Slimming down the PT system. Mac Mini & Thunderbolt peripherals

[Craig F]

Magma has a new chassis that can house the mini, snd can hold some drives, plus PCIe slots for FW and/or Video cards

[cheney5]

I have seen the magma chassis. There was a handy video on YouTube about those.
Looking at costs now I think I'm gonna get a MacBook Pro. SSD and 16gb of ram will work fine for my workload.
It will cost about £300/400 more from eBay but get the portability too.

Also seen the new preorder only Henge dock. Possible 3 display out. Very keen to see this in action went its released in the new year.

http://www.hengedocks.com/order_horizontal_dock.php

Typical, started looking at a cheap edit setup and now looking at finance options on the latest MacBook Pro.

[Piers Gibbon]

Thanks for this thread..I am planning the upgrade path for my voiceover recording studio. As you can see in my signature an MBP is outside the booth, with a firewire Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 etc etc and DVI display inside (no fans!)

I am wondering about a Mini outside (to replace the MBP) and a DVI display inside

I cannot currently get a Thunderbolt for inside as that display has a fan!

[kd_special]

My friend set a similar system up. He bought the Belkin Hub Thuunderbolt to firewire800/usb3/thunderbolt/ etc

It didn't work and was really slow. He did working and speed tests with files etc. He returned it for a Lacie thunderbolt to eSata Hub. And it works nice But he already used Lacie Drives.

I would definitely use USB 3. I have a Quad core 2.6 Intel Core i7 and use a Lacie Rugged drive USB3/Firewire 800.

It works well in USB 3 very fast, And I have done some significant record laybacks to it no problems. (PT HD)

For an extra display the USB to DVI (SEWELL I think) adapters work well. I have a few buds who use those at home. Say they work great.

If I were buying a computer for 3 to 4 years for work I would buy a Mac mini PT HD and the proper adapters and new drives to make it work well. If your looking for a 5 year machine then then consider a new mac Pro.

Hell I'd even watch the old model 12x Mac Pros refurbished from apple. Soon they will be discounted.

kd

[cheney5]

Originally Posted by kd_special

My friend set a similar system up. He bought the Belkin Hub Thuunderbolt to firewire800/usb3/thunderbolt/ etc

It didn't work and was really slow. He did working and speed tests with files etc. He returned it for a Lacie thunderbolt to eSata Hub. And it works nice But he already used Lacie Drives.

I would definitely use USB 3. I have a Quad core 2.6 Intel Core i7 and use a Lacie Rugged drive USB3/Firewire 800.

It works well in USB 3 very fast, And I have done some significant record laybacks to it no problems. (PT HD)

For an extra display the USB to DVI (SEWELL I think) adapters work well. I have a few buds who use those at home. Say they work great.

If I were buying a computer for 3 to 4 years for work I would buy a Mac mini PT HD and the proper adapters and new drives to make it work well. If your looking for a 5 year machine then then consider a new mac Pro.

Hell I'd even watch the old model 12x Mac Pros refurbished from apple. Soon they will be discounted.

kd

Thanks kd

I think I will steer clear of the Belkin hub. Going PT HD is a bit outta the budget too.
I have noticed the new MacBook Pro has 2 tbolt and 1 hdmi out. Display issue sorted. Now I just need to cash to buy one.

[tamasdragon]

Exactly that is what I will do also. Though a new mac mini with two thunderbolt post would be fantastic. Considering the upgrade cycle of the mac minis, it may happen very soon.
Worked with mac mini setups at different studios and found them very fast and reliable. I clearly became a viable option. They can handle serious load in a post production setup.

And once you have all the thunderbolt things around it, it is very easy to swap out the old and get a new one for considerable less money than a big desktop while still have amazing power.