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Archive 2009 · Switchin': Which Mac for me?

acjeske
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p.1 #1 · Switchin': Which Mac for me?

Since we don't have a "computer questions" forum yet...

I currently work on a Lenovo Y430:

Intel Core 2 Duo CPU T5800 @ 2Ghz

3GB RAM

Vista (32, I think)

250 GB HD. (I also have a couple external HDs for storage/backup.)

I shoot with a 5D2 with normal family stuff, some travel, occasional weddings. I'm considering doing up to 15 weddings/year by 2011.

99% of my processing is through Canon's DPP at this point. And it's basic--exposure, contrast, WB, sharpness, crop. I rarely even dodge and burn (don't even know if if DPP does it--I also have GIMP and a real old PS).

That should be enough to make comments, but if you want the full story, keep reading:

I will be radically changing my computing life come Dec/Jan. I'm wondering if LR2 might be enough for what I need to do--the stuff mentioned above (including dodge/burn), but fast (with batching or whatever), and also cataloging to help me find stuff. I don't enjoy post-processing, but I know I need to get better at it. I just don't know what I need.

My wife and I both write, and I shoot, too (mostly editorial, some weddings/portraiture, will maybe add some sport). The past two years, while living in South Africa, we had two Lenovos. Strong machines, pretty stable, only about $600 each. I look at Mac prices and want to throw up. But we can sell the machines in SA, getting nearly what we paid for them, so it's a good time to jump. If the quality/user experience is everything it's supposed to be, it'd be worth the extra money, as we're both on our computers quite a bit.

But can a laptop suffice for editing? Now, I'm shooting about 2000 images/month, including one wedding. I properly process up to half of them (the basic stuff above). The rest are ok, but I have similar shots that are slightly stronger or whatever.

I'm trying to get a cohesive flow to my tech-life, and thinking two Macs (whether two laptops or one laptop and one desktop) with one or two iPhones might help make my life easier, my time more effective, etc. I will be traveling abroad 2 or 3 times per year shooting and should have something along for basic editing and backup. (Could conceivably have desktop, laptop, and a netbook, but I'm not thrilled at that thinking.)

Finally, to really muck stuff up, I may be trying to work with video from the 5D2 occasionally for projects next year. I know that's a hard task to manage. Think 5-10 minute finished pieces of interviews and such. Not only for web-use, so likely in 1080.

Any comments are most appreciated.

Adam

Oct 26, 2009 at 06:21 AM

acjeske
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p.1 #2 · Switchin': Which Mac for me?

Hey--anybody got any wisdom, based on the first part of the post?

TIA.

Adam

Oct 27, 2009 at 10:32 AM

matthewbmedia
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p.1 #3 · Switchin': Which Mac for me?

Do you need a 15" screen?

I love the 13" macbook pro with the aperture workflow for on site work and minor offsite organization. But I usually use my desktop for editing.

Oct 27, 2009 at 10:55 AM

Pavel
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p.1 #4 · Switchin': Which Mac for me?

I have the 17" Macbook pro with a 2.6 dual core and the 512 meg Nvidia 8800. It has 3 gig or memory and a 500 gig 7200rpm drive and three external firewire drives are attached to it when at home. You sure as heck CAN do all on todays laptops.

Oct 27, 2009 at 03:32 PM

knweiss
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p.1 #5 · Switchin': Which Mac for me?

iMac 27" + 13" MacBook Pro

Oct 27, 2009 at 04:54 PM

Ryanthedino
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p.1 #6 · Switchin': Which Mac for me?

I have the 8-core mac pro (3ghz) and its a little overkill haha. The macbook pro is great for editing

Oct 27, 2009 at 09:03 PM

wlescall
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p.1 #7 · Switchin': Which Mac for me?

The developer releases of OSX 10.6.2 have references to 2 new MacBook Pros - most don't expect them until after the new year. I expect the new mobile i5 & i7 to show up in these.

Oct 28, 2009 at 05:33 AM

Kyle Yates
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p.1 #8 · Switchin': Which Mac for me?

Hi there

Before you switch -- give Windows 7 a whirl -- Far far better than VISTA, 64 bit version of photoshop (on W7 64 bit version) runs really fast, SSD's (Solid state ULTRA ULTRA fast Drives) supported and you can even run W7 on really old hardware unlike VISTA.

For once MS has come out with a FAST, stable and really polished OS.

PC gear whilst doesn't have the "Cool" attribute of some apple stuff is SO CHEAP compared with apple that you could buy 2 8GB RAM QUAD CORE desktops for probably the probably the price of a SINGLE 3GB apple machine.

I'm not trying to convince any mac fanboys -- but if you ARE a windows user Windows 7 is a totally new (and pleasant) experience for you.

As for laptops - they all have decent screens these days - often with digital dvi output so no probs with external monitors and again you could buy TWO decent PC laptops for the price of a SINGLE macbook (and they come often with 4GB RAM too).

Cheers
-K

Oct 28, 2009 at 05:38 AM

acjeske
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p.1 #9 · Switchin': Which Mac for me?

Thanks, all--helpful stuff.

I think I could survive with a 13" screen, but with an external at home.

Could the 2.53Ghz/3GB RAM 13" MBP handle 5D2 and be really fast on processing? What about the 2.26Ghz/2GB RAM basic MBP?

What are the advantages of MBP over MB? Metal case, slightly faster processor and more RAM...Not sure how significant these are for my 5D2 RAW editing or what else I don't see from an initial glance...

Oh, and what are the hidden costs of going Mac? I know the machine itself, and I'll have to provide my own Office and PS, right? Is there a Mac suite to do Office stuff, and does it "translate" well into Office?

Thanks for helping. And Kyle, I hear you--I've been sticking with Windows machines (I'm pretty happy with Lenovo), but if I'm ever going to switch, it is now, so I'm investigating...

Adam

Oct 28, 2009 at 07:10 AM

mdude85
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p.1 #10 · Switchin': Which Mac for me?

acjeske wrote:
Hey--anybody got any wisdom, based on the first part of the post?

TIA.

Adam

You mean all that stuff right before "I will be radically changing my computing life"?

Oct 28, 2009 at 08:46 AM

rnb2
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p.1 #11 · Switchin': Which Mac for me?

I would probably lean toward the 27" i7 iMac/13" MacBook Pro suggestion mentioned above. On the MBP, upgrade the RAM to 4GB, and you'll probably also want to upgrade the hard drive - best performance would be to replace the hard drive with an SSD for OS/Applications, and pull out the optical drive and replace it with either a larger hard drive (500GB) for capacity or another SSD for performance.

On the 27" iMac, go for the 2TB internal drive, 8GB of RAM (buy the additional RAM from a third party, not Apple), and upgrade to the i7 processor (this will give you four "virtual" cores, so the OS will actually see 8 cores total).

The 13" MBP has a FireWire800 port that the MB lacks, giving access to faster external storage. I have the unibody 13" MacBook (before they turned it into a Pro), and it's the best laptop I've ever used, but the new unibody polycarbonate MacBook would also work in a pinch. The MBP looks more professional, if that matters to you - the MB looks more like a student computer.

On software, you can "cross-grade" a Photoshop for Windows license if you have one - Adobe will charge you the current upgrade price, and you'll have to sign a form saying you'll destroy your Windows version. Apple has the iWork suite for under $100 - this includes word processor (Pages), Spreadsheet (Numbers), and Presentation (Keynote) applications. Microsoft Office is also available, starting around $150US. iWork does a good job with MS Office compatibility, but if compatibility is your #1 goal, you may want to get MS Office instead.

It may not matter, but the 27" iMac can also be used as a monitor for the MB/MBP, with the proper adapter.

The only reason to look at something like a Mac Pro instead of the 27" iMac is if you need more internal storage or faster external storage, if you know you can use more cores for the software you use (not likely), or if you want the flexibility of easily installing an SSD for OS/Apps (you can install an SSD in the iMac by removing the optical drive, but it is not a trivial procedure). I am very tempted by the 27" iMac myself, but am currently running a 1st-gen 2GHz Mac Pro with 4 internal drives and an SSD, and don't want to give up the fast internal storage and flexibility I currently have.

Oct 28, 2009 at 02:31 PM

cgardner
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p.1 #12 · Switchin': Which Mac for me?

I've been using Macs at work and home since '87 and a few years ago when needing to replace my G4 desktop and CRT monitor realized I really didn't need expansion slots. Firewire 800, a nice built-in monitor, and just about everything else you need can be found in an iMac. I've got the 24" 2.8Ghz DuoCore with a 750GB internal drive (still only 1/3 full) and a 1TB WD "MyBook" for automatic backups via TimeMachine the OSX backup utility.

DDP will run OK but older versions of PS such as 7 will not run on OSX > 10.3 and some older HP printers don't support CS4 managing color (though printer managing the color works OK). So factor in a PS upgrade. I had been using DDP for RAW then porting to PS but when making the switch to CS3 switched to a Bridge > Adobe Camera RAW > CS workflow and found it faster and more convenient. The Image Capture application preference can be set to let Bridge download files from the card reader, and it allows renaming and application of custom metadata, while retaining the original file name in the background.

Oct 28, 2009 at 03:06 PM

acjeske
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p.1 #13 · Switchin': Which Mac for me?

Thanks for the comments, everybody.

Can anyone comment on if a new MB would compare speed/performance-wise to my Lenovo (specs listed at top in first post)?

Everyone's talking about the 27" iMac, not the smaller one. I've worked solely on laptops for years, so the 21" or whatever it is would still be big for me, with better specs for the same price. Any other downsides to that?

If I got a 13" MBP (or MB if that was sufficient), can anyone recommend a decent-sized display to plug into it when I'm working at home? The Mac one at $900 floored me...

Thanks. Long live FM.

Oct 29, 2009 at 09:13 AM

Gary Eckhardt
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p.1 #14 · Switchin': Which Mac for me?

Make sure that you get the matte screen with the 15 or 17 inch MacBook Pro. The glossy screen not only has glare issues, but I've seen some banding or posterization particularly in backgrounds like skies. Photographers in general hate the glossy screens. There may be issues on profiling the glossy screens. Apple just came to its senses and made the matte screen optional on the 15 inch MacBook Pro.

Oct 29, 2009 at 05:40 PM

matthewbmedia
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p.1 #15 · Switchin': Which Mac for me?

Photographers who never print on matte paper don't hate glossy screens...

Oct 29, 2009 at 08:38 PM

OntheRez
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p.1 #16 · Switchin': Which Mac for me?

Adam,

Background: I've worked in and around computing since the early '80s and have used literally everything at one time or another. Everything works . . . at least sort of. I've used Macs (along with everything else) since '84. First question; do you actually need a laptop? You always pay a premium for one and the tech lags behind desktops. If not, buy the most iMac you can afford. Excellent price performance. Make sure you get 4GB RAM. Most cost effective way is to install your own. The 21" model is really sweet. $1,300. Add $200 and you have a 3 GHz Core2Duo machine with 8GB RAM that will easily handle anything your anything your 5D can throw at it. The only thing you might consider is the next step up model which for $1500 (+$200 for 4GB RAM) has a 1TB drive and a better graphics card.

If you decide you need a lap top, the 13" MBP with 4 GB RAM is a fine machine. I have Aperture on mine and handle 17MB 1DsII files routinely. I don't do heavy Photoshop work much on the MBP because I have a monster MacPro with a 30" screen and 16GB RAM for that sort of work.

Hidden cost: Software. Nothing on the Lenovos will work directly on the Mac so you'll have to start over. You can get basic productivity software from Apple (iWorks) for $79 and iWork (real useful) is the same price. For image management and basic edits I use Aperture. Many people use Light Room. Both have plus and minuses. Both have demos. You decide for yourself. You'll have to get the Mac version of DPP. That's a download (might be on your original CD). You've got external drive to use for back up.

Speed: The iMac will blow the doors off your Lenovos. The 13" MBP will likely perform a bit better depending on the task.

Monitor: Any VESA compatible (everything now on the market) will work with the MBP so buy whatever you want. You will have to purchase an adapter for the MBP as Apple has gone to a newer, smaller connector than most of the market is using. I think they are $19 - might be $27.

I always used ThinkPads back when I keep a PC around for the few things I used to still run under Windows. Liked them as they were solid, reliable machines. Macs are just as reliable and their engineering is even better.

Robert

BTW as for those that say, "Wait for Windows 7. It will fix everything." Well they've been saying that since Windows 1 came out in the late '80s. "This next version will . . ." Heard it forever. Windows 7 is Vista with the fixes Vista should have had.

Oct 30, 2009 at 04:00 PM

acjeske
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p.1 #17 · Switchin': Which Mac for me?

So I got to play with a friend's MacBook (2.13 ghz, 2gb).

I was surprised it seemed to download the files much quicker (150 took six minutes using EOS Utility or whatever it's called). And they processed fast, too, converting 32 RAW images in DPP in 13 minutes. My Lenovo with faster processor and more Ram took 34 minutes! The screen generally seemed a bit nicer--color, contrast, sharpness/resolution...or maybe my eyes were effected by Mac-love.

Anyway, more questions:

Other than aluminum body and possibility of faster processor, what are MBP advantages over MB? (I'm looking at the 13" MBP...)

I don't see an option on the Mac store for a matte screen on either MB or MBP. How do I get one?

If I buy a refurb, it doesn't seem like I can buy Office or Aperture/LR (haven't decided between those yet) on it. Can I just go to MS/Apple/Adobe and buy the discs? Can you buy with multiple licenses and stuff? My wife and I will both be needing...

Can I save stuff (eg Word docs) from a Mac on a flash drive and then put it in a pc and have it read everything properly? (Still don't understand the guts of getting these machines to talk to each other...) I'm looking at Office for Mac, not Pages and the other Macware.

Thanks.

Adam

Nov 13, 2009 at 08:09 AM

SoundHound
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p.1 #18 · Switchin': Which Mac for me?

I have a MacPro with 5 Monitors (two 28s and a Mac 30") with a Wacom pen tablet. I can't imagine using a laptop for more than 30'. You are talking about some slow work as well as serious hand/arm/shoulder injury hunched over a laptop for long PS sessions.

At least get an external monitor, keyboard and pen tablet if you must use a laptop as a CPU.
But remember everything costs more in a laptop, RAM, HDs etc to be made so small and you upgrade path is also very narrow.

Nov 13, 2009 at 11:24 AM

mfreardon
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p.1 #19 · Switchin': Which Mac for me?

acjeske wrote:
Can I save stuff (eg Word docs) from a Mac on a flash drive and then put it in a pc and have it read everything properly? (Still don't understand the guts of getting these machines to talk to each other...) I'm looking at Office for Mac, not Pages and the other Macware.

Thanks.

Adam

Documents created in Office for Mac can be read in Office (for Windows) without any issues. It works the other direction as well. Since Microsoft makes both programs, they insure that the programs are compatible.

I have a 24" iMac that I love. It's much better than a laptop for extended sessions at the keyboard and screen.

Nov 15, 2009 at 08:59 PM

CGrindahl
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p.1 #20 · Switchin': Which Mac for me?

With regard to the MBP versus MB I'd mention two things, plus emphasize one thing already mentioned. First, the MBP has a back lit key board which can be very nice if you're working at night in a darkened room. Secondly, the speakers on the MBP are far superior. Third, as mentioned above, MBP has a firewire port while the MB has only USB II ports. In my experience even firewire 400 external drives are significantly faster than USB drives. Of course, if you have USB drives already you may not feel the need for firewire.

With regard to the matte versus glossy screen issue, a close friend, an avid photographer who worked for years as a designer for Adobe swore by matte screens, until he bought a 13" MBP with a glossy screen. He recently put his lovely 12" G4 Powerbook with matte screen on my lap with the MBP next to it and the difference is night and day. The glossy screen reveals brilliant colors that are obscured by the matte screen. I understand that folks complain about glare from reflected light but that can be handled by judicious placement and use of the computer. Since the MBP 13" doesn't have the matte screen option, if you're determined to have a matte screen you can always add a third party matte film over the existing screen. I'd suggest you simply use the glossy screen and see for yourself whether that is necessary. I believe you can buy a 15" MBP with a matte screen if you're willing to pay the price and are willing to carry the extra weight.

Refurbs are great. You can buy software from reputable vendors and add it the same way you can add extra RAM. You'd likely save yourself some money as well. Good luck and have fun. I've enjoyed the Mac experience for fifteen years. There is a reason customer satisfaction is so high. They make great products that simply work.

Nov 16, 2009 at 01:37 AM

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