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Diglloyd on the new MBP15 retina

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
His argumentation can be summed up in one sentence: He doesn't have time to upgrade to i/o gear that will work with the MBP Retina. He also doesn't have time to try out the computer properly.

It's rather clear by now that FW is already ancient history and that he'll have to upgrade anyway. Lexar has a USB 3.0 card reader available for $60, LaCie has a portable, rugged, USB 3.0 1.5TB HDD for $200... and so on. Workarounds for installing software only available on CD? Oh dear...

What he calls "issues" are simple technology moving forward.
 

Terry

New member
I just read it. I feel like his headline is pretty dramatic considering his issues are very specific and really limited mostly to downloading images for his current workflow:

For instance, "I can’t load the Nikon software because the MBP Retina has no optical drive to install it (yes there are workarounds, but I’m packing for my trip)."

This is just a matter of timing....as there is a superdrive available for the machine and at the very worst he could have gone over to the Apple store and used a drive to do the one time download of the software. Sounded more like he ran out of time vs. it is an impediment. Alternatively, the software could be copied to an external drive and then copied to the retina mac.

Good news for me is I have:
1)USB3 card reader
2)USB3 backup drive (seagate GoFlex) takes spinner or SSD can use the same drive as in #3
3)Thunderbolt adapter (Seagate GoFlex) takes spinner or SSD can use the same drive as in #2
4)All needed software is available for over the air updates

I think the whole post is a matter of timing and taking a few minutes to think through and get the solutions organized. I think it has been pretty well telegraphed the firewire 800 was a technology destined to go away for a while.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
I just bought the non retina 15 inch and even with the FireWire port. I completely eliminated everything FireWire by choice. Bought a nice USB 3 card reader , bought a seagate 3tb USB 3 backup drive and a voyager raw drive unit USB 3 connection and my Pegasus is T Bolt, plus all my printers are USB so bought a powered 7 port hub for all that stuff. So I could have went Retina if I wanted too but I don't use the laptop enough as a single unit as I use or rent monitors on the road a lot. Just diffrent needs here but I was after USB 3 and dump FireWire from my computing life. I also bought a MBA 13 inch for my wife and a backup for me. I did buy her the Ethernet cord adapter though as I need to hard wire that.
 

Stefan Steib

Active member
Well it may be possible for single persons to decide they will switch everything and FW is outdated. Just in my position with needing a demo machine I can transport and which will connect to customers backs to show our HCam it´s a no go ! I´m pretty sure this will stay like this for a while as people who bought a new Aptus 12 some months ago will not dump it if I have to tell them FW is outdated.

Lets wait and see how well this adapter will do.
And the other way around: there is an PCI-Express/USB3 adapter by Caldigit.

So using both systems will be open to USB3 and Firewire (I hope).

Regards
Stefan
 

jlm

Workshop Member
i use the lexmark usb3/2 card reader it is a charm (bought three of them) that would address his major snafu and i use it on three macs vis usb, though they have FW.

how many times over the yearsi have gone to the apple "genii" asking if the new apple had a card reader slot. the question made no sense to them, getting the response that i should just hook up my camera to load images. different planets
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
I think very soon we will start seeing a lot of adapter style plugs off of T bolt and USB 3 that will make these solutions far easier than we have today. This Retina is selling really well so I would expect this to be apples future pattern of laptops. Our problem and admittedly so myself is i always seem to be the guinea pig in computers and cameras. I think many of us are on that same boat. Price we pay for early adapters.

I do think though the T bolt Firewire adapter will be just fine since the T bolt connection is so fast that there should be no bog down from that. The other issue and lets face it where the hell is our USB 3 support on the Phase IQ backs.

Side note switching computers is sometimes just a nightmare. I lost my Epson 7900 printer in this switch of computers and just got all the settings all back. These printers are not the easiest to setup in the first place. Cleaning heads now and need to make a couple prints.
 

Wayne Fox

Workshop Member
Well it may be possible for single persons to decide they will switch everything and FW is outdated.
the entire article is based on an immediate need that can't be satisfied ... for a very short term. Nothing new about that as technology advances - early adopters always have to work around issues. But actually seems like a pointless article since in a month or so the adaptor makes the entire issue irrelevant.

The display on the new retina is by far the best display I've seen in a powerbook. The extra resolution means there is no limitation of "resolution" you can work at any resolution you choose based on your task and desired screen real estate (and how good your eyes are) and it's very sharp. The anti reflection works very well, without contrast killing matt screen (this coming from someone who hates matt screens so I"m very familiar with gloss screens and the reflection issues).

The battery life is amazing (I was at 40% and still had 3.5 hours estimated). the boot up time is stunning ... 11 seconds to from cold start to sign in, a couple after that. 2 seconds to launch Photoshop.

The lack of firewire is a very temporary situation. It won't be solved in time enough for lloyd, but in a month or so it's a moot issue. The DVD is also something which is pretty irrelevant, add the USB drive if you need and I think you are still less weight than the current 15".

The Nikon software can be installed via internet download ... the mentioning of that really is kind of odd. Does anyone install from DVD's anymore? I never do, I always download the most recent from the manufacturer, I never even put the DVD's in the computer. Burning DVD's may be somewhat useful. As far as the card reader, sorry but I still often use an old cheap USB one that even with IQ180 files isn't a big deal. It will download them plenty fast enough, and again a moot issue in about a month (or just buy one of these now.)

I can see why he won't take it on this trip - I'm in the same boat with a 2 drive raid that is eSata, Firewire 800 or USB 2. But I know that's temporary ( and very temporary because thunderbolt portable drives are beginning to finally show up). certainly not worth writing an article about. I subscribe to lloyd and read his stuff frequently, this is one article he should have skipped.

BTW, thanks to this new Powerbook, issues for the macbook air's suddenly are different, since the firewire adaptor means you would now be able to tether a Phase Back to a small light 11" macbook air. Quite tempting to try it with a tech camera, even in the field.
 

Bob

Administrator
Staff member
Jeez, what a whiner.
I guess he had to make it news somehow.
-bob
 

Wayne Fox

Workshop Member
I do think though the T bolt Firewire adapter will be just fine since the T bolt connection is so fast that there should be no bog down from that.
I have the Thunderbolt display at my store, and hooked up my new 15" and my raid mini (2 7200 drives set at raid 0) via firewire to the display. No issues with speed at all compared to hooking it up to my previous 15" ... in fact seemed faster (assume that was the computer.)

I also bought a small TB to eSata adapter (well, not real small but can haul it with me until I get one of the new Promise raids mentioned by MR over on LuLa). This was very fast ... certainly no bandwidth being lost in the TB <-> eSata conversion process.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
I have had a Promise Pegasus for quite awhile now , mine is 4TB running Raid 0. It's actually as fast as my OWC 6g 240gb SSD which is 500 read write. I just have not wrote a article on it.:poke::ROTFL::ROTFL::ROTFL:
 

Terry

New member
I'm using something different but it totally works.....but not your raid solution....
I'm using it with a bare SSD (you need to be a little creative without an enclosure) but I also have a spinner in an enclosure
Michael Reichmann talks about it in his Retina review (you can see his speed tests).

 

Bob

Administrator
Staff member
I'm using something different but it totally works.....but not your raid solution....
I'm using it with a bare SSD (you need to be a little creative without an enclosure) but I also have a spinner in an enclosure
Michael Reichmann talks about it in his Retina review (you can see his speed tests).

This works pretty well with a bit of gaffer tape securing the bare drive (patent applied for :ROTFL:)
-bob
 

Jan Brittenson

Senior Subscriber Member
This works pretty well with a bit of gaffer tape securing the bare drive (patent applied for :ROTFL:)
Or a wide rubber band like those often used to hold together bunches of asparagus or broccoli... Wrap it around the long way. Or use two for better stability. (I have a very similar holder, but for FW.)
 
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