New Macbook pro or more powerful refurbished older MBP?

G

gutterball321

Well-known member
I was waiting for the new macbook pros to come out. I will need to edit a lot of video using premiere, after affects, FCP and edit photos in photoshop and light room. I need a laptop powerful enough to handle all of this but I dont need the retina display, most of my work will be done at a desk with the laptop attached to my 27inch monitor. I would like to have the dvd slot, so would probably be better off without the retina display.

I saw the new MBP and i dont know how to factor in the new processors. What would be more powerful for video editing.

New rMBP
13-inch: 2.4GHz
with Retina display
  • 2.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
  • Turbo Boost up to 2.9GHz
  • 4GB 1600MHz memory
  • 128GB PCIe-based flash storage[SUP]1[/SUP]
  • Intel Iris Graphics
or would it be faster to get one of these i7's, one is also a 15inch.

[h=3]Refurbished 13.3-inch MacBook Pro 3.0 GHz Dual-core Intel Core i7 with Retina Display [/h]Originally released February 2013
13.3-inch (diagonal) Retina display; 2560-by-1600 resolution at 227 pixels per inch

8GB of 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM

512GB Flash Storage

720p FaceTime HD Camera

Intel HD Graphics 4000


[h=3]Refurbished 15.4-inch MacBook Pro 2.3GHz Quad-core Intel i7
Originally released June 2012
15.4-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1440-by-900 resolution

4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 512MB of GDDR5 memory

[/h]
 
Adobe will do a good job of using all available cores. I would normally recommend the quad core as well. BUT....

a 2012 i7 will be using old architecture and will likely be outpaced by the new dual core unit that are running 2 thread per core. You will also want more than 4gb of ram, that is for sure.

If it were me I would be buying the newest unit possible. The SSD will hugely improve speeds with the programs and its likely you would be using an external drive regardless of the internal laptop hd size especially if its only a 5400rpm unit.
 
dude, for video works, ALWAYS HAVE YOUR COMPUTER NEWER THAN YOUR CAMERA !

and CPU PLAYS A HUGE ROLE IN PROCESSING VIDEOS, CPU > RAM > VRAM


I never ever buy used computers

reason

1. parts gets over heated throughout time, as a result it just get slower and slower. (this is the biggest issue for all notebooks)

2. cores, more means better, DO NOT RELY ON SOFTWARE TWEAKS. weakness is weakness.

3. you pay what you get, 3k computer = 3-4 years of life span. 2k used computer = 1.5 years of life (if its in good condition).




other than that,

I go more specific on your case

I would go for the cheapest 15 in quad core. HASWELL = slightly better power management (lower power consumption), and better performance (not big). and you get a new computer (which is not overheated a long time, therefore fast as new). and lower temperatures.

generally saying all used computers perform slower than when they were new. (heat = degrade).
 
Last edited:
Shawnvfx said:
dude, for video works, ALWAYS HAVE YOUR COMPUTER NEWER THAN YOUR CAMERA !

and CPU PLAYS A HUGE ROLE IN PROCESSING VIDEOS, CPU > RAM > VRAM


I never ever buy used computers

reason

1. parts gets over heated throughout time, as a result it just get slower and slower. (this is the biggest issue for all notebooks)

2. cores, more means better, DO NOT RELY ON SOFTWARE TWEAKS. weakness is weakness.

3. you pay what you get, 3k computer = 3-4 years of life span. 2k used computer = 1.5 years of life (if its in good condition).




other than that,

I go more specific on your case

I would go for the cheapest 15 in quad core. HASWELL = slightly better power management (lower power consumption), and better performance (not big). and you get a new computer (which is not overheated a long time, therefore fast as new). and lower temperatures.

generally saying all used computers perform slower than when they were new. (heat = degrade).
Click to expand...



true. Although if I buy refurbished I will buy a late 2012 or the early 2013 model. And if I buy refurbished i will have an i7 instead of an i5, a higher GHz, more ram and possibly a quad core instead of a dual core. The guy at best buy told me you cannot upgrade the amount of ram in the rMBP either so I will be stuck with what I buy.

On paper these 4 things are what make a computer run faster and all four are better on the refurbished model. Thats why i'm having a hard time deciding. Am i just looking at this from the wrong angle?
 
an older i7 is not necessarily faster than a new i5. It may have more cores but the architecture, power management and other specs matter more. Ghz matters less than it ever has. Do yourself a favor and never and i mean never get advice from someone who works at bestbuy. if hes right or not. Do your own research to confirm. Some people there know a thing or 2 but 90% of the employees there have no clue. I still would not buy refurbished. There are a ton of other factors that contribute to a fast computer.

With computers, its a ridiculous cycle how fast things become outdated. if you start with an old model from the start u are already more than a year behind. within 2 years you will want an upgrade.
 
option 3 will have the best performance
quad core cpu
dedicated gpu
lower resolution
 
wow, that was a terrible decision.  This is the most expensive computer i have ever purchased and it cannot handle my simple GH2 footage.  It is the slowest machine I have ever worked with.  I can't even watch my footage in FCP b/c its choppy then speeds up to catch up.  Can barely move clips around.  The computer froze and FCP crashed within the first 2 hours of having the computer and installing the program.<br><br>My 2010 iMac that was $1150 blows this $1500 2013 laptop out of the water.  My cheap 2007 iMac actually runs a little faster than this one for video editing.  Internet and start up speed is a little quicker on this but that is it.  Sucks for video.  i won't even be able to use it.  My $800 PC still edits the fastest but I like fcp and macs so I will work with my iMac at home, my PC at work and only use this if I'm forced to work from a hotel 1 night a month.<br><br>Why do you guys think laptops work fine, I'm 0-4 working with them but you guys keep saying things like oh must have been a used macbook or must have blah blah blah.  This is brand new and was $1500 and is way behind its time.
 
wow, it just took 5 minutes and for me to retype this twice for that post to go through even though my internet is fine and works fast on my iMac right now.
 
Yeah I would never buy a system for video editing that didn't have a dedicated graphics card.
 
Extra ram would probably help, as the integrated graphics shares memory with the main processor, which is why it's not the best for intensive video work. But yeah apparently Apple has soldered the ram to the motherboard on the retina MacBook Pro. Not sure there's any option other than finding a shop that can solder on some new ram. And I'm not sure how much of a difference it would make.
 
can you return it? if not, i would try to sell it. would a laptop not made by apple be an option?
 
Ram is not going to make any difference for the choppy performance. - Buy a Asus N56VZ and run premiere pro with mercury playback. fixed and done. I have one and a gh2. powerhouse of a machine for less money.
 
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