Best current computing options for MF

[tashley]

Interesting comments/story. I used to take 3 backup 480GB OWC SSD with me on photo trips. Then one day two (YES TWO) drives failed at about the same time. One was a 6G and the other a 3G. OWC replaced both of them as defective, but the damage to my image backup and confidence had been broken with their SSD. I also will not buy OWC SSD's again. I now use the Samsung T1.

So far my 480GB internal boot drive is on a PCI card which I bought from OWC. I had better watch out!

One other thing worth noting is that the OWC internal ssd drives for Mac Pro are a non standard form factor and he quote I got for data recovery was terrifying as a result of that...

 

[darr]

In July I purchased a new Apple 27" iMac with Retina 5K Display (Late 2015) from B&H Photo:

27" Retina 5K IPS Display
5120 x 2880 Screen Resolution
4.0 GHz Intel Core i7 (Skylake)
8GB of 1867 MHz DDR3 RAM
1TB Flash Storage (SSD)
AMD Radeon R9 M395X GPU (4GB GDDR5)
802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0
Thunderbolt 2 + USB 3.0
Magic Keyboard & Magic Mouse 2 Included
Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan

Added a 64.0GB OWC Memory Upgrade Kit from OWC/MacSales.

I also added a couple of WD External Drives: WD 4TB My Book Studio USB 3.0 External Hard Drive

I shoot two medium format backs (39mp and 50mp), not as complicated as what you do, but just the same, I work multiple layers at times and do not have a lot of time to waste. I could not be happier with my new iMac configuration. Best of luck to you Ed.

Kind regards,
Darr

 

[fotophil]

My new MacPro was factory equipped with only 256 GB flash drive so I looked into the options for upgrading to 1TB. I decided against the OWC upgrade because it is a non-standard configuration that does not even meet the performance of the Apple 1 TB flash drive. A better solution for me was purchasing the same chip used by the factory from a company in southern CA - about the same price as the OWC setup. The Apple System Software identifies my 1 TB Drive as being Apple.

 

[tashley]

My new MacPro was factory equipped with only 256 GB flash drive so I looked into the options for upgrading to 1TB. I decided against the OWC upgrade because it is a non-standard configuration that does not even meet the performance of the Apple 1 TB flash drive. A better solution for me was purchasing the same chip used by the factory from a company in southern CA - about the same price as the OWC setup. The Apple System Software identifies my 1 TB Drive as being Apple.

Interesting. Might you be able to share the co. name? I am so over OWC.

 

[stephengilbert]

I've had both PCI and SSDs from OWC fail. They replaced both, but I didn't trust them and sold them on (telling the buyers why).

 

[tcdeveau]

Interesting to hear stories of OWC SSDs failing. I've never bought an SSD from them, but I've bought plenty of RAM from them over the years and never had a prob with their RAM (at least to date, knock on wood). I did have problems with an OWC Elite Pro dual thunderbolt RAID enclosure. It crapped out after only about 2-3 months (would unmount during reading/writing) and started causing kernel panics on my 2013 Mac Pro. They sent me a replacement internal cable, saying the one it shipped with wasn't up to spec, but that didn't fix the issues. I back up all my RAID arrays, but it was a nice wake up call and friendly reminder that RAID 1 in a single enclosure isn't a suitable backup by itself haha.

FWIW the only 3rd party SSDs I've bought have been samsung (840 series) and they're doing fine, although they don't see heavy use. Haven't had a problem with any of the 2 Pegasus units I have yet either, again knock on wood.

 

[shlomi]

I have been using a Surface Pro 3 for a while now, and it has worked out fine for me so far.
If I was buying a new laptop, I would get a Surface Book.
I don't think Mac should be the only option considered.

 

[Bill_Evans]

I have been using a Surface Pro 3 for a while now, and it has worked out fine for me so far.
If I was buying a new laptop, I would get a Surface Book.
I don't think Mac should be the only option considered.

This has been my preferred travel computer for quite a while and I'm also quite happy with it. A bit light for hard core processing but a great travel / backup machine.

 

[fotophil]

My source for the 1 TB Flash Memory was MCE Technologies. Phone is 626-387-9748 and E-mail [email protected]
I don't see the unit currently listed on their website so there may be a supply issue - contact them for info.