Need a macbook but can't configure it with what i need.

Ok i need a macbook or macbook pro for college. I'm going into video so they say i need a 7200 rpm hard drive. So i go to the apple store and i can't configure the macbook with a 7200rpm drive. What should i do? I don't feel like spending 2500 on a macbook pro when I can spend 1500 on a macbook. All i need is the 7200 drive and I don't feel like spending the extra 1000 for just the 7200 rpm harddrive. My questions are Would the 7200 rpm harddrive be that noticeable and how can i get the 7200rpm drive in the macbook?

 

you can buy 7200 macbook pro from ebay for much cheaper(new and from powerseller of corse ).but if you want macbook,then you can buy hdd yourself and change it(it doesn't void your warranty),but i think that you should go with macbook pro cos of bigger and better display.

 

Yea it can make a noticibile difference. I'd say change the hdd yourself, it would solve any problems that you have.

With the macbook you can do it very easily, and it doesn't affect the warrenty at all.

MBP on the otherhand, you can do it yourself, but its not as easy as the macbook.

Though if your going into video/tv you probably want as much screen real esatate as possible. The extra resolution of the MBP and size really makes a difference when video editing. You might want to get either a second monitor thats bigger, or maybe consider the MBP. Though if you're more concerned about content, instead of quality, then the MB's screen is probably fine for you.

 

I'd go with a Macbook Pro for video editing. But I'd get it on ebay like Xirurg said.

 

As I recall, swapping out a HDD also voids your Apple warranty. However, they're not always particularly stringent about it.

Secondly a 7200 RPM drive may not show very much improvement in performance over a 5400RPM drive. Performance differences will depend on the brands/sizes/speeds of the hard drives being compared. For example, the Western Digital 320GB 5400 RPM outperforms most 7200 200 GB RPM drives.

For more information on the warranty, you can read the following thread.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=278757

 

swapping out the HD will not void any warranty on a MacBook, just buy whatever model you are looking for with the cheapest HDD, and buy a 7K320 from Hitachi, or what I would really recommend is just waiting a Month or so to see if Apple updates the MacBook and MacBook Pro, by that time it is very likely that 500gb 7200rpm HDs might be available.

 

Well on a requirements sheet i have it says External firewire hard drive. So i can just buy a external harddrive on newegg then right and just use that externally?

Also it says buy as much ram and harddrive storage as affordable. Do you think 2 gigs or ram would be enough? If not i was just thinking about buying 4 gigs on ram on newegg for 90 bucks. But do you guys think 2 gigs are enough? I'm highly considering the macbook pro now.

 

i would recommend the MBP for working with video, not only is the screen larger and higher resolution, is a much nicer screen in my opinion, a much better, brighter LED backlight is probably worth the price difference alone.

 

I was thinking about this one from newegg

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834100036

Is this a good deal? I might upgrade the ram unless you guys think 2 gigs would be enough.

If you scroll down the page it shows a combo deal for 2013 dollars for 4 gigs which is probably what i will get anyway. Is it hard to install new ram in a MBP?

And I definitely need to get that external firewire harddrive anyways.

Also the software i need is Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium-Education and Apple Final Cut Studio 2 - Academic. Are these expensive?

 

Get the laptop directly through apple (or your college computer store) so you get the $200 education discount and a free ipod touch. Also try to get all software through your campus computer store or expect to pay and arm and a leg and your firstborn child.

 

Ok guys i just ordered my macbook pro and the 3 year warranty for 2180 from apple.com.. For college i still need a flash drive , external firewire hard drive and software, but i'll get the software from my school.

Would all these be compatible?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116056
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220252
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146701
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822154185

Thanks

 

Yes, they all should work fine.

 

ok thanks a million guys. Also i'm really debating if i should get vista or xp for bootcamp :S .. I just can't decide. I want to use vista but i don't want any problems and i'm so used to xp. Ugh i just cant decide lol.

 

Saw the thread and thought I'd chime in but you already ordered

What i was going to say though is the MBP is likely the better idea, partly for the reasons people have mentioned, partly because if you're going to edit any HD content, I'd suggest a higher speed processor, which the MBPs have better versions of. Plus yeah, if all you're using is the laptop screen, the bigger screen is better.

I've got that same patriot flash drive and it works nicely, and that is one SWEET deal on a lacie drive that I might partake of too! Use the firewire 800 connection though, obviously. Better speeds, less chance of dropped frames If you have any extra money in the budget/space in your dorm room, I'd suggest getting an external monitor. I've got my 15" MBP setup through DVI to my 21.6" monitor, and whenever I'm editing, the extra screen real estate is very handy. Especially if you're dealing with a large clip bin!

Welcome to the biz! Enjoy!

 

My experience with Vista has still been bad, I dumped it from my desktop and just stuck to XP, where it was error-free. But most Vista issues have been fixed now, if you want it, I don't expect there to be any major issues left (other than what I experienced ). If you have no need or urge for Vista, then just stick around with XP! It still runs great, there's lots of customization tools out, all programs work with XP.

 

Yeah i wanna try out vista just because I'm still on windows xp on my current computer. But yeah the only reason why i am undecided is because i know vista is the future. I want XP so i don't run into problems and i'm tired of hearing all these vista problems, But I'm not sure if those problems are fixed yet or not?

So basically what i mean is in one year when everything is vista I'll feel stupid for getting XP. Also I'm thinking about leaning toward vista premium home, but am not sure if i should get the 32 bit or 64 bit windows? Sorry for all the questions guys haha.

 

Actually, Windows 7 is the future

Vista being what will be fixed and supported in the future is why i picked up a copy. Just migrated my desktop to Vista Home premium 64 bit (same as what I've got on Bootcamp on my mac). I haven't had any issues so far, and i was expecting to with a 64 bit version on Bootcamp on my MBP. But once i installed stuff from the Leopard disc, i updated the bootcamp through apple's software update for windows and it works like a dream. Only thing I can't figure out is how to turn off Bluetooth without having to go into Device Manager and disabling it all the time