juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

Well after over 30 years using Windows, making the move to Apple for my laptop needs. Question: if I purchase the pro with a 256 hard drive, can I just use a thumb drive to put photos on as I am processing, so I don't run out of memory on drive? Then when I return home, I can transfer to my external drive.

jim quist Loc: Missouri

That is one small hard drive. As long as it has a spot for your thumb drive that will work

CathyAnn Loc: Apache Junction, AZ

I'm interested in the answer to this question too. I also just made the move to a Macbook Pro, and have thumb drives and an external hard drive.

sloscheider Loc: Minnesota

I think you will find a thumb drive to be painfully slow...

I have an MB Pro with a 256 gig SSD and it works great BUT I also got an Airport Time Capsule with a 2 TB drive - It provides really nice fast WiFi so my normal process is to import photos to the internal SSD and then when I'm done processing I move them to my network storage. I typically have about 100 Gig free on my internal SSD - when I do an onsite shoot that might drop to 50 until I move them to long term storage.

I've also got two external USB 3 hard drives that I back up to with Time Machine.

If money's not an issue get the 500 gig SSD - it never hurts to have more than enough space.

juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

Why would thumb drive be slow?

From what I've learned at the Apple Store everything is soldered in now. So would have to add in the beginning.

jim quist Loc: Missouri

I end up with over 500 pictures shot it RAW after a shoot. I would think that you could load all of these into your computer, edit them, then when you get home move over them to a hard drive.
I agree with sloscheider on this one, spend the extra money for the 500 gig

I have a mac book pro with an optical reader, it has a slot for dvd's and cd's. If you can still get one of these you might consider this instead with a 1T drive. Mac is discontinuing these.

MROAK Loc: NH now, MA adult life, NY child

I have a Macbook Pro that I have owned since 2010. I like it so much that I got another era 2010 Macbook Pro for my wife. The Macbook Pro has two USB ports that you can plug thumb drives or external hard drives into. There is also a slot to put an SDHC Card into. You can put photo's on any media that you want to plug into those ports. I manage my photos in iPhoto (Apple's new software is called Photos). I store all my photos on my internal hard drive (500 gig SSD that I upgraded). I back them up using Apple's built in software called Time Machine and also on an external USB hard drive. Time Machine for back up is awesome! It is the easiest software in the world to use and it works great. All you do is tell it a place to store the backups and let it go. It works in the background and does the job. I would buy an inexpensive (under $100) one TB, USB drive and carry it with me. You could back up for a long time with that drive and still have plenty of space to store photo's and other data. If you want to buy upgrades or hard drives for Apple I have had good luck with Amazon and MacSales.com @ Other World Computing.

sloscheider Loc: Minnesota

Okay, I've done a little digging and will concede, somewhat, what I said about speed. There are now some fast USB 3 thumb drives like the Sandisk Extreme 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive ( http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B008AF384W/thewire06-20 ) which are fairly fast but still not as fast as a true SSD. So, perhaps it would work but I still say don't worry about it - when I go on site I come back with roughly 3,000 images with around 1/3 of them RAW files and still have plenty of room to spare. I also have Adobe PS and LR installed along with MS Office and a 30 gig virtual Windows 7 file (virtual box) and much other smaller software installed.

steveo52 Loc: Rhode Island and Ocala Florida

I too endorse MacSales.com, they are fantastic.

I have a mid 2009 Mac Book Pro, I've upgraded the drive to an SSD 256 gigs. In my case all my photos are stored in duplicate on two 1 terrabyte hard drives. I use Lightroom and the catalog references my files on the external hard drive(s).


P.S. MrOak, this is not photo related but I see your NYC child, you must deal with the same static I get from Red Sox fans!! Die hard Yankee fan here, I worked in an office in Wellesley Hills I was the only Yankee fan in the office! :lol: :lol: :lol:

juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

Thanks everyone. Have more to consider,as the newer systems are hardwired, so upgrades are more expensive.

sloscheider Loc: Minnesota

not just expensive but after the sale impossible - RAM is soldered in and can never be changed. There are presently NO aftermarket options for replacing the hard drive...

mawyatt Loc: Clearwater, Florida

Hello,

I followed the same path a few years ago and got a Macbook Pro in 2013 with 256GB SSD. Never used a Mac before, but got tired of the problems with Windows, so just ordered the Mac. My only regret is I waited so long to switch. In 2014 I swapped the 256GB SSD out for a 1TB SSD (Transcend). I also got a couple Thunderbolt external hard drives (Refurbished LaCie) for external storage.

Not sure how fast standard thumb drives are, but portable USB3 hard drives are available and very reasonable. I have a couple Hitichia 1TB portable drives for remote use.

BTW the replacement 1TB Transcend SSD I mentioned comes with a small portable USB3 case you can put the removed SSD in. This becomes a pretty quick 256GB USB3 external SSD storage. I am not sure you can do this (replace the SSD) with the newer Macbook Pros though, the SSD are different and much faster.

Cheers,

Mike

MROAK Loc: NH now, MA adult life, NY child

I did grow up on LI but was never a Yankee fan, my father was a Dodger fan and so was I until they went west. I never switched to the dark side. When I went to college in Boston I became a Red Sox fan and never looked back.

I have used iPhoto to manage my pictures for years, it's easy and all that I need (I don't do much sophisticated editing, just the simple stuff). I try to name, locate, and organize all my photos. I did not switch to the new Photo's app because they dropped the batch naming command.

I have been thinking about switching to Lightroom. Are you using the purchased version or the monthly rental version? Do you think you need frequent upgrades to warrant a rental?

Thanks.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

RAM is plug-in, not soldered. HDD can be changed, preferably by a repair shop. Next year, I may upgrade my 160 HDD to maximum SSD (or at least 500 HDD), but for right now, I carry a 1tb LaCie external HDD with me. Of course everything goes on the RAID at home. I have less than 5gb of photos on my MBP HDD.

JoAnneK01 Loc: Lahaina, Hawaii

I purchased my Mac Book Pro in 2013 with a 512 SSD. I also use a 4 TB drive for my time machine and another 4 TB hard drive for my photos. My MB Pro is used primarily for photos when I travel. I do carry with me thumb drives to use for storage. I usually do the transfer at night after making any adjustments needed for the photo. The time required to transfer is nominal. Only problem that I have had with thumb drives is I have lost or misplaced 1 but thankfully I do keep the original on the MB Pro until I get home. Suggest though that you go with the largest SSD that you can afford.