MacBook Air for PP?

I've got a Dell desktop that at this point I use mostly for photo editing. I use an Ipad for email / web-surfing.

I was thinking about replacing my desktop with one of the new MacBook air's for portability.

1. Would it be fast enough (with the new 8gb of RAM) for PP? I shoot mostly jepgs nowadays (yea, I know - that must mean I'm not a real photog ). I use a 5d2 and a Sony NEX 5N. I use LR and Silver/Color Efex for PP. I do panos on Hugin once in a while. I'm not a large volume shooter - maybe a few hundred shots per month.

2. I have about 300gb of photos that I want ready access to. Can I easily work off of an external HD?

3. Any other suggestions? I know a MBP would give me a faster system, but I'm not sure I want to give up the greater portability of the MBA.

Fast enough very subjective. You might accept slow times that will send others up the wall. The wife and I will likely go for MBP retina units on tax fee weekend in early August.

Found this video with actual speed real time - not bad, I would be fine with this and this is the "older" model MBA.

http://vimeo.com/30530​175

Anyone here using a MBA for basic pp?

I played around with one, but I think the screens are really lacking compared to the MBP.

I'm planning on heading into a store today to check out the screens for myself.

versedmb wrote in post #14685367
1. Would it be fast enough (with the new 8gb of RAM) for PP? I shoot mostly jepgs nowadays (yea, I know - that must mean I'm not a real photog ). I use a 5d2 and a Sony NEX 5N. I use LR and Silver/Color Efex for PP. I do panos on Hugin once in a while. I'm not a large volume shooter - maybe a few hundred shots per month.

If you switch to Aperture it will be plenty fast since it uses the gpu for much of its work. The HD4000 has 16 processing cores that do this work. I have the previous version, HD3000, on my Mac Mini and Aperture renders my 5Dii raw files in near real-time. You won't get this speed from Lightroom because it is a cpu-driving application. Adobe is rather behind the ball in this regard.

Easily, yes. But it will be expensive because you'll want a Thunderbolt drive for speed. USB2 won't be pleasant to work with. It would be faster if you keep your libraries small enough to work on the MBA's internal drive.

chris_holtmeier wrote in post #14686869
I played around with one, but I think the screens are really lacking compared to the MBP.

I have both and there is no difference, other than the sizes, once the displays are calibrated.

Tony-S wrote in post #14687031
If you switch to Aperture it will be plenty fast since it uses the gpu for much of its work. The HD4000 has 16 processing cores that do this work. I have the previous version, HD3000, on my Mac Mini and Aperture renders my 5Dii raw files in near real-time. You won't get this speed from Lightroom because it is a cpu-driving application. Adobe is rather behind the ball in this regard.

Easily, yes. But it will be expensive because you'll want a Thunderbolt drive for speed. USB2 won't be pleasant to work with. It would be faster if you keep your libraries small enough to work on the MBA's internal drive.

I have both and there is no difference, other than the sizes, once the displays are calibrated.

Thanks for the info. As much as I would like to go with apple for my laptop (love my iPad) the dell xps 15z seems like a much better deal, still weighing my options.

Tony-S wrote in post #14687031
If you switch to Aperture it will be plenty fast since it uses the gpu for much of its work. .....

Easily, yes. But it will be expensive because you'll want a Thunderbolt drive for speed. USB2 won't be pleasant to work with. It would be faster if you keep your libraries small enough to work on the MBA's internal drive.
...

Those are both concerns of mine, as I want to continue using LR - its a shame that the MBA doesn't have USB 3 as I plan to work off on an external HD, such as a WD passport.

Thunderbolt sounds like it would be a pricey option.

The current generation of MBA has USB 3

crn3371 wrote in post #14692493
The current generation of MBA has USB 3

Ahhh, thanks - didn't realize that. Then I suspect I should be fine working off an en external HD.

Tony-S wrote in post #14687031
I have both and there is no difference, other than the sizes, once the displays are calibrated.

Really?
AFAIK the MBP has a way better screen then the MBA…

http://forums.macrumor​s.com …hp?t=1199080#po​st13049608
http://forums.macrumor​s.com/showthread.php?t​=1357452

I have a late 2011 MBA which I take on safari with me for PP and other stuff.

It was top of the range and so has the i7 but only 4GB of memory. It does however blaze through the 5000 pics I took while there.

I kept them on a usb drive and mine uses USB2 so sluggish when copying over the files but working on them is fine. I took all the good ones (about 3 - no only kidding ) and put them on the SSD and PP'd them and never had a problem.

Even did a time-lapse with 500+ jpegs in Motion and it worked fine.

Looking forward to SSD prices coming down, the Lacie Thunderbolt enclosure looks interesting and might be tempted to get one for this years expedition

Our plan is to write to SSDS via USB 3 in the field. Back at home the files on SSDS will be moved to LaCie thunderbolt raid 1 pair.

I use my air for all of my editing right now. I'm only using 8.2 mp files but It it's speedy and Im not complaining at all. I use cs6 and lightroom.

I have used a MBA for a couple of months and worked with 5D2 files in LR3 and PS CS5. Had no complaints at all. For a heavier workflow it may get bogged down, but for casual on the go editing, it did wonders. The display was amazing and having built in flash is really useful. I used the 13" model BTW.