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Mac pro as a "mobile" computer

V

voyager77

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 25, 2012
82
29
I'm considering exchanging my macbook pro for a mac pro.
But i'm working at 2 different locations each day, they're only a few floors apart so it's physically possible to grab a nMP and carry it from one place to the other.

However I have 2 concerns:

- It would mean unplugging and plugging in a few connectors (thunderbolt/hdmi for monitor and usb for external drive) twice a day. Will the ports stand up to this use over the years?

- I don't like to start up from fresh twice a day, is there a way to make a mac pro hibernate?
 
I don't think a MP is ideal for a mobile solution but if you're happy with it, then I'm sure you can make it work.

People have been using USB/TB ports on laptops for years without any issues, so I'd say what you're looking to do will be fine.

Why do you shut it down, just put it to sleep and then wake it up in the new location, or am I missing something.
 
maflynn said:
Why do you shut it down, just put it to sleep and then wake it up in the new location, or am I missing something.
Click to expand...

I think unplugging it from the power would kill the sleep, since it doesn't have a battery.
 
I certainly wouldn't want to move my Mac Pro around twice a day, not only is it heavy but dropping it could bend one of the legs quite easily nor with my upgrade cards in the slots either. When shipped I always use the box and carried in the car to a clients it's treat with TLC sat on the back seat lashed over with a seat belt.

If you have a fast broadband pipe at other site I would just remote in with another computer and do the work, using teamviewer or even a proper VPN setup to access.

It can even be a Windows box if you use teamviewer..
 
voyager77 said:
I'm considering exchanging my macbook pro for a mac pro.
But i'm working at 2 different locations each day, they're only a few floors apart so it's physically possible to grab a nMP and carry it from one place to the other.

However I have 2 concerns:

- It would mean unplugging and plugging in a few connectors (thunderbolt/hdmi for monitor and usb for external drive) twice a day. Will the ports stand up to this use over the years?

- I don't like to start up from fresh twice a day, is there a way to make a mac pro hibernate?
Click to expand...

You could leave the cables plugged in on the Mac side...
 
voyager77 said:
I'm considering exchanging my macbook pro for a mac pro.
But i'm working at 2 different locations each day, they're only a few floors apart so it's physically possible to grab a nMP and carry it from one place to the other.

However I have 2 concerns:

- It would mean unplugging and plugging in a few connectors (thunderbolt/hdmi for monitor and usb for external drive) twice a day. Will the ports stand up to this use over the years?

- I don't like to start up from fresh twice a day, is there a way to make a mac pro hibernate?
Click to expand...

I carry my nMP with me at home every day after work since january, absolutely no problem with rear ports wearing. It's not that heavy, small photo camera bags are very good for carrying the computer around.
 
Had the same issue because I often have to leave for 2 or 3 weeks because of my main job.

while I'm on the road I still have to do some editing etc. ( and it can be pretty boring in the afternoon if you're in the middle of nowhere... ) so I took my nMP with me a few times. ( I have monitors at both locations )
worked pretty good. But if you have to move daily I would recommend you a Macbook Pro and a Thunderbolt Hub at both ends so you only have to plug in one cable.
 
I use the CalDigit thunderbolt port replicator with my MBP. Only have to unplug power and one cable and I'm out of there. If you use something similar for all your devices, it would work the same. Gets expensive since you would need two of everything on each end.
 
voyager77 said:
I think unplugging it from the power would kill the sleep, since it doesn't have a battery.
Click to expand...

You could carry a UPS with it and just unplug the UPS. But that would add 20-30lbs, be unwieldy, and the UPS will beep at you as soon as it's unplugged.
 
Hybrid sleep

maflynn said:
Do'h, you're right. I've been using a laptop so long, I forgot about that :eek:
Click to expand...

Mac OS X[edit]

Main article: Sleep (OS X)

On Macs, a feature known as Safe Sleep saves the contents of volatile memory to the system hard disk each time the Mac enters Sleep mode. The Mac can instantaneously wake from sleep mode if power to the RAM has not been lost. However, if the power supply was interrupted, such as when removing batteries without an AC power connection, the Mac would wake from Safe Sleep instead, restoring memory contents from the hard drive.[26] Because Safe Sleep's hibernation process occurs during regular Sleep, the Apple menu does not have a "hibernate" option.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibernation_(computing)#Mac_OS_X
Click to expand...

Should be fine....
 
Just use the Hibernate feature instead of just sleep so it writes the RAM image to the SSD and then restores it during boot ... its probably just as fast as shutdown and boot up is with the modern hardware.
 
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