How do I get two for the price of one?
 

I have a silly question. I need to upgrade my system. I use Mac computers for my production business.

I currently have a Dual G4, 1.25 Power Mac that's just barely hangin' on. I've been suffering frequent crashes and performance issues. I don't want to upgrade to the latest Final Cut Studio package. I'm going to have to stay with 5.4 until the upgrade. I also use a old (ancient-P2) Dell Latitude laptop.

Here's the question. I really want a new laptop and a new Power Mac, but I can't afford them both.

How can I squeeze my budget and purchase two new machines? I'm hoping to also purchase a new HD camera next year. So, I'm going to have to upgrade to computers that can handle, not only HD, but the latest editing software.

My Laptop doesn't have to be a working machine, but I do need a slightly more powerful Power Mac.

I know it's possible to edit on a MacBook Pro, but is it dependable enough to handle long editing sessions. I currently have two external crt monitors and really enjoy the extra real estate with FCP and After Effects.

Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated!

You could see if you can buy used ones or, as I did, buy a factory-refurbished unit from the manufacturer. It was nearly half price.

A Macbook Pro can edit fine. It has a port (DVI) for an external monitor such as a 30" Apple Cinema Disply. This would cost about $4600 new. Apple retail stores can offer you a 5% business discount. You could get a cheaper monitor and save $400 - $500. If you are going to do HD you may want to budget $1000 for a RAID. You might want to max out the ram as well. You can get ram for the MBP from Crucial and other reputable sellers. You could get by for less, but redering etc. would be slower.

I think I've figured out an option with your help.

Option 1:
Buy a refurbished MacBook Pro (2.33 GHz-glossy 15 in.)
Matrox DualHead2Go (to hook up to my 2 monitors)
Western Digital 500 GB external HD
and Veescope Live for monitoring, capture, and chromo keying

Option 2:
Buy a MacPro


I only have a $3,000 dollar budget.

I figured I already have a work station, I don't have the room for another. It makes more sense to buy a portable laptop now that I can use to edit with Final Cut Studio and other purposes.

Hopefully I can squeeze a little more life out of the Dual 1.25 G4.

I will have to upgrade to a new HD camera and a MacPro sometime in the next two years. So far my clients are not screaming for HD, so maybe I can still shoot in SD for a little while longer.

Can you guys think of any other pro's and/or con's? How about any other software or hardware that may be useful to purchase?

Thanks