Speed or comfort – MacBook Pro or PowerBook?

The debate on hardware never ends and I get the impression that some people are more interested in their equpment than actually going out photographing. I already see a lot of people using the new MacBooks and MacBook Pro’s, even when it can’t run Adobe aplications natively.

I was about to buy a new portable, and I started thinking: How important is it to get the latest machine? Theoretical speed is important, but most of the time we use just a little of the processor-power that is available. In Photoshop, I can see the difference when using a filter, but most photographers don’t use filters much. We don’t do rendering in Photoshop and it’s not very demanding on the graphics either.

So what do we need? In my opinion you need a lot of RAM, a good screen and a decent machine. A lot of people run their machines with little RAM and many programs running at the same time. That’s a killer for Photoshop. Personally I only run Photoshop when I use Photoshop. I newer install freeware, games, widgets or anything that can mess up my computer, and it never gives me any problems.

So, to my point: I have a G5 tower at work and a Mac Mini at home, and I hardly notice the difference. So I got the last generation PowerBook 15″ used, still under warranty and with two gigabyte of RAM for the same price as an MacBook. It’s fast, has a great screen, runs Photoshop natively and I can use all my old PowerBook accessories. For quite some time it will still be faster than Intel Macs when working in Photoshop.

I think I’m smart, but a lot of people probably think I’m stupid. Good luck wtih your new MacBook Pros!