MacBook Pro - thunderbolt storage and DVD drive
Discussion
Ok i've narrowed down my choice of Laptop to a Macbook Pro. Looking into what Suits me best. would like SSD and unsure on 13" or 15" screen.
I am going to replace my 5-6 year old desktop with the macbook and I normally use the desktop for browsing the web but also for editing video from my Go Pro/camcorder 1 from trackdays and hol vids
I have A IPhone, Ipads (not a apple Junkie) but like the way they work for me. We have a Android Mobile and I have a Google Nexus as well.
I also would like to get some storage which has this thunderbolt cable so I'm not waiting a while to download/upload a few gigs worth of video. It takes a while from SD cards to my old desktop and longer when trying to convert using Windows movie maker.
Any tips on the best Macbook pro to look at. I don't want to spend ££££ loads but I know buying Apple it's going to cost me more than a windows based laptop.
Also what is the ideal DVD or Blu ray player/burner to the macbook pro
I also have a WD Nas drive which I use to backup video, pics and movies but this uploads very slowly (about 1-2Mb a second) so a thunderbolt should help with speeds. Would this work with a Macbook.
Whats the benefits and drawbacks of going from using windows for years to Apple?
cheers in advance
I am going to replace my 5-6 year old desktop with the macbook and I normally use the desktop for browsing the web but also for editing video from my Go Pro/camcorder 1 from trackdays and hol vids
I have A IPhone, Ipads (not a apple Junkie) but like the way they work for me. We have a Android Mobile and I have a Google Nexus as well.
I also would like to get some storage which has this thunderbolt cable so I'm not waiting a while to download/upload a few gigs worth of video. It takes a while from SD cards to my old desktop and longer when trying to convert using Windows movie maker.
Any tips on the best Macbook pro to look at. I don't want to spend ££££ loads but I know buying Apple it's going to cost me more than a windows based laptop.
Also what is the ideal DVD or Blu ray player/burner to the macbook pro
I also have a WD Nas drive which I use to backup video, pics and movies but this uploads very slowly (about 1-2Mb a second) so a thunderbolt should help with speeds. Would this work with a Macbook.
Whats the benefits and drawbacks of going from using windows for years to Apple?
cheers in advance
Edited by RemaL on Tuesday 24th June 08:31
In case you haven't seen it, have a look at this page:
http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/
Indicates when they expect Apple to update it's products, based on the previous cycle of updates.
May help you to avoid buying one just before it is updated!
h
http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/
Indicates when they expect Apple to update it's products, based on the previous cycle of updates.
May help you to avoid buying one just before it is updated!
h
hms said:
In case you haven't seen it, have a look at this page:
http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/
Indicates when they expect Apple to update it's products, based on the previous cycle of updates.
May help you to avoid buying one just before it is updated!
h
thanks for that. And I would not expect Apple to lower the price just before the update either Unless they are doing it soon as I've seen a price drop this week on John Lewis website and costco http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/
Indicates when they expect Apple to update it's products, based on the previous cycle of updates.
May help you to avoid buying one just before it is updated!
h
The buyers guide above is a good link, the rumours sights can get a bit carried away sometimes 
.
Looking at the current MBPs, I'd say go with a 15" if you can, the 13" is dual core processor and Iris graphics only, the 15" is quad core and Iris Pro or Iris Pro and Nvidia graphics card. If you're replacing a desktop, get as much power as you can. A new storage 'drive', chip, card, whatever it is now or external storage is an option if you get the base spec storage, getting a faster processor or graphics later on isn't.
.Looking at the current MBPs, I'd say go with a 15" if you can, the 13" is dual core processor and Iris graphics only, the 15" is quad core and Iris Pro or Iris Pro and Nvidia graphics card. If you're replacing a desktop, get as much power as you can. A new storage 'drive', chip, card, whatever it is now or external storage is an option if you get the base spec storage, getting a faster processor or graphics later on isn't.
In the last month or two I have gone windows to Mac and wet Mac Book Pro 15" with 16GB Ram and 500GB SSD. It will have to be ripped from dead hands as there is no way I am ever going back, its fantastic.
I wouldn't want less memory as it regularly hits 7GB and 10GB when using Parallels to run windows.
It absolutely flies and unlike my old windows experience starts almost instantly. Not cheap but worth it.
Originally I wasn't sure about the size but now love it.
Not used external storage though, other than a USB back disc which is also pretty dam quick.
I wouldn't want less memory as it regularly hits 7GB and 10GB when using Parallels to run windows.
It absolutely flies and unlike my old windows experience starts almost instantly. Not cheap but worth it.
Originally I wasn't sure about the size but now love it.
Not used external storage though, other than a USB back disc which is also pretty dam quick.
I have a 15" MBP.
I also have the super drive, as I needed to burn some discs for work, it works OK, but is expensive for what it is and it didn't work with VMware Fusion.
I also have the 2 TB thunderbolt drive, which I use as a storage and time machine drive. It's heavy but quick.
I'm also looking to buy a thunderbolt display, however I'm waiting for Apple to update it, which will hopefully be later in the year.
I also have the super drive, as I needed to burn some discs for work, it works OK, but is expensive for what it is and it didn't work with VMware Fusion.
I also have the 2 TB thunderbolt drive, which I use as a storage and time machine drive. It's heavy but quick.
I'm also looking to buy a thunderbolt display, however I'm waiting for Apple to update it, which will hopefully be later in the year.
cheers both for the reply. Did you both by direct from Apple? and re the Thunderbolt storage which one did you go for? seems there are many out there but range from £100 all the way past a grand. I'm just looking for something with 2Tb or there about that I can access quickly. I'm only used to 15-25mg and second transfer rate so hoping for something quicker. Would USB 3 be any good. Just seems if you want thundebolt you need to pay a few few £££ more. just wondering if it's worth it
RemaL said:
cheers both for the reply. Did you both by direct from Apple? and re the Thunderbolt storage which one did you go for? seems there are many out there but range from £100 all the way past a grand. I'm just looking for something with 2Tb or there about that I can access quickly. I'm only used to 15-25mg and second transfer rate so hoping for something quicker. Would USB 3 be any good. Just seems if you want thundebolt you need to pay a few few £££ more. just wondering if it's worth it
I bought my Macbook at Heathrow for £1999.The thunderbolt storage was the Lacie 2TB one from the Apple store, was about £200. Is it faster than USB 3.0, well maybe. Is it worth it, possibly. I needed a 2TB drive and decided to get the thunderbolt as I was using the 2 USB ports for other devices.
Macrumors don't get it spectacularly wrong too often and personally I don't think it's a bad time to buy. I'm just about to as I can't see the broadwell chips coming before Q4 and my 15" MBP is starting to feel a bit leggy.
DVD drive is just a DVD drive, buy one if you need it. I never use mine in my current macs, and won't miss having the option.
Thunderbolt I'm hugely on the fence about. I have a Lacie, it's fast but poor value for money IMO. The big plus is it frees up your USB ports if you use them frequently as the poster above mentioned. More often than not I use networked USB HDD via my airport router, or cloud storage. If it suits your requirements go for it, but I probably wouldn't bother again. If you're regularly throwing big video files around it's probably a good time saver.
In terms of going from windows to mac, it's nowhere near the big step it once was. For the large part they're fairly intuitive, a couple of quirks but once you get used to them they're lovely. Worth taking a few minutes to learn keyboard shortcuts.
If you're over in the US anytime soon you can save a few quid buying here.
DVD drive is just a DVD drive, buy one if you need it. I never use mine in my current macs, and won't miss having the option.
Thunderbolt I'm hugely on the fence about. I have a Lacie, it's fast but poor value for money IMO. The big plus is it frees up your USB ports if you use them frequently as the poster above mentioned. More often than not I use networked USB HDD via my airport router, or cloud storage. If it suits your requirements go for it, but I probably wouldn't bother again. If you're regularly throwing big video files around it's probably a good time saver.
In terms of going from windows to mac, it's nowhere near the big step it once was. For the large part they're fairly intuitive, a couple of quirks but once you get used to them they're lovely. Worth taking a few minutes to learn keyboard shortcuts.
If you're over in the US anytime soon you can save a few quid buying here.
cheers chaps, Not in the US until next year. Only flying from Bristol this year so no apple store in there.
Gives me something to think about re the DVD drive. Not 100% sure I would need one right away unless I find out how to run Windows 8 on the MBP if I wanted to.
Daft question but if I load up my 128Gig USb stick with music and documents etc... will the MBP be able to read the files. Just wondering if there is any conflicting issues with how I stored stuff on my Windows desktop compared to going onto a MBP.
I will look into the External drive more. I did see (can't find the link now) a external SSD storage drive where I can buy and add up to 4 SSD drives for storage. I did not notice the price.
Gives me something to think about re the DVD drive. Not 100% sure I would need one right away unless I find out how to run Windows 8 on the MBP if I wanted to.
Daft question but if I load up my 128Gig USb stick with music and documents etc... will the MBP be able to read the files. Just wondering if there is any conflicting issues with how I stored stuff on my Windows desktop compared to going onto a MBP.
I will look into the External drive more. I did see (can't find the link now) a external SSD storage drive where I can buy and add up to 4 SSD drives for storage. I did not notice the price.
I bought direct from Apple but through the educational element as I work in education. I did get a superdrive, but haven't used it yet.
The MBP can read windows discs etc but doesn't appear to able to write to them. I have an external USB drive with my windows backups on, photos music etc, it doesn't want to write to it. But I can play off of it. As an example in windows I got iTunes to consolidate my library and then copied directly to my MBP and it worked just nicely.
I run Windows 7 via Parallels which is a rip of my old lap top, which is rather cool. I plug in usb discs, printers etc and then windows can access them, write to the disc etc quite happily. Parallels is quite cool as you can run windows apps in a window as if it was native. I don't actually use it very often but it is helpful to have it there.
The MBP can read windows discs etc but doesn't appear to able to write to them. I have an external USB drive with my windows backups on, photos music etc, it doesn't want to write to it. But I can play off of it. As an example in windows I got iTunes to consolidate my library and then copied directly to my MBP and it worked just nicely.
I run Windows 7 via Parallels which is a rip of my old lap top, which is rather cool. I plug in usb discs, printers etc and then windows can access them, write to the disc etc quite happily. Parallels is quite cool as you can run windows apps in a window as if it was native. I don't actually use it very often but it is helpful to have it there.
Format wise, just reformat to whatever your system is. Takes seconds in Disk Utility. I found an easy way to transfer Windows files to Mac was via a network connected hard drive. Slower than direct though.
If you want your mac to be able to write to NTFS you can install software that will enable it, Paragon is one but there are others. I've never had cause to use them as I sacked off windows a while back.
If you want your mac to be able to write to NTFS you can install software that will enable it, Paragon is one but there are others. I've never had cause to use them as I sacked off windows a while back.
There is a Dixons Travel at Bristol, you can order in advance so they will have the unit for you to pick up.
https://www.dixonstravel.com/stores/bristol.aspx
As I said before I picked mine up in LHR and saved about £200.
https://www.dixonstravel.com/stores/bristol.aspx
As I said before I picked mine up in LHR and saved about £200.
onlynik said:
There is a Dixons Travel at Bristol, you can order in advance so they will have the unit for you to pick up.
https://www.dixonstravel.com/stores/bristol.aspx
As I said before I picked mine up in LHR and saved about £200.
very intresting idea and never thought of that. Says I can also order when I'm there and collect on my return which would be better https://www.dixonstravel.com/stores/bristol.aspx
As I said before I picked mine up in LHR and saved about £200.
Hi - I've got a MBP with the SSD and love it for the reasons stated above.
I need a fair bit of hard drive space to work with audio files.
I am quite happy with a powered usb 3.0 hub, the one I got was the Anker (stop sniggering at the back Jenkins!) powered usb 3.0
Allows me to simultaneously use various memory sticks, a couple of big hard drives, and run in a midi usb keyboard. It copes with all that without a hitch. Maybe an option if the speed of thunderbolt is not critical. It's got 7 or 8 usb slots so I can have 8 or 9 usb devices connected to my macbook at any one time if I go insane!!
I need a fair bit of hard drive space to work with audio files.
I am quite happy with a powered usb 3.0 hub, the one I got was the Anker (stop sniggering at the back Jenkins!) powered usb 3.0
Allows me to simultaneously use various memory sticks, a couple of big hard drives, and run in a midi usb keyboard. It copes with all that without a hitch. Maybe an option if the speed of thunderbolt is not critical. It's got 7 or 8 usb slots so I can have 8 or 9 usb devices connected to my macbook at any one time if I go insane!!
You can often get good deals at the Apple refurb store
http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/specialdeals...
I bought both my Macbook Pro, and Mac Pro there, and you couldn't tell them apart from a brand new model. Just double-check the specs to make sure you're not getting an older model (they currently list both the 2012 and 2013 Macbook Pro).
http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/specialdeals...
I bought both my Macbook Pro, and Mac Pro there, and you couldn't tell them apart from a brand new model. Just double-check the specs to make sure you're not getting an older model (they currently list both the 2012 and 2013 Macbook Pro).
USB 3.0 vs Thunderbolt is interesting .. take a look at this comparison http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/382882/which-exter...
The only time Thunderbolt could distance itself was copying from a RAM disk. An SSD is still too slow to show the advantages. So, I'd stick with a cheaper USB 3.0.
The only time Thunderbolt could distance itself was copying from a RAM disk. An SSD is still too slow to show the advantages. So, I'd stick with a cheaper USB 3.0.
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