New MacBook Pro

[doncody]

I'm about to go for the new MacBook Pro.

I've already decided to upgrade to 4GB of RAM.

The basic comes with:

160GB HD @ 5400rpm

options are:

160GB @7200 for $150
250GB @4200 for $150

Suggestions?

Thanks,
Don

[Michael Graves]

Take the higher-performance drive (7200rpm) and if you need more storage than that, add an external drive with a firewire interface.

[Frank Petronio]

the faster drives die faster too

Smalldog sells installed and tested RAM for ~$150 per 2gb, so I got 4gb too.

[J_Tardiff]

You're probably fine with either the 7200 or 5400 but definitely avoid the 4200. Having said that I always configure my Mac notebooks with 7200 drives if possible.


Smalldog is a *great* company -- they sold me my Cube that is still running 24/7 as a little personal fileserver next to my desk.

Enjoy the mew MBP, I love mine.

JT

[doncody]

Thanks Michael and Frank.

Any suggestions on an external?

DC

[rhbourbonnais]

You may want to wait till they resolve the video display issue
It only does 6bit per channel color now.
Details here:

http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?threadid=74635

Robin

[pim van der maden]

my choice would be the 7200 rpm 160 Gb.

Pim.

[Ken Lee]

If you place your swap file on an external drive, and if swap file access is the speed-limiting factor for Photoshop, does it matter if your hard disk is 71% faster ?

[Frank Petronio]

haha what a BS lawsuit. It's a great display for a laptop, that is just some shyster playing games.

[Doug Dolde]

I bought the base model 15" at the Apple Store this weekend. Also got a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. I am operating it closed, set up with airflow underneath it for cooling, my EIZO CG21 plugged in, and my Infrant ReedyNAS NV+ on the network for file storage. Have 2x2gb on order from OWC ($229).

I would have gone with something like a Mac Mini if it had the power and ram capability of the MacBook Pro Santa Rosa models.

OS X sure is slick though I'm still on the adaptation curve a bit.

[foto-z]

You may want to wait till they resolve the video display issue
It only does 6bit per channel color now.
Details here:

http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?threadid=74635

Robin

Thanks for the link. I'm quite surprised that a) Apple is using 6-bit displays, given its dependence on graphics-related industries, and b) Apple is advertising the displays as having millions of colours.

Mind you, almost no other laptops employ 24-bit colour so there is not really a choice.

It just confirms my decision to get the 15" and a large external monitor rather than the 17" version.

Oh, and this won't be resolved for these MBPs. Maybe in the next generation they will be able to source some 24-bit panels.

[Gordon Moat]

Apple is very much more a consumer biased company now, than the graphic arts industry biased company it was in the past. Much as I would like to imagine that Apple is more pro oriented, it is sadly not the situation. The same could now be stated for Adobe, who have successively dumbed down (thereby slowing down) their software in the last several versions.

Millions of Colours has very little to do with color management, gamut, or much of anything beyond marketing (well, a little . . . just damn little). Colour Management is communicating colour, including transferring information from one computer to another, one application to another, or software to hardware. There is also no substitute for experience. Anyway, some technical resources here:

http://www.brucelindbloom.com/

http://www.chromix.com

http://www.ledet.com/margulis/ACT_postings/ColorCorrection/ACT-more-16bit.htm

There are many approached currently. The correct working choice would be to adjust your image to get a final print looking something like the scene you photographed (assuming not wanting to heavily manipulate or alter an image). Unfortunately many people just try to get their prints to match their monitor; doing that clips many subtle colours, and a few vibrant colours. Of course, if you are happy with that, then don't change your methods.

Virtual proofing or soft proofing is not something easily done. Every monitor provides a simulation of how a final print might appear. Is your lighting to D50 specification, do you have a controlled lighting viewing booth, and is all ambient light eliminated from your workspace . . . . then maybe you are getting closer to having more accurate soft proofing.

Getting use to the colour information from the colour picker (eyedropper) tool in PhotoShop is one way to accomplish some consistency. Using that method, I could get the printouts I wanted by editing images on an ancient PowerBook 5300. The newer machines are much closer with a wider range of possible colours they can display, but I still rely on the colour information (amongst a few other tools). Over reliance on expecting a monitor to be super accurate will lead to confusion when your prints don't turn out the way you want them.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
A G Studio (http://www.allgstudio.com)

[neil poulsen]

Hmmm, interesting, 6-bit color. I wonder if that applies to my Powerbook that I purchased about two years ago?

On the other topic, without my asking, an Apple employee tech person specifically recommended against the 250gb drive. I had questions about getting an Apple Macbook Pro to run both XP and OXS.

[Brian K]

I have a 6 month old Mac Book Pro, I have 3 gigs of Apple ram and the 200 gig HD (5400 RPM). I recommend not going with anything slower than the 7200 rpm drives. The 200 gig drive is slow, it takes surprisingly long for it to boot up the computer. When a new drive in the 250+gig ranger @7200 rpm comes out I'm going to migrate to it.

[Ted Harris]

I am sitting here now, as I am early most mornings, reading and typing on my 13" MacBook with the 60MB HD and 2GB RAM. The color is fine ... I use the machine for editing sometimes when I am working in the living room at night while watching TV and then send the files to the printer over the network. The color is fine, always has been, has not degraded in nearly a year of hard use. This is my 8th or 9th Mac laptop going all the way back to the 100 (well even before as I also had a Portable). Generally I buy Apple Care and keep them for 2.5 years. I have had no major issues that I an remember with any of them.

Doug, a note on the Mini. I have a maxed out Mini that is running Photoshop and Lightzone and does a reasonable amount of CS2 work when the Tower is busy. It performs just fine as long as you don't try to run other aps at the same time you ware working with PS files that are in the 300 - 500 MB range .... is slow saving though at those sizes and I wouldn't recommend it for a first choice unless $$ were the issue.

[doncody]

Thanks for the link. I'm quite surprised that a) Apple is using 6-bit displays, given its dependence on graphics-related industries, and b) Apple is advertising the displays as having millions of colours.

Mind you, almost no other laptops employ 24-bit colour so there is not really a choice.

It just confirms my decision to get the 15" and a large external monitor rather than the 17" version.

Oh, and this won't be resolved for these MBPs. Maybe in the next generation they will be able to source some 24-bit panels.

So both 15" and 17" are 6 bit?. I had expected to get an external monitor for editing anyhow, but had expected to use the laptop tethered to a MF digital for preview while shooting. If they are both 6 bit do you think the 17" still makes sense? Maybe better for the client?