Hi Daniel, The rarefied field of the computer service person is not for everyone. I also operate in the field and have a kit of accessories that I bring along, but I would point out that the older MBP is not that far ahead even for this purpose. The kit of accessories for either MBP still requires that you bring an assortment of cables, thumb-drive, and one or more external hard-drives.
Here are some points to note. * If weight is your concern the Retina MBP starts out life a full half a kilo (one pound imperial) lighter than the older MBP! * The old MBP does not have that many extra ports. It has one fewer thunderbolt port and it lacks the HDMI port of the Retina MBP. The only extra ports are Firewire 800 and ethernet. These are available to the Retina MBP via thunderbolt adaptors. * A big advantage of flash drives over mechanical ones is that they are physically more robust and thus less prone to damage by rough handling or dropping. * Flash drives are, of course, much faster and boot up more quickly. * If, as you suggest, you fit an SSD drive in an old style MBP then you lose the optical drive. * Even with the Firewire 800 port you still have to remember to bring along the two styles of firewire cable if you want to be prepared for all contingencies. The only real inarguable advantage of the old style MBP is that they are cheaper, but as the price of flash drives come down that advantage will likely evaporate too. Regards, Carlo On 12/06/2012, at 23:00 , Daniel Kerr wrote: > It comes down to your needs I feel. As Carlo's mentioned there are good and > bad to both of them. Again, it depends on your "primary" usage. And what you > don't mind "losing" to "gain". > Both the 15" MacBook Pro and the 15" MacBook Pro Retina Display (MBP-RD) > actually have the same Graphics card pretty much. (I'm comparing both $2499 > models). > They both use the Intel HD Graphics 4000 and NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 1GB > of GDDR5 memory and automatic graphics switching. So that part is the same on > both models. > And I would think the "standard" MacBook Pro 15" will still go to 16GB RAM as > well. > (I'm working on an early 2011 MacBook Pro 15" that Apple say can go to 8GB > RAM,..and I'm running it with 16GB PC10600 1333MHz RAM. And it runs fine.) So > I'd say people will find that can be bumped up as well. > > The "Standard" MacBook Pro has a slightly faster processor at 2.6GHz versus > 2.3GHz. But how much of a difference this is in real world speeds, would > depend on the task. > Certainly out of the box, I'd say the MBP-RD which has the Flash Storage > built in would make data access a lot faster. Whereas it would cost $480 to > add a 256MB SSD drive to the "standard" MacBookPro. So data access would be a > win there. (And I'm not to sure how much of a difference Flash Storage versus > SSD in "real world tests" accounts for…that and my brain is in almost sleep > mode to go look it up,…lol). > > And then it comes down to your connections you want to use. For some people > that are moving around a lot, and depending on the field they're in, they > still want "quick access" to things like Firewire, Ethernet, Optical Drive. > (yes, I know this doesn't affect everyone and it comes down to their "use of > the laptop", and that you can hang off adapters of the MBP-RD, but at the end > of the day, it's ease of use and quick access. Do you want to carry around a > Thunderbolt to Firewire800 adapter, a Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapter, a > Thunderbolt Optical Drive. Sure, not everyone has use for these things. But > again, in some circumstances some people do. On the read of various forums a > lot of mobile editors and tech support people do still want these things. > They (we?) carry enough stuff around in our bag without adding to it. And if > you leave it behind or it "drops off" during a transfer, you've wasted time. > (And time is money as they say,…lol). "Oh sorry, I can't access your Firewire > drive today, I left my Thunderbolt to Firewire800 adapter with my last > client. I'll have to come back"). Again, this won't affect everyone,….I'll > just trying to point out both sides of the coin. > > I certainly don't think for some it will be an easy decision. I know I've > looked at which model I'd like. And I think I'll need to sit down and weigh > up the pros and cons of both. And what is it exactly I want out of the > laptop. What features are the "must have" and what features are the "can work > around or live with". Is the Retina Display going to be "huge" in the type of > work I do, versus the (sometimes) need for "legacy items" in the type of work > I do. (How much more weight can my back support in all the extras I have to > or need to carry around,…lol). > > Don't get me wrong, I think they're both great machines and the new MBP-RD > looks to be a great machine, and will only get better from there I'm sure. > But it's what tool is the best for the job….. > And one will suit some people, and not others. And vice versa. :) > > Hope that info helps. That's my take or view point on it anyway. ;)) > And on that note, I think I'll go finish my last few emails for the night and > finish my 2.5 day straight stint of work,…lol. :o) > > Enjoy! > > Kind regards > Daniel > --- > Daniel Kerr > MacWizardry > > Phone: 0414 795 960 > Email: <daniel AT macwizardry.com.au> > Web: <http://www.macwizardry.com.au> > > > **For everything Apple** > > On 12/06/2012, at 10:26 PM, cm wrote: > >> If you're involved with content production with Final Cut Pro or Photoshop >> or if you do software development, the new 15" Retina Display MacBook Pro >> looks amazing. The stunning amount of processor power, the fast huge RAM >> capacity, the enormous flash drive, and the still long battery life given >> the retina display seem more reminiscent of a server than a thin light >> laptop. Also the discrete graphics card, apart from being a must for gamers >> (which I am not) will provide a bank of GPU processing power that is being >> utilized by more and more apps. >> >> I tend to agree with a line that I heard during the keynote, it is the best >> computer that Apple has ever produced. >> >> Regards, >> Carlo >> >> PS: they also finally said goodbye to the primitive, large buggy pieces of >> foil coated plastic known as DVDs. >> >> Sent from my iPad >> >> On 12/06/2012, at 21:14, Pedro <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Hi Blitto >>> >>> The new MacBook Air will be my choice. This article may help >>> >>> http://www.cultofmac.com/172812/should-you-get-the-new-macbook-pro-probably-not-heres-why/ >>> >>> >>> Pedro >>> >>> >>> On 12/06/2012, at 8:47 PM, [email protected] wrote: >>> >>>> Hi GuysAll of you who were looking forward to the new macbook pros - >>>> please do you have an opinion as to which one you would purchase?And >>>> why?tablitto >>>> >>>> >>>> -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- >>>> Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> >>>> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> >>>> Settings & Unsubscribe - >>>> <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug> >>> -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- >>> Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> >>> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> >>> Settings & Unsubscribe - >>> <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug> >> -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- >> Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> >> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> >> Settings & Unsubscribe - >> <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug> > > -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- > Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> > Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> > Settings & Unsubscribe - > <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug> -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> Settings & Unsubscribe - <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug>
