Another 'Laptop Suggestions Please' thread

[WhiteLight]

Hey guys,
With technology, yesterday is already outdated.
We see too many of these threads, so please bear with me as i think my situation is a little different

Am looking to get a new laptop that would just serve as an 'assistant system' for studio use.
I do have an iMac (27") - 3.2ghz, 24gigs RAM etc that is more than sufficient for my editing needs.
But my studio & the iMac will not be sharing space anytime soon.

So i need a laptop (or maybe a tablet even if those with experience think that'll do) basically for shooting tethered only.
i do not believe i will be using this for any sort of editing or heavy end work..
just to look at the image after it's shot, maybe make very basic alterations.
lower the cost, the better as i also need to invest a bit in other requirements for the studio.

Appreciate your response!

 

[Jerry_]

As you are already an OSX user, the obvious way to go is to stay with OSX. This will help a lot when it comes to the software you will be using and the way you manipulate them - it will also eventually help with licences for some software, where more than on licence is provided.

Thus the question is rather which MacBook you will buy - here it depends on the configuration (&screensize) you wish, that will trigger the price. If budget is a concern you might check for refurbished models.
The advantage of pre-2013 MacBook models is that you will have an easy access to add RAM and eventually upgrade the harddisk - something that is no longer possible for yourself to do in more recent models.


As regards tablets (iOS) I wouldn't really consider them an option.

 

[wornish]

As you are a Mac user already then I agree with what @Jerry_ says stick with OSX.

If you want to just do tethered shooting then the entry level macbook pro or the macbook air are perfectly capable of doing what you want.

I am not aware of any tethered solution that uses just an iPad though. The only option I can find requires an iPad and some extra hardware called the Cam Ranger.

 

[Krs_2007]

Same as above, stick with the same as what you have. Look at the Air line for something like this, the prices are not bad. You could even look at some of the refurbished stuff from Apple or Other World Computing. I am sure there are other places, but these are the primary 2 I deal with.

Also the mini's would be good for this, but I dont know if I would use a tablet. Unless you get a product like Cam Ranger. Most of the adapters just loose connection and are really slow. I've wasted a little over a hundred dollars on this and should have just gone with Cam Ranger.

 

[RocketCowboy]

The Apple refurbished store!

Dogpiling on the "you're already an Apple user, stick with Apple", but so am I so I do too. Shooting tethered doesn't require a ton of resources, so I would go searching for a refurbed MacBook Air. Plus side is you get something ultra portable. I travel with one most the time for work (although I'm on my MacBook Pro tonight because I wanted to get in some LightRoom time), and the MBA with 4 or 8GB of RAM will do more than enough for the tethering and basic editing tasks that you mentioned. The MBA will be a good bit cheaper than the MBP, but the MBP would be a better match if you wanted to make that iMac portable.

 

[Browncoat]

I'd take a look at Eye-Fi cards and beam it directly to an iPad via Eye-Fi Direct. Yes, there's also an app for that.

Tethered is so...2003.

 

[WhiteLight]

Thanks @Jerry_ @wornish @Krs_2007 @RocketCowboy @Browncoat

I did have a similar thought process & found this to be the best value - Apple MD101HN/A Macbook Pro (Intel Core i5 - 13 inch, 500 GB HDD, 4 GB DDR3) which i think is a 2013 model & allows for upgrading of the RAM as well
That costs around $1000 - $1200

My thoughts immediately were if I would not be able to get a more powerful (non-apple) laptop for that cost?
i don't think Refurbished stores exist here though