Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Medium Format / Film / Digital Backs – and Large Sensor Photography => Topic started by: jonstewart on February 25, 2008, 09:33:25 am
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Hi all,
Haven't found any clear answer to this yet, so maybe you can help. Please!
Need a new laptop, current sony being 5 years old.
Functional Specification (sort of :-) )
1. Capture and viewing in studio and field (and backup as well)
2. Surf etc
3. Perhaps processing, but I have a good workstation at home.
I've narrowed it down to two (suggest others by all means) almost identical laptops:
1. Dell M1530 GBP1200
2. MacbookPro GBP2150 (and no, I didn't mistype the price on that one!)
Both are about C2D 2.4 / 200Gb HD / 4Gb mem; other specs are similar, but Dell has some features I would value, that Apple doesn't. (I currently have a 3.0Gb dual woodcrest Macpro which runs Vista Ultimate very nicely; Tried Leopard and didn't like it any better than Tiger.)
Perhaps you could share any general comments about my choices.
One other thing; would you go for glossy or matte screen. Glossy seems to have issues with reflections and over saturation and contrast, but I do have a Colorvision Spyder Pro 2, which has worked successfully on every screen in the house.
Thanks in advance
J
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I looket at the dell laptop on dell.com and could only find ones with 4 pin firewire ports. Ideally you need a 6 pin firewire port, so your DB can draw its power from the laptop.
1. Capture and viewing in studio and field (and backup as well)
2. Surf etc
3. Perhaps processing, but I have a good workstation at home.
I've narrowed it down to two (suggest others by all means) almost identical laptops:
1. Dell M1530 GBP1200
2. MacbookPro GBP2150 (and no, I didn't mistype the price on that one!)
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=177212\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
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Thanks Godtfred, had missed that fact.
J
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1. Dell M1530 GBP1200
2. MacbookPro GBP2150 (and no, I didn't mistype the price on that one!)
Well my MacBook Pro 2.2 GHz was little over 1500 euros VAT 0% with 2 GB of RAM. 4 GB Ram upgrade from Kingston cost about 70 euros, not 500 or 600 hundred as in Apple store... I don't think you are going to see much of a difference with a P45 tethered to a MacBook Pro 2.2 or 2.4 GHz.
If you buy the the memory from Apple store you will pay about 5 times too much for it. Order from USA and save another 100 or so euros.
Patrik
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1. Dell M1530 GBP1200
2. MacbookPro GBP2150 (and no, I didn't mistype the price on that one!)
Well my MacBook Pro 2.2 GHz was little over 1500 euros VAT 0% with 2 GB of RAM. 4 GB Ram upgrade from Kingston cost about 70 euros, not 500 or 600 hundred as in Apple store... I don't think you are going to see much of a difference with a P45 tethered to a MacBook Pro 2.2 or 2.4 GHz.
If you buy the the memory from Apple store you will pay about 5 times too much for it. Order from USA and save another 100 or so euros.
Patrik
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Thanks Patrik...any other reason apart from price you'd go for the Mac?
J
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Thanks Patrik...any other reason apart from price you'd go for the Mac?
J
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I found Leopard really annoying to use, lot of bugs, Bridge CS3 crashed once a day, like that, lot of minors issues but still something to go through.
I also found PS a little slow...
I have a Imac 2.4 Ghz core2duo with 3gig Ram and doesn't look much faster than my macbook 1.8 with 1.5 gig Ram which run on Tiger so I assume Leopard is the issue.
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I found Leopard really annoying to use, lot of bugs, Bridge CS3 crashed once a day, like that, lot of minors issues but still something to go through.
I also found PS a little slow...
I have a Imac 2.4 Ghz core2duo with 3gig Ram and doesn't look much faster than my macbook 1.8 with 1.5 gig Ram which run on Tiger so I assume Leopard is the issue.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=177248\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
And here absolutely perfect. Capture One 3..7 and 3.7.8 has worked perfectly. No crash after over 2000 actuations all tethered to P45+. Also very fast shooting.
Photoshop CS3 works really well and Bridge too. Screen is also very very good. The MacBook Pro is fast enough for location work atleast. I do most my processing in my 2 year old Mac Pro which is fast enough for me.
Regards,
Patrik
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And here absolutely perfect. Capture One 3..7 and 3.7.8 has worked perfectly. No crash after over 2000 actuations all tethered to P45+. Also very fast shooting.
Photoshop CS3 works really well and Bridge too. Screen is also very very good. The MacBook Pro is fast enough for location work atleast. I do most my processing in my 2 year old Mac Pro which is fast enough for me.
Regards,
Patrik
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=177261\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
I think there are issues with software that will be resolved, but I'm glad to see David agrees with me about Leopard.
Without prejudicing any views, Dell seem to be making heavy weather of having a hi res matte display in a fast notebook. Why do they think everybody wants glossy?
I read one comment about glossy screens are 'like Lindsey Lohan; Nice to look at for a while , but the novelty soon wears off!'
Back to Apple then, perhaps... and I do agree about sourcing memory separately. The one thing I don't like about the apple site is the apparent lack of detail!
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I use a MB pro 2.33/2GB for tethered Aptus. (no PC version of LC11 avalable either I believe)
Only ever used macs but it works a treat, although sometimes needs a restart towards the end of the day to clear it's head.
If you're in the UK, then check out Crucial Memory (http://www.crucial.com/uk/?gclid=CKXojOzs35ECFQfXXgodMAEqXw) for RAM upgrades - I can't recomend them highly enough for price & service.
Oh, and steer well clear of the glossy screens - they just wrong 'un's for what we do!
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I use a MB pro 2.33/2GB for tethered Aptus. (no PC version of LC11 avalable either I believe)
Only ever used macs but it works a treat, although sometimes needs a restart towards the end of the day to clear it's head.
If you're in the UK, then check out Crucial Memory (http://www.crucial.com/uk/?gclid=CKXojOzs35ECFQfXXgodMAEqXw) for RAM upgrades - I can't recomend them highly enough for price & service.
Oh, and steer well clear of the glossy screens - they just wrong 'un's for what we do!
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Nice food photos, Neil... getting near teatime here!
Agree about crucial memory, used them before. I'm leaning more to the Apple, even with educational discount, it's still a few hundred more than the Dell, but I don't think I want a notebook with a glossy screen.
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The rumors are that Apple is releasing new upgraded MacBook Pro models tomorrow at the same price point. Of course then you will have to use Leopard but Phase does seem to have the issues worked out now.
I have a 2.2 model from last summer, and it works well with the P45+, the LED Backlit screen looks great and calibrates well, definitely go for the matt screen. a 4gig aftermarket ram kit is about $100 now from Otherworld computing.
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I looket at the dell laptop on dell.com and could only find ones with 4 pin firewire ports. Ideally you need a 6 pin firewire port, so your DB can draw its power from the laptop.
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MacBook Pro's do not provide enough power to run the DB. they output half the power that old Powerbooks did, and even the Powerbooks did not always fully power the back. You have to set the back to battery mode or you will get lines in the image and connection problems.
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MacBook Pro's do not provide enough power to run the DB. they output half the power that old Powerbooks did, and even the Powerbooks did not always fully power the back. You have to set the back to battery mode or you will get lines in the image and connection problems.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=177287\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
My last gen. mbp '17 runs my P45+ just fine, all I have to keep notice of is that the battery does not reach under about 15 % capacity on the mb, then I get connection problems. Else all is fine (http://s3.amazonaws.com/advrider/rayof.gif)
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It's not great, But really, how many people really shoot that reguarly tethered to a laptop on location with no access to a power point (even car charger). That's kind of what CF cards are for, no?
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If you look on Apple's web site, you will notice that you can choose between the 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or a 2.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. I would definitely stay away from the glossy screen. It's like a mirror. As someone had mentioned before, the 6 pin FireWire carries power to your DB. You can actually drop your battery out and power your DB, if you are tethered. Nice feature if you are in a pinch.
Chris Lawery
Capture Integration
Capture Integration, Phase One Dealer of the Year (http://www.captureintegration.com)
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It's not great, But really, how many people really shoot that reguarly tethered to a laptop on location with no access to a power point (even car charger). That's kind of what CF cards are for, no?
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Almost all the AD's I work with have now become accustomed to see the images immediately on screen from every photog, and assess images as we proceed. Not providing this on location means possibly not shooting for the client again.
That said, it is only like this for my advertising shoots, everything else is to my own choice....
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Almost all the AD's I work with have now become accustomed to see the images immediately on screen from every photog, and assess images as we proceed. Not providing this on location means possibly not shooting for the client again.
That said, it is only like this for my advertising shoots, everything else is to my own choice....
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I like to see a better preview than on the back of the P45 (especially if 100+ miles from the studio), and at least a 2.4Ghz Apple since there is more cache on board. Thanks for the continued comments everyone; I'm reading them all, even if I'm not responding to each individually.
J
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OK, fair enough.
I was just noting that personally, even on ad shoots, I extremely rarely find myself that far from a power point for that long and having to rely on battery power. (2 x 20 metre & 2 x 10metre extension cords in the car help too!)
My point was that it wouldn't be a point I would seriously consider when buying a laptop - battery power sucks on them, period.
Anyway...
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MacBook Pro's do not provide enough power to run the DB. they output half the power that old Powerbooks did, and even the Powerbooks did not always fully power the back. You have to set the back to battery mode or you will get lines in the image and connection problems.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=177287\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
I don't believe that. My MacBook Pro powers my P45+ just fine. It works well both with MacBook Pro with poweradapter and battery. I use the fw cable that came with the back.
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I think it is sort of random, It is something Phase One does not support, but if your particular back and MacBook Pro work, then you are good, otherwise you just have to set the back to run off it's internal battery. My set up works fine, I do plug the MacBook Pro into AC or an inverter along with my lights if I am outside.
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I understand the Mac boosting, but for PC laptops you can't beat a Thinkpad. VERY rugged (never had one fail. At Dulles, one was pushed over the edge to the concrete floor at security-the only proble was a wire came lose from the screen.
I have a 1920x1200 at home, but it is heavy (7lbs) but just got a Z61 to travel-1400xsomething screen and 4lbs
for firewire, use the PCMCIA (whatever!!) slot with 6 pin adapter (usually 2-3 of them)
a little more expensive, but a LOT more reliable
I guess its Lenovo now, but still IBM quality
Victor
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I understand the Mac boosting, but for PC laptops you can't beat a Thinkpad. VERY rugged (never had one fail. At Dulles, one was pushed over the edge to the concrete floor at security-the only proble was a wire came lose from the screen.
I have a 1920x1200 at home, but it is heavy (7lbs) but just got a Z61 to travel-1400xsomething screen and 4lbs
for firewire, use the PCMCIA (whatever!!) slot with 6 pin adapter (usually 2-3 of them)
a little more expensive, but a LOT more reliable
I guess its Lenovo now, but still IBM quality
Victor
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=177373\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
not sure if this is applicable to a phase one back but a pcmcia adapter won't power the back, you'll need to use another power adapter to run power to the firewire port on the pcmcia card
I run my aptus like that, on an Expresscard firewire800 card with the power plugged in.
the plus point of this is that the back doesn't suck battery life from the laptop that way and you need only about 1.5-2 amps to power the firewire card (I'm using a generic power adapter for the firewire card, it's 1.5 amps)
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Well, now that the new MacbookPro spec has come out, I think I'll go for the Apple, and then install Vista on it.
It's a cruel twisted perverse kind of world :-)
Thanks for all your help guys (and gals!)
J