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My new setup - 2.05.09

I thought I’d take a little time to blog about my new setup, in case anyone is interested. I’ve been using it for a few months now, and I’m finding it to be really useful.

I hadn’t bought much since I setup in business in 2005, so it was time for an upgrade.

I picked up a MacBook Pro (the one before the unibody models) which Jigsaw were selling off, and got a Cinema display to go with it. Using two monitors at once can be a bit like watching a game of tennis, but I’m really finding the extra screen real estate useful, and finding it useful to be able to take my machine with me when I get out and about (I’m writing this from the train!).

Backup’s always a concern, and I’ve invested in a Time Capsule to help here. It’s reassuring every hour when it whirs into action…

Parallels has replaced Virtual PC, and is, as you’d expect, a good deal faster. I imported my old virtual machines, which meant that I didn’t need a new copy of Windows. Good result!

A few words of warning:

  • It’s taken a while to get Pro Tools up and running on my new machine, being the first time I’ve used an Intel Mac. I’ve lost a few plugins in the process – most of them in fact. Will have to think about upgrading at some point, but I think I may have spent up for a while!
  • Migration Assistant is great – I was seriously impressed. All my favourites, emails and even Safari history were moved across, but I found I needed to uninstall and reinstall Creative Suite in order for it to work. Before this, I had activation issues. (Don’t forget to deactivate CS on your old machine before you move it over).
  • Similarly, Macromedia Studio needs reinstalling.

I’m using CS2, and under Rosetta performance is acceptable – probably about the same it was on my G5. Since I don’t use half the features of Creative Suite, I couldn’t really justify the upgrade.

So that’s a little about my setup. Hope those of the geeky persuasion have enjoyed it!

Stay tuned for further updates.


Contact

Paul Bell
Boiler Room Digital
Work 158 Northern Avenue
Sheffield
S2 2EJ
UK

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