not be upgradeable?
>
> Well, for a starter you could try replacing an iphone battery. You are not
> supposed to upgrade a mac-product of any kind, shape or form, you are
> supposed to buy a new.
>
> Kind regards
>
> Peter Larsen

Some of their stuff is put together so tightly that it isn't easy to get
into the box. Think Mac Mini, into which my son put extra RAM for his
mom's grocery store checkout system.

The "i" stuff is all tightly stuffed and stiffly fastened, and not a
sensible layman's adventure.

Some of their stuff, the desktoppers, is put together so cleverly that
all you have to do is open the side of the machine and have at it.

RAM and HD's in most of the recent 'books are easy deals. I don't think
swapping the processor is an easy thing.

--
shut up and play your guitar * http://hankalrich.com/
http://armadillomusicproductions.com/who'slistening.html
http://www.sonicbids.com/HankandShaidriAlrichwithDougHarman