im in the process of getting a new pc built in the next two weeks or so...well

but today i was offered a mac g4 laptop with protools le 6 and reason with waves plug-ins aswell for 2000euro off a fellow producer..i have used mac and pc in college.so im deciding on which way to go mac or pc

is it worth paying the 2000euro for the laptop (512 ram) and protools? or go for pc set up with two monitors and more ram etc.

the idea of a laptop seems good,coz i hope to go over to america at the end of the year for a few months and be nice to bring my set up with me

so can some help me out in the best way to hand over my money

cheers gosher

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That's 3000 bucks canadian!

My buddy got a PC laptop which got fkukcered. Worst money he ever spent because he coulda got a PC that was twice as good for the same money.

Reason would be like 375 euro. That leaves 1625 for a computer.

You could get a smoking PC for that, in North America anyway.


If I were you, I would price out a comperable PC (don't price out a mac, cuz that stuff is outragous, maybe used ones) and everything you need to get going. Chances are it will cost more to regain everything that is already coming with the laptop, but at the same time, the laptop is already old.

Second, try out the mac. Remember, you are STUCK with that. It's hard enough to upgrade a mac, or a laptop. I can only imagine how hard it is to upgrade a MAC LAPTOP!?

If it even comes close to not performing up to what you need, RUN!

And if I were you, I wouldn't factor in monitors at all, b/c you're going to need those anyway right?

If you're talking purely value, compare only what you would get on the mac (only what you would use of course, because that's what value means) and how much it would cost you to the the same or better in PC form.

Oh, and I don't know what that mac has in it, but you need an ASIO sound card. Don't forget that because it really affects performance.


Um.. I just searched mac music world to see what the deal is with ASIO sound cards and mac and I saw an article called "Top Ten Mac Audio Freebies." Just keep in mind, every single one of them was available on PC, and if it were a PC website, the article would have been called "Top Fourty-Six Thousand PC Audio Freebies."

And read this. It's on the mac site, but it actually argues for PC, all in all.
http://www.macmusic.org/articles/vi.../lang/EN/id/56/

I know I sound biased. I am. Macs just seem an illogical choice all around to me.

BTW, what are the specs on the mac. Like I said, it sounds old. You might just be able to rule it out and put your mind at ease.

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this is the link for the mac g4 its the 17inch g4.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...&nclm=PowerBook

its just under a year old.basically he only uses it for recording jass bands in his da's pub.i was going to spend 520euro on protools on saturday.between the price of protools and reason and a lot of plug-ins im getting the laptop for 1200euro.

as im a dj i hope to get ableton live and put all my music into the laptop and dj form the mac as well as playing records.i also have my own radio show each week so id like to record my show each week.

does anybody else think i should by the laptop or just leave it??


what meant bout the monitors was screen monitors

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Doesn't Protools have kind of poor midi support? That's not really good if you're making EDM. The only reason to go mac is if you're going to use Logic, imo.

quote:

Originally posted by djgosher2023 what meant bout the monitors was screen monitors

Hehe. Only on TA would I confuse that.

Your link didn't work though.


There is alot of good recording software out there.

And if I were you, I would check out the free version of protools before spending any cash.

If it's what you need, great! If not, then you know you need protools 6 and the laptop is worth that much more.

http://www.digidesign.com/ptfree/

As for recording your show, you can do that for pretty much free.

Line-in on any soundcard and any wave editor should do you.

As for the DJing, the mac would do you, but first I would take a look at 'portable' PCs. Smallbox PCs and flat panel monitors. Some people prefer them. I would, just for the convenience of having a computer that is still relatively easy to upgrade, but not a huge ammount of deadweight. The only difference as far as DJing practicalities would be plugging in the screen and keyboard. But if you needed an external soundcard on the laptop, the tradeup wouldn't be a big deal at all. You'll still need to plug the laptop in at gigs. You would probably want a mouse anyway, b/c you can't use the little fingerball or touchpad.


But like I said, price out the ideal computer you would get, price out anything else you would need for the mac, and try the mac out before you buy it.

If the guy used it mainly for recording, there would be little reason for him to need an ASIO soundcard on a fast computer, so you might want to revisit that too.

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Loaded with Pro Tools will do you no good unless it has an interface included. Pro Tools won't run without digidesign hardware attached. Think of it as an expensive dongle. Even if it came with an MBox it's kinda expensive and SLOW.

If you're set on Mac Laptop the Dual core Mac Book pro + an MBox MK 2 will give you a slamming system if that's what you are actually after. I suspect though it's not. ;-)

Hell for 880 euros you can buy a mac mini that would whip the crap out of the laptop, just add whatever toys you want to it (Suitable firewire interface preferably), and dump Logic Express on there and you can start to have so serious fun.

If you could live with a desktop a 20" 2GHz dual core iMac is 1800euro, about 8 x faser than the laptop and add logic express and you should still scrap in around the 2000e mark.. No need for any external hardware to start with.

If you want to go PC then that kind of money buys you a serious PC with he option of all kinds of goodies for it.

If it were me and I had a screen, keyboard & mouse already I'd run with the Mini and have money to spare. It's also "semi" portable. If I didn't and could afford a bit more whilst living with lack or portability I'd give the 20" iMac a serious look.

If you know what you doing going the PC route might get you some more horsepower, but for a complete "Solution" then the mac is hard to beat if you know what you want and it can give it to you.

ie If you want to be running fruity Loops then certainly steer clea of the mac. If you want to run Logic then it's the only game in town. Cubase and Pro Tools are X Platform, so it boils down to which you are most comforatble with.

Tha said neither Cubase or Pro Tools are actually available for the intel macs right now. When they are though then expect to see some pretty decent performance figures.

Oh and garage Band has a bunch of tools for putting togeteher podcasts / radio shows built right in. Aailable with any new mac. that may be all you need.

All macs are dual voltage so if you want to drag it around you can.

I haven't seen a non-dual voltage PC in years.

Either way, awesome post.

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