i have a choice. i want to edit a short documentary i shot on hdv at 1080i. i'm going to get a macbook pro to use going forward for this and other smaller video projects. the brand new mbp came out yesterday, and to get what i want, it's around $3700.

Now there is refurb on the apple site with 2.4ghz drive, 2gb ram, 160gb HD (5400). which i can get or about $2800, with applecare/fce.

i could save $1,000 with the refurb. but am i going to miss out on much? the differences:
2.4 vs. 2.5 ghz
180gb hd (5400) vs 200gb hd (7200)
regular screen vs. high res screen
video card 256 vs. video card 512

i'm planning on using external drive anyway (7200)...not sure what a 'scratch drive' is and how the workflow would be, thinking just store main clips on external and work on edits on internal?

i would go with the refurb and use the extra money for more drives, and a nice roomy external display. editing on even the 17'' isnt nearly as fun when you have a huge external display to work with. i really doubt you are going to notice the difference in speed, you should NEVER be working off your primary drive as a scratch drive, and apple's refurbs have been known to be top notch. in fact, im thinking about getting one and saving about $300 bucks myself from buying new with my military discount and using that $300 bucks for an extended warranty.

You never want to edit on the main internal drive, *always* use at least one external to host your original media and scratch files.

The newer MBP isn't going to be measurably faster but, the better video card and the high-res screen will go a long way to making your editing experience much more productive.

You never want to edit on the main internal drive, *always* use at least one external to host your original media and scratch files.
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Thanks. Can you elaborate on what exactly scratch files are? or how the actual config would work? dump original tapes onto external drive via plugging into laptop and then going to external?
maybe there is a thread on this already...i've never done hd editing.

About 2 years ago I posted a huge "how to" about using (then) a PowerBook for mainline editing. If you search for that post you'll see exactly how to setup both the hardware and software environment.

Make sure the new MacBookPro does work with current FCP version and other things you would use, like Matrox MXO and HD monitor for monitoring 1080/60i and maybe eSATA RAID drive connected to Express Card 34 slot.

Apple is really changing with their policy lately, Apple is not really taking care of third party products well and even their own software, they easily be skeptical on problems in early stage.

I would make sure everything would work before jumping in to any model actually.

if it's of any help, i'm running a macbook pro (bought september 06) 2ghz intel core(not even the duo core), with 2gb of ram, fcp 5.1.4 and have no issues with editing HD footage. my thoughts are that the refurb is fine. and if you have any doubts about buying refurbished stuff, just keep in mind that when you own an expensive piece of apple hardwear and have the extended care thing, they take really good care of you, especially in the store. i love their customer service, by far the best i've ever had.