Q's about buying a new Mac

[M A V I C]

Life has been too busy for me to follow hardware much for the past year or two. Plus what I had has been working well. But Monday I start a new job, and that means picking a new Mac.

For a very long time I've been a two HDD kind of guy - one for the OS & apps, one for data. Apple's only reasonable hardware right now are iMacs and MacBook Pros, which are both one HDD types of machines.

For the most part I'll be dealing with web apps, so no heavy lifting other than potentially several VMs at a time.

So I think I'll have to get an external HD with one of those - no? Anyone use an iMac or MBP with ~3 instances of XP and ~2 instances of Win7 running at the same time? Seems like with one HDD, it'll grind to a halt.

If I do go with an external drive, it seems like Thunderbolt is the fastest, but what enclosure would I need to get? Chances are I'm not going to have the option to assemble my own, so it may have to all come from Apple (hopefully they'll let me buy from OWC.)

Otherwise, FW800?

I'll need a keyboard with a number pad. Will have to try the magic mouse - never used it.

For reference, my current setup consists of three machines:
- i5 Hac, 80GB boot SSD, 1.5TB eSATA data drive and a couple other drives - one for internal backups and one for Windows. 8GB RAM.
- Core 2 Quad Hac server. 8GB RAM, runs VMs which I RDC into. 3x2TB drives and a 320GB boot drive.
- Shuttle PC for other PC testing

I'll need to try and duplicate something like that with one computer, and a MacPro seems like such a waste.

If I get a MBP, I'm going to try to get a 27" second monitor. If I get an iMac, hopefully it's a 27" and I'll try to get a ~24" second monitor.

[space-time]

OWC has some nice solutions. You could install a SSD and move the HD to replace the Optical Drive. Who uses DVDs these days anyway?

[hal]

I agree - a 64GB (min) SSD plus a seagate 500GB Momentus XT (the one with integrated SSD) makes a wonderful 1-2 punch in a laptop.

A new MBP with this config will KILL any task you give it

[M A V I C]

I doubt I'm going to be allowed to make modifications like that.

[space-time]

M A V I C wrote:
I doubt I'm going to be allowed to make modifications like that.

you could always ask. I don't think it voids the warranty

[haikuman]

If you get a MBP you might want to consider this model . . . This puppy is screaming fast natively, with 16GB of memory it is beyond super charged. The Magic Mouse is great.
I think this laptop has a lot to offer. I love mine ~!~
Rudie

http://store.apple.com/us/product/G0M18LL/A

Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.3GHz quad-core Intel i7
Originally released February 2011
15.4-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit Hi-Res antiglare widescreen display, 1680-by-1050 resolution
4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
750GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Intel HD Graphics 3000 and AMD Radeon HD 6750M


Processor 2.3 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
Cache 8MB shared L3 cache
Memory 4GB (two 2GB SO-DIMMs) of 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; supports up to 8GB
Graphics Intel HD Graphics 30005 and AMD Radeon HD 6750M with automatic graphics switching. 1GB GDDR5 graphics memory.
Hard disk drive1 750GB Serial ATA, 5400 rpm
Optical drive 8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Wireless Wi-Fi (based on IEEE 802.11n specification)4 Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) wireless technology
Expansion One Thunderbolt port (up to 10 Gbps), one FireWire 800 port (up to 800 Mbps), Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps), one SDXC card slot
Video and Audio FaceTime HD camera; Thunderbolt port with support for DVI, VGA, dual-link DVI, and HDMI (requires adapters, sold separately)

[mattkime]

it sounds to me like you're running more VMs than necessary but this thread reminds me that i've been focused on mobile development lately.

if your testing needs weren't as heavy i'd recommend a macbook air. also depends upon how much time you'll spend fiddling with graphics.

another vote for swapping out the optical for an SSD.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

Trouble was the one here with the experience with VM's. He had three or four different OS's running at once IIRC.

[sekker]

I'd go with a 256GB SSD or 512GB SSD option BTO from Apple if you cannot modify it yourself for a dual drive machine.

The 13 in MBP in a dual SSD in RAID is supposed to scream.

If you have to go with stock MBP, FW800 external drives work well and are cost effective compared to a thunderbolt model.

This is really budget dependent.

[abevilac]

So, M A V I C, you've got a new car, a new job, and now a new Mac -- you are ridin' high on the hog! Good luck w/ all. :-)