Advice for new Mac user migrating from PC...

[PaulJC]

Hi all,

I have been a long term PC user currently running a AMD Quad 2.8 with 12gb ram and lots of accessories, but also a multi monitor display across 3 screens...

Upgrade time has come around and i've decided to take the plunge on a Mac, I needed a high spec computer and the portability of a laptop so have opted for a Macbook Pro Retina 2.8 with the 1Tb PCIe...

I have 3 monitors, 2 x VGA, 1 x DVI/HDMI, if possible i would like to be able to use all 3 of these but certainly 2.
Access to Wired LAN.
USB 3.0 2Tb External Drive.
In my PC i have a 2Tb and 1Tb drive, i would like to have these as available storage, best to put them in enclosures? Buy some kind of NAS? Or keep the PC to use as a storage server? (It i will probably still be used as a render machine for 3D animation and graphics anyway)
I also have a USB 3.0 external Card reader for SD/Compact flash cards.
USB Keyboard.
USB Trackball.
Lexicon Alpha USB Audio Soundcard/Interface.

Now i guess my question is how to best integrate this with what i already have? Ideally i would like my new Mac to take over the role of Desktop and laptop, so maybe a docking solution of some kind? The henge dock looks lovely but i'm not sure if it will be the best option for my needs...

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you may have.

Paul

 

[Samuelsan2001]

How about a thunderbolt 2 dock?? Your main issue with docks is multiple screens are an issue unless they are thunderbolt enabled and can be daisy chained.

Your issue with hard drives is format the Mac will read NTFS but not write to it without a third party app like paragon.

 

[PaulJC]

Thanks for you input

How about a thunderbolt 2 dock?? Your main issue with docks is multiple screens are an issue unless they are thunderbolt enabled and can be daisy chained.

I was thinking maybe a mini displayport to DVI adapter and USB to VGA for another monitor and then settle with just the 2... 3 is definitely the ideal though... I do a lot of design work, video editing, after effects and 3D animation so the more screen real estate the better...

Your issue with hard drives is format the Mac will read NTFS but not write to it without a third party app like paragon.

This is i did not know... Would that still be the case for network storage? I'm presuming not... :/

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Thanks for you input



I was thinking maybe a mini displayport to DVI adapter and USB to VGA for another monitor and then settle with just the 2... 3 is definitely the ideal though... I do a lot of design work, video editing, after effects and 3D animation so the more screen real estate the better...



This is i did not know... Would that still be the case for network storage? I'm presuming not... :/

The MacBook can run three screens but it can be a bit of a headache getting them all connected. Take a look at this video

Unfortunately a NAS works under the same restrictions if you want both pc and Mac to access it and write to it you'll need to format it to extended fat.

 

[snaky69]

Hi all,

I have been a long term PC user currently running a AMD Quad 2.8 with 12gb ram and lots of accessories, but also a multi monitor display across 3 screens...

Upgrade time has come around and i've decided to take the plunge on a Mac, I needed a high spec computer and the portability of a laptop so have opted for a Macbook Pro Retina 2.8 with the 1Tb PCIe...

I have 3 monitors, 2 x VGA, 1 x DVI/HDMI, if possible i would like to be able to use all 3 of these but certainly 2.
Access to Wired LAN.
USB 3.0 2Tb External Drive.
In my PC i have a 2Tb and 1Tb drive, i would like to have these as available storage, best to put them in enclosures? Buy some kind of NAS? Or keep the PC to use as a storage server? (It i will probably still be used as a render machine for 3D animation and graphics anyway)
I also have a USB 3.0 external Card reader for SD/Compact flash cards.
USB Keyboard.
USB Trackball.
Lexicon Alpha USB Audio Soundcard/Interface.

Now i guess my question is how to best integrate this with what i already have? Ideally i would like my new Mac to take over the role of Desktop and laptop, so maybe a docking solution of some kind? The henge dock looks lovely but i'm not sure if it will be the best option for my needs...

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you may have.

Paul

You should be able to plug in 2 monitors and use the Mac's with a dongle or two, which puts your total to 3.

There are ways to get all 3 working but they'd require quite a bit of graphical power. USB solutions are fine for text or other static-ish images, but forget video work on those, the lag is horrendous.

 

[PaulJC]

Thank you both for your input, good to know the USB to Adapters are not worth it, does using a USB 3.0 version make any difference? I guess i could always try one and return it if it isnt good enough...

 

[snaky69]

Thank you both for your input, good to know the USB to Adapters are not worth it, does using a USB 3.0 version make any difference? I guess i could always try one and return it if it isnt good enough...

You could give it a try but I wouldn't go expecting too much.

 

[duervo]

A NAS does not have to be formatted as exFAT. For example, internal storage on both QNAP and Synology products are formatted as ext4 (and Synology's soon-to-be-released DSM 6.0 adds support for btrfs (on supported models.))

It's not the file system being used that determines the ability of a NAS to share data with a client on the network. It's the file sharing protocol that determines that.

You want something that supports CIFS, and (optional) AFP. Every NAS product under the sun can do CIFS, but I'm partial to Synology (been running a DS1812+ since 2012.)