Maybe I should have been more specific; for anyone with a high resolution digital back who needs to either tether the back or to transfer high volumes quickly with fast CF cards and readers, the lack of any FireWire facility is a show stopper.
Yair
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One thing I learned early on with digital capture, especially tethering, the computers I use for capture I use only for capture and processing.
I also keep an exact computer as backup, i.e. Imac to Imac, mackbookpro to mackbookpro all with the same operating systems.
That way going from one to the other is automatic if something fails and easy to keep them exactly matched.
It doesn't always work perfectly but it keeps the level of problems way down.
I also try to keep the computers as clear of data as possible, regardless of disk size. It seems the more stuff laying around on the drive(s) the more chance for a problem.
I took a tip from our retouchers and the pre press houses I've used where nothing is kept on the computer that isn't in progress. Once the image is finished it goes off the computer to either a server or a raid. That way the drives stay clear.
Early on I did have rare isntances where I would use a personal computer to capture or process but it seems a computer that gets lots of daily use runnng tons of programs has more problems than one that is just dedicated to a few tasks.
I do think the idea of one of those little macbooks is good for backup. We have one that my producer carries as a spare and though she doesn't use it often it seems pretty well built and it doesn't weigh that much.
To me the Air just looks like a cool device for surfing the web or running spread sheets, but as Yair says without firewire, it's going to be slow for any serious data transfer.
JR