Mac laptop

[offgridguy]

That looks comparable to most pc's, the manufacturer claims are usually higher
than reality.
I am wondering about dual boot issues with apple, but maybe I should start a new thread for that ?

[the8thstar]

Hello Offgridguy,

My personal experience with iMac and MacBook Pro have been very good. The computers are pricy but it's worth the buy, trust me. Apple support has been steadfast and helpful, so I would also recommend buying their products because of this.

In your situation, if you limit yourself to mostly photo and video editing, I believe a new MacBook Air would do just fine. The MacBook Pro I had was overkill for everyday work, so I sold it. The resolution is 1440x900 if I recall correctly. And it comes with SSD by default, which is nice.

On a side note, you might be interested in one of the Retina MacBook Pros (13 or 15") because of the crisp resolution they provide.

Hope you find my 2 cents helpful.

[Lars Noodén]

Dual boot works ok. I use rEFIt for that, though maybe something newer and better has since come along. You have to install OS X first and leave a partition for Linux plus maybe a data partition. Linux supports HFS+ filesystems but not journaling yet. So you can use HFS+ to share a partition between OS X and Linux if you first turn off journalling.

[the8thstar]

Dual boot is hit and miss at best. I personally was never able to set up a proper Ubuntu system with rEFIT or BootCamp on my rigs.

Eventually, I chose to use VirtualBox and it proved to be a good idea, for two reasons :

1. Direct access to files for both Linux and OS X simultaneously
2. No problems with wifi, sound and graphics drivers, thanks to emulation

[Lars Noodén]

the8thstar, what did you set in Virtualbox to be able to copy and paste between the VM and OS X? That's something I have somehow missed. Another drawback to running a VM is the increased power consumption which also shortens the time available on battery.

[the8thstar]

the8thstar, what did you set in Virtualbox to be able to copy and paste between the VM and OS X? That's something I have somehow missed. Another drawback to running a VM is the increased power consumption which also shortens the time available on battery.

1. I activated the "shared folders" option in the host.
2. I installed the guest addtions in the guest.
3. And if I recall correctly (since I'm not using VBox right now) I had to fiddle with the command line to add myself (home user) to the virtualbox usergroup in the guest machine.

Does this help you?

[the8thstar]

Ok, this is the command line to use :

sudo adduser username vboxusers

...where username is your home folder name of course.

[offgridguy]

Hello Offgridguy,

My personal experience with iMac and MacBook Pro have been very good. The computers are pricy but it's worth the buy, trust me. Apple support has been steadfast and helpful, so I would also recommend buying their products because of this.

In your situation, if you limit yourself to mostly photo and video editing, I believe a new MacBook Air would do just fine. The MacBook Pro I had was overkill for everyday work, so I sold it. The resolution is 1440x900 if I recall correctly. And it comes with SSD by default, which is nice.

On a side note, you might be interested in one of the Retina MacBook Pros (13 or 15") because of the crisp resolution they provide.

Hope you find my 2 cents helpful.

Thank you for the input.

[offgridguy]

Dual boot is hit and miss at best. I personally was never able to set up a proper Ubuntu system with rEFIT or BootCamp on my rigs.

Eventually, I chose to use VirtualBox and it proved to be a good idea, for two reasons :

1. Direct access to files for both Linux and OS X simultaneously
2. No problems with wifi, sound and graphics drivers, thanks to emulation

I appreciate the advice, before I lay down a lot of $$$ for a new
computer i like to hear the pro's and con's, and what things to avoid. Thanks again.

[the8thstar]

Sure thing, I'm glad to help.

One more thing to remember : Ubuntu is not yet optimized for the Retina display. I'm not sure that Windows 7 or 8 are either.

That means that on one hand you'll get a super high resolution in Ubuntu or Windows, with lots of real estate. On the other hand, everything will look extremely small ! So be warned.

To further this up:
1. http://www.anandtech.com/show/6008/w...ay-macbook-pro
2. http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/06/w...na-display-bad