LR4 consumer Mac recommendations

[sjg284]

Ah, thank you for pointing that out.. USB2 indeed.
For my uses, this will be fine anyway.

The planned external SSD will by my first USB3 device.
Have 2xFW800 + 2xUSB2 HDDs currently.

 

[Braeside]

Godfrey et all. I hear you about the high end mini, I almost went that way myself, but I do need a laptop for a lot of my work, work. So I decided I could change from a 2010 MBP with SSD and a 27" iMac 2011, to a MBP 15" retina with SSD and 27" TB display.

I do have a fall back to a 2011 Mac mini that my partner has, should the MBP fail or be stolen. That's important for me.

I use similar backups with TimeMachine and SuperDuper with rotating off site SD! clones of my data and OS disks.

Just waiting on some Thunderbolt drives to arrive, to replace some USB 2 drives I was using, which can be recycled for other archive uses.

Season's Greetings!

 

[Braeside]

Ah, thank you for pointing that out.. USB2 indeed.
For my uses, this will be fine anyway.

The planned external SSD will by my first USB3 device.
Have 2xFW800 + 2xUSB2 HDDs currently.

Yes, I didn't realise it till I got mine, I misread "3 USB 2 ports" as USB 3!

Cheers

 

[Godfrey]

You essentially have to remove everything from the aluminum shell, then put it back in layer by layer - How to Upgrade/Replace the Hard Drive in a 2012 Mac mini - YouTube

plus a step by step photo guide as well - Installing Mac Mini Late 2012 Hard Drive Replacement - iFixit

Not a ton of screws, just a lot of fiddly bits.

On the other hand, OWC will do it for you as a $99 service, including FedEx next-day shipping both ways.. turn around time is 72 hours.

My primary concern is if anything fails, you need to reverse the process back to the stock HDD before bringing it in for Apple to fix. (Or at least thats my understanding)

Thanks!

Actually, this looks much much easier to do than I though. I remember the original Mac mini ... getting the drive out and in of that machine was a major undertaking and needed a special jig to do it without damaging the case.

I ordered mine with the 1T hard drive in it. If I decide to change that out to an SSD, this new mini will make it simple to do the installation.

 

[Godfrey]

Godfrey et all. I hear you about the high end mini, I almost went that way myself, but I do need a laptop for a lot of my work, work. So I decided I could change from a 2010 MBP with SSD and a 27" iMac 2011, to a MBP 15" retina with SSD and 27" TB display.

I do have a fall back to a 2011 Mac mini that my partner has, should the MBP fail or be stolen. That's important for me.

I use similar backups with TimeMachine and SuperDuper with rotating off site SD! clones of my data and OS disks.

Just waiting on some Thunderbolt drives to arrive, to replace some USB 2 drives I was using, which can be recycled for other archive uses.

Season's Greetings!

Yes, the right system is clearly contingent upon what your specific needs are, and what other equipment you have at hand.

I would have gone with a MacBook Air 13" fully stuffed, but the mini is a better deal and fits my needs better. If I need another laptop for some reason, I'll get one next year ... I still have my late-2010 MacBook Pro.

Happy New Year!

 

[Braeside]

Happy New Year All!

 

[sjg284]

Happy New Year!

 

[Godfrey]

...
I've considered doing an off-site cloud-based backup as well, just haven't gotten to it yet. If you do that, the ability to a) deliver the initial data to the service via a hard drive and b) obtain a complete hard drive copy the backed-up archive are two things that are essential ... Moving a couple of terabytes of data around via the internet at home internet speeds isn't sensible or time-effective.

Just occurred to me that I do use a cloud storage service for my work machine. It's CrashPlan ... they have a lot of packages and options, check them out at Online Data Backup - Offsite, Onsite, & Cloud - CrashPlan Backup Software

My system is backed up with their tools and I've tested a restore of a single file, but I've never actually needed to do any restoring beyond that.

Godfrey

 

[Godfrey]

Woo hoo! The mini arrived on Friday, five days early. hookedmit up to my 27"LED Display until the Thunderbolt gets here. Migration Assistnt is now moving my accounts and basic data.

Little sucker is much faster than my MBP 13" (late 2010 version). Should work out very nicely.

G

 

[Lightcraftsman]

I have a 2012 2.5Ghz Mac Mini with 16GB RAM and a 240GB Sandisk Extreme in a USB 3 enclosure as my startup drive. My working photo drive is a 4TB striped RAID connected via Thunderbolt. I can open and save >600MB PhotoShop files in 4-6 seconds.

I have redundant backups at home and use Backblaze for cloud storage. I'm happy with them after six months, but would not consider cloud storage as my only backup: it is my last resort in case of disaster.

 

[Chris C]

I'm following this thread with interest as I'm about to replace my coal fired steam driven Mac with a Mac-Mini, and [likely] a 24" NEC Spectraview Reference.

I'm still debating the exact line-up, I'd like to have crammed 32 Gb. RAM into a 2.6 machine, but my understanding is that it isn't possible, [other than quoting Apple]; anyone know for sure? Also; my understanding is that once Applications are open [Photoshop6, Lightroom, in my case] SSDs offer little advantage in terms of actual processing speeds, is that correct?

I'm finding it hard to get experienced advice on whether the double hardrive version [sold as the Server] has advantages for me with regard to 'mirroring' my desktop compared to running [e.g.] Lacie external drives. I'm not technically savvy enough figure out the best option, and whilst I'm currently leaning towards a Mac-Mini with single hardrive + 2 externals; I'd welcome any experience of running the 'Server' version as a double hardrive desktop.

On the monitor choice, I hate the 'normal' ratio of 16:9 and would love a much fatter ratio. I have opted for the NEC Spectraview Reference 24" because at 16:10 ratio it gives me more or less the same screen height as the 27" version at a better price [these ratios also are true for Eizo CG 246 and CG 276 too].

................ Chris

 

[archivue]

with the current line of mac mini, using a special kit... you can buy a 1T hard drive version, and ad a SSD inside as well...
You don't need to remove the original hard drive any more... a smart solution !

Installing Mac Mini Late 2012 Dual Hard Drive Kit - iFixit

 

[Godfrey]

I'm lovin' the Mac mini I bought:

2.6 Ghz Intel Quad-Core i7 processor
16GB RAM (that's the max)
1T internal hard drive
Thunderbolt Display 27" (2560x1440 pixels)

All the image data other than the LR catalogs is on external FireWire 800 hard drives. It's fast and works a treat with Lightroom 4.3 and Photoshop CS5.

Didn't see much point to the extra cost of the double drive server model since all my data, backups and archives are stored externally. If I really want an SSD, I can get a near 500G unit from Other World Computing and install that instead of the current internal hard drive.

G

 

[sjg284]

OK, finally bit the bullet

2.3 Ghz Quad i7
16GB RAM after market (Crucial)
Dual SSD after market - 256GB boot (Crucial m4) & 480GB data (Sandisk)
Thunderbolt 27" display

Have to admit the SSD install was a bit more harrowing than I would have hoped.
The OWC kit was very helpful. I also employed a plastic toothpick and bamboo chopstick in my mission.

If you do the install yourself, I would emphasize to watch out for the IR cable mount. It is the most easy to damage. I definitely clipped mine right off. Fortunately I had no plans to use an IR remote with my Mac...

Feels super snappy.
Haven't had the chance to do any serious photo processing yet.. will report back once I've taken it for a real spin.

 

[sjg284]

Alright, took it for a spin in LR4.
Very nice.
Moving from frame to frame in develop mode is quick
Importing from SD card / outputting final JPEG is quick
Exporting out to edit in SilverEfex 2 was also quick
Was able to do serious photo editing while leaving tons of other apps open, without the computer breaking a sweat.

My previous workflow on my 4 year old iMac involved closing all apps other than LR4 to prevent memory/cpu starvation..

Now switching over my external HDDs to 2.5" external USB3 for size/cable reduction (bus powered)/speed (USB3 vs USB2/FW800)..

Great little case I'm using for the 1TB HDD that I took out of the mini - OWC MEPMU3ES Mercury Elite Pro mini 2.5"... in stock at OWC

 

[Godfrey]

Glad you're happy with it. I'm very pleased with mine too.
Have yet to replace the 1T internal drive with SSD, but probably before Summer. No need to rush.

Yes, I have a bunch of the OWC external drive enclosures. They're very good quality!

G