If you can afford it, why not go for the trashcan. I'd personally base the decision on expected value. Would a seperate machine really benefit you or your workflow? Are you running into limitations (computational power) on the macbook? Is your workspace (screen) too limited?

Personally I'd just go for the 27 inch screen if computational power is of no concern. Why? It's cheaper, you get the full on workspace when home, but you always carry every project you've been working on with you, so no effort needed to copy projects between machines. Just flip it open on the road for some quick music production and plug it in at home to instantly have your studio set up. However, this would introduce a single point of failure, as in, if the laptop dies, the studio (temporarily) dies. Remember to backup frequently (even when having multiple machines).

And remember to have fun .

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Storyteller Website | Storyteller @ Facebook | Storyteller @ Beatport | Storyteller @ Soundcloud | Stephen J. Kroos - Europa (Storyteller Remix)
Anthony Mea - Get It On (Storyteller Remix)

quote:

If less is more think about how much more more would be. -Frasier

The alternative is why spend money you don't have to?

I have a PC desktop with a Macbook Pro laptop. My mouse, keyboard and midi controller are plugged into a USB hub and with a single USB cable I can swap out the PC for the Macbook on my dekstop and use an HDMI cable to plug into the 27" IPS monitor screen I have. It takes 5 seconds to turn the Macbook into a 'desktop' machine.

The only other cable you might need is for your audio interface, in my case an RME Fireface 400 which plugs into the Macbook TB port with a TB>FW adapter.

If budget isn't an issue, then sure.

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you better go to create.pro and buy a unique version of a mac pro that suits your exact needs: gpu, ram etc...

30% cheaper than the entry-level trashcan.

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Http://www.airwave-music.com is my new site. Djairwave.com is no more. A new era has begun

quote:

Originally posted by Lolo you better go to create.pro and buy a unique version of a mac pro that suits your exact needs: gpu, ram etc... 30% cheaper than the entry-level trashcan.

If you live in Europe then create.pro systems are really attractive but you get so shafted on the exchange rate, not to mention macs are 20% cheaper here, that you'd have to be bonkers to buy one in the USA.

Buy a used 4.1 or 3.1 and upgrade from there?

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SoundCloud

I was in the same boat as you are. I just bought a MacBook Pro 2 weeks ago and it's damn powerful. I debated about buying a 2nd computer to do my web development & start producing again. I already have a 24" Apple Cinema Display, so I wouldn't need one. But since my MBP is the high end 15" model, I decided to get this instead along with a hub. It's only $119.

http://hengedocks.com/

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EDM is not a trend, it's a lifestyle. You either get it or you don't.

quote:

Originally posted by kevin shawn Buy a used 4.1 or 3.1 and upgrade from there?

Terrible idea. It's already been confirmed that the next version of OSX will not work on 3.1 Mac Pros and with the way that software is going in terms of resource uses, you need at least a 5.1 pro to have decent system longevity.

@woody - nice find! Tbh, for a lot of applications, the MBP's are powerful enough and if that dock gives full connectivity then it's a nice idea. But you need an extra hub with it? Seems like they should have included that in the design....

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN @woody - nice find! Tbh, for a lot of applications, the MBP's are powerful enough and if that dock gives full connectivity then it's a nice idea. But you need an extra hub with it? Seems like they should have included that in the design....

Exactly! It's like having a desktop and a laptop all in one. And the hub thing, yeah, I agree it should've been built in. No big deal as hubs are cheap though.

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EDM is not a trend, it's a lifestyle. You either get it or you don't.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN Terrible idea. It's already been confirmed that the next version of OSX will not work on 3.1 Mac Pros and with the way that software is going in terms of resource uses, you need at least a 5.1 pro to have decent system longevity.

Oooh I did not know that!

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SoundCloud

Honestly you don't need an expensive hub solution

I have a shitty twenny dolah powered USB hub with my mouse, keyboard, elicener, iLok and midi controller plugged into it. I have one USB cable that I swap from PC to Mac and my 27" IPS screen has two HDMI inputs so with two cables I can plug my Macbook into my desktop setup.

My RME Fireface has 2 FW inputs as well so I just plug that into the Macbook as well if I need to use it.

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Soundcloud

Yeah,but the dock is teh sexy. I've just been offered a barely used 2013 MBP 2.7 I7 15" for $600 and I may just have to jump on it

I'd buy that dock in a heartbeat to have a nice solution with a big monitor at work and then just use the MBP normally at home, but the killer for me is the lack of hub. If it had it built in, I'd be telling Juan to buy one in a hearbeat so I can buy it half price a a couple of days later