In a quandry about my new computer

[SonicVanguard]

Up to yesturday, I was 100% buying a new MacBook Pro. Well this morning I got a call from Michigan State University and it seems I've been asked to return an an adjunct professor and enter their Mass Communications PhD program. A certain former member of PCM is behind the whole thing - the strange thing is, the offer is very appealing for many reasons that I won't bore you with.

Anyway...If I decide to take them up on this offer, my thinking on my computer needs may very well change. Do I stick with the MacBook Pro (which I will now be able to get at a faculty/educational rate), or do I stay with a Windows-based system and get two for one - the MacBook Pro certainly isn't cheap and for the cost of that system I can build a high preformance desktop system to retain at home and also get a smaller, ligher laptop I can take to classes and around campus.

One thing I would like to do is retain all my files in one place - I don't want to deal with portable storage - I want to do some work on my laptop and have that retain over to the desktop. Is this a process that can be automated - or do I need to cut-n-paste from the laptop over to the desktop?

Give you opinions/ideas...at this point, I'm open to just about anything.

TIA.

[David M]

Find out what software you will be required to run. My guess is that will be the deciding factor.

Congratulations on being accepted to the doctorates program.

[glc]

If you use a desktop PC and a laptop, you could use something like Syncback to keep your files married up.

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/SyncBack.html

[SonicVanguard]

Originally Posted by David M Find out what software you will be required to run. My guess is that will be the deciding factor. Congratulations on being accepted to the doctorates program.

First, thank you.

But software won't be a deciding factor - I can edit audio/video on either (ie...Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro) and the department has both Mac and PC systems for students. The Office Suite is available for both platforms. And the school does not use anything unique for grading purposes - everything administrative is web-based.

[SonicVanguard]

Originally Posted by glc If you use a desktop PC and a laptop, you could use something like Syncback to keep your files married up. http://www.snapfiles.com/get/SyncBack.html

Nice find - something to seriously consider.

[jayb1234]

Congratulation Sonic, and being a Buckeyes fan myself, a big "Go Spartans" for October 7th when they play what Woody Hayes would only refer to as "That Team Up North".

[Kareeser]

You could consider investing in a small external drive, in which case you wouldn't have to both syncing files, instead only backing up periodically.

Congratulations!

[Floppyman]

This thread is actually of great interest to me. I will also be starting graduate school this fall, working towards a Ph.D. in EE. Having software of the kind that you are looking for would also be a good investment for me. I'll have a laptop and a desktop as well and it would be great to sync them somehow as the laptop will be traveling me with me on a daily basis to the lab and around campus. I will check out the links mentioned in this thread.

[kram 2.0]

Originally Posted by jayb1234 Congratulation Sonic, and being a Buckeyes fan myself, a big "Go Spartans" for October 7th when they play what Woody Hayes would only refer to as "That Team Up North".

Excuse me?

SonicVanguard, first off, congratulations. It looks like you've been offered a very nice position.

With Mac or Windows, why were you "dead set" on purchasing a MacBook Pro? Were you going to work and edit multimedia projects on the MacBook Pro as your primary machine? Or was it for the UI on OS X? From reading the above posts, it seems like the department software requirements have little baring on which path you go. I think you're letting cost alone lead you away from your preference (MacBook Pro). You can get your hands on a high-performance desktop, but will it be your main multimedia system even though it cannot run certain multimedia apps?

kram

[SonicVanguard]

Originally Posted by kram 2.0 With Mac or Windows, why were you "dead set" on purchasing a MacBook Pro? Were you going to work and edit multimedia projects on the MacBook Pro as your primary machine? Or was it for the UI on OS X? From reading the above posts, it seems like the department software requirements have little baring on which path you go. I think you're letting cost alone lead you away from your preference (MacBook Pro). You can get your hands on a high-performance desktop, but will it be your main multimedia system even though it cannot run certain multimedia apps? kram

This is from the Mac Buzz thread: http://forum.pcmech.com/showpost.php...41&postcount=5

While having one system to do everything (the MacBook Pro) looks conveinient, my West Michigan upbringing (otherwise know as Dutch Blood - even though I am of Swedish decent) says it's a better value/more cost effective to at least consider two systems (for under the cost of the MacBook Pro).