Looking at getting a macbook C2D

[HeWhoSpitsFire]

I'm looking at getting a new macbook for school.

I'm a multimedia major. My question is how has anyones experience been running the Final Cut studio, or any major media apps for that matter?

The one I'm looking at is the 2 gig white one. I'm gonna pack it with 2 gigs ram, and probably upgrade the drive with a seagate 100g/7200rpm at a later date.

It's really all I can afford, I'd love to get a Pro, but the cost doesn't seem to justify the benefits. Plus the things are a bit larger than I really want to carry all the time.

Any suggestions would be great. And thanks in advance.

 

[aquajet]

Personally, I would upgrade to a larger 5400 rpm drive instead of a smaller 7200 rpm drive. The speed difference isn't all that significant and you'll have that much more space for your video.

 

[yoda13]

I, too, would spring for a bigger 5400 rpm drive. The speed is not too much different and you can never have too much space. I haven't run those apps on my Macbook yet, only had it a few weeks and have been busy, so I have no idea how performance might be...

 

[oceanzen]

If you're doing video work the lack of a dedicated graphics card is going to be a pain.


Look at the Pro refurbs (good as new)at the Apple Store

 

[HeWhoSpitsFire]

A fellow student uses a CD macbook, and told me he uses the suite fine.

He stated that the only drawback was in some of the filters, as they took more time.

But as for livetype and the video in general, he said his ram upgrade virtually solved the problem. Still a little slow in some filters, but the playback and edit work in realtime as intended.

I'd imagine the gains of the C2D would improve this. But I agree, a dedicated GPU would be nice.

None the less, I'll look into the refurbs.

As for the HD, I've heard and read some bad things about WD and Fujitsu. I've had some good and bad experiences with both. That's why I've been looking into Seagates.

Is 160gig the biggest you can get? I don't seem to see anything bigger.

 

[MovieCutter]

Yeah, you can cut video on it, but the screen size is relatively painful, and you can't use Motion for $#!* for anything interesting...sure you can do some minor behaviors, but particles...forget it. I'd go to the refurb store and pick up a MacBook Pro which will run all your multimedia apps MUCH better.