New MacBook Pro 15inch? What do u think of it?

Jay Rodriguez

Jay Rodriguez

Coffee Member
Hey guys, for those mac fans, what do u think of the new MacBook Pro's? I just bought a 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 15inch, which has 4GB DDR3 ram. I'm pretty stoaked about this thing..... I think it'll be a nice little monster to edit on.....
 
It's nice but the glossy screen and the lack of a FW 400 make it more difficult to edit with than the previous generation, which is what I am typing this on.

Most editors are pretty pissed at Apple for the lack of a matte screen option, glossy screens suck for editing. The lack of a 400 port is just more of an inconvenience, there are always express card options, daisy chaining, etc. but if you are going to ever do serious editing with HD, Aja i/O, the new MBPs are handicapped out of the box.

Nice computer, but not that great for editing.

Dan
 
Agreed, Dan.

In fact, if I were in the market for a "new" laptop now, I'd get a refurb'ed previous-gen MacBook Pro from the Apple Store.

--SM
 
I personally dig the glossy screen so I don't mind it. The lacking of a firewire 400 port is what bothered me the most. Is the 800 port backwards compatible?
 
With a cable/adapter you can connect FW400 devices to the 800 port. I always liked having two ports, though, which is why the new MBP is a "non-device" for me.
 
To be fair, the FW ports on the older ones still and I was told have always shared the same internal bus so it is really a matter of more convenience having both.

Yes, if I was buying a laptop today to edit with, I would have bought a refurbished last generation. Apple unfortunately is beginning to relegate video pros to an afterthought. All of the money is coming in from the iPhone and iTunes, not from video pros so I guess I can't blame them but it is still disappointing.

Problem is that the new MBPs are pretty much relegated as a high-end consumer machine, not really so viable as a high-end portable editing solution. Sure you can edit DV and possibly other codecs because the processor is fast enough but the missing extra 400 port is a downer. My daughter's Macbook has the gloss screen, it is horrible with all of the smudges, scratches and how the field of view is so narrow. The colors are nowhere near accurate either.

The express card solutions will take care of the missing 400 port easily but then you have no place to plug in E-sata two drive raids, Aja i/O, etc.

Dan
 
I think they are just following the direction of the industry. Most new products are not being sold with FW, and most video is now being written to HDD's or Memory Cards. I don't know that they are abandoning editors as much as keeping up with the industry direction. Is it a pain now for some? Maybe....but in a few years I'm guessing that FW will be mostly an afterthought for most people. This might just be the last kick most need to change their workflow.

That said, I would happily take an Apple product any day over one of the other laptops available. Not saying their aren't other good laptops, but I prefer Apple. It's hard to find any laptop today without a glossy screen. I don't like the industry direction to this type of screen, but it is what it is I guess.
 
i dunno man, i've been playing with it for a couple of days and i'm really loving this thing. i do wish there was a fw400 port but i can easily buy an adapter for it. also, i've been looking on the apple forums and "they" say that apple chose to not include 400 as it's going to be phased out through out the industry soon. interesting....
 
No 400 port would suck but on my year old MBP I'm using the 400 port on my external 800 drive for capture so I guess it wouldn't make much of a difference in my set up.
So how does it interface with an external Apple monitor?
 
Didn't they put some kind of new Mini DVI port on the new laptops, you have to have some stupid adapter now? I think I read that somewhere.

To me, I have always used my MBPs and PBs mainly just for fun anyway, I have never used them for editing serious projects for clients although I suppose I could. They function now mainly as my P2 dump station and for Photoshop and iTunes, stuff like that. Although it's nice to know I could still cut P2 as well as Mini DV in a pinch if my tower went down.

Dan
 
So that would mean you couldn't use the monitors ports I guess. That would kind of suck...

The ability to pack up the MBP and a hard drive and do some editing at the local coffee shop has saved my sanity on numerous occasions.........
 
The new port is a Mini Display Port connection. Display Port technology is a new connection "standard" that much of the industry seems to be embracing. One of the "issues" with it is that, based on stories I've read elsewhere, the port seems to be "content-aware," and has the ability to NOT display copy-protected material in HD. (If I understood what I read.)

I'll stick with "old technology" for now. :D
 
This works out for me because by the time I'm in the market for a computer things would have calmed down some and a new Mac laptop will be out. For the first time ever I'm really considering a laptop for editing.

My question is what will happen with the desktops. If Canon doesn't go solid state next year I'll probably get either the XH-A1 or the Sony FX1000 to shoot my film. But with the move away from firewire I'm also considering two Vixia's which would leave my Firewire ports as nothing more than harddrive support (I'll be talking about this in an upcoming "Divinity" thread probably a few minutes from now). MY MGB has firewire 400s built in so if I need Firewire I'll daisy chain then get an adapter for the main port. Should work fine right?

-Nate
 
Hmmmm......... so apple decided not to put a fw400 on there 15" or below or did they come out with a new version of the MBPro......
I bought my 17" MBpro in august and it has a fw 400 & 800 also...... if they just put it on there 17"'s.... not a good business move.
 
What up Chris,
there's a fw800 port on the 15" but NOT a fw400 port. According to the "industry" fw400 will be phased out like USB 1 has. Apple decided to be bold and adaqpt to this new direction on their new macbook pro's and the new 17" that will be released in January will NOT include fw400 ports either. It's all good though, the fw800 port is backwards compatible with fw400 devices, you just need an adapter which you can find for $5 - $10.
 
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