gonna be purchasing a new computer soon. I've been looking at the
17 in. 1.25Ghz IMAC, but some have told me that for music creation I should get a power mac eg. G3, G4, G5. I cant afford a G5 but mabey a G4. I heard that with the Imac I cant change the sound card or add outboard gear like turntables. I'm not sure though, I'm not familier with macs. I have used them a few times and like them a whole lot better than PC, mostly because I hate windows.

opinnions??

get yourself a nice pc! you cant go wrong, you could build a damn fast pc (with everything you need) for about 700 quid. worth looking into mate.

btw did i tell you i was anti mac?

quote:

Originally posted by JRB gonna be purchasing a new computer soon. I've been looking at the 17 in. 1.25Ghz IMAC, but some have told me that for music creation I should get a power mac eg. G3, G4, G5. I cant afford a G5 but mabey a G4. I heard that with the Imac I cant change the sound card or add outboard gear like turntables. I'm not sure though, I'm not familier with macs. I have used them a few times and like them a whole lot better than PC, mostly because I hate windows. opinnions??

Usually I find, that if someone "hates windows" then they are usually pretty incompetent at computers in the first place.. either that or they are jealous of Bill..

es

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quote:

Originally posted by Vert Usually I find, that if someone "hates windows" then they are usually pretty incompetent at computers in the first place.. either that or they are jealous of Bill.. es

i hate windows, but thats cos its the buggiest code ever written, but i still use it cos everything i need runs on it. so i dont complain ;p

but pc is the way to go in music production i recon, ive seen many mac users change over for that purpose, never seen 1 go back.

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quote:

Originally posted by refraction i hate windows, but thats cos its the buggiest code ever written, but i still use it cos everything i need runs on it. so i dont complain ;p but pc is the way to go in music production i recon, ive seen many mac users change over for that purpose, never seen 1 go back.

If windows is buggy, so is os x, just nobody bothers trying to hack macs..
For some reason I'm not expiriencing the bugs you claim exist on my XP Pro box..
es

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quote:

Originally posted by Vert If windows is buggy, so is os x, just nobody bothers trying to hack macs.. For some reason I'm not expiriencing the bugs you claim exist on my XP Pro box.. es

ok maybe i should rephrase it.. There isnt many critical errors in the code, but it cant be perfect, otherwise we wouldnt get frequent fixes for it from microsoft constantly with service packs etc be it security bugs or glitches with certain hardware (which people do get both of).. altho no software is perfect i spose.

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JRB, get whatever you can afford. Software for music production is pretty straining on the CPU once you start running multiple instances of everything, so get the most powerful computer you can afford.

The guys are right in saying that you will get a faster PC for your dollar, but if you want a mac, then that's cool, you will just have to pay a bit more for it.

As for changing the soundcard on a mac, well of course you can. MOTU are pretty popular cards for the mac. Not sure about on an iMac though. Just had a look at one and I don't think there is anywhere you could put one, unless you got a USB card, like the ones you use for laptops. There are plenty of hi-end ones available.

Hope that answers your questions. Personally, I would get a pentium 4, but that's me and I like PC. If I were getting a mac, I would try and save up for at least a G4.

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1 out of every 4 people in this country are mentally disturbed. Look at your 3 closest friends. If they seem okay, then you're the one.

There have definitly been some other threads talking about Mac vs PC so search for them and I won't get into it here.

You say you want to get a mac, ok. An iMac will suck balls because it is not upgradable, this is true. Get a Powermac because it comes in a tower so you can add soundcards and stuff. Definitly get a G4 machine as well. Other than that, I would recommend lots of RAM and a two button scroll mouse, as I hate the lame ones apples currently ship with (it shold work fine to just plug in, my MS IntelliMouse Optical works great). If you are more specific with a price point I can be more specific.

My general tips for someone getting an OS X box (both desktop and laptop):
- Get lots of RAM. Apple charges a pretty big markup if they do it at the AppleStore when you build your computer. I recommend getting the extra RAM from www.crucial.com, as it is quality and cheaper.
- Make sure it has a graphics card with 32MB of VRAM so you can use "QuartzExtreme." This is just a lame name for doing all the OS X eye candy with the video card thus leaving the CPU open for actually doing work
- iMacs and eMacs will severly limit the upgradability, specificly in the graphics and sound card areas
- Dual processor machines work great, perhaps think about getting a slightly slower machine with 2 CPUs instead of the fastest 1 CPU box
- The 14" iBooks are limited to a resolution of 1024x768 so if you like high resolutions be aware. If you are not sure you will need anything higher then 1024x768, go to a store that carries them (perhaps ignoreing the salesman as they often do not no shit) and see for yourself.
- Check out www.dealsontheweb.com for deals on Macs and Mac products, especially slightly older stuff.


A look on the Apple Store site shows some options:
- Refurb 1.8 G5 (512MB/160G/SuperDrive/GeFr5200) Tower for 2,100 USD
- New Dual 1.25 G4 for 1,600 USD
- New 1.25 G4 for 1,300 USD

Then you gotta get a monitor (you can use a PC monitor if you have one). I would just get a CRT as flat panels still cost a lot. Also upgrading the RAM will cost some more too.

If you look at some place like www.macconnection.com they often sell very similar stuff at a close price but will bundle it with other stuff you may want to look at.

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Last edited by auujay on Feb-17-2004 at 05:46

I also noticed that the G4 towers seem to support 2 processors even if they only have one installed. So you could get the single CPU tower and later get another G4 CPU and run duals. Check to make sure this is the case.

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Major Johnson - February Progressive Mix

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AFAIK The G4 has PCI slots, my Mia Audio card can be used on both a PC and a G4, or so the manual says. I pressume you can upgrade memory and HD on a G4. The winning question would have to be what software do you want to use and what format supports it best ? Apple seems to be going AU with some VST while PC is 100% VST and DirectX but no AU. Dito with sequencers: Logic is becoming MAc only and Cubase is always released/upgraded on the PC first :/

well, for one i'm not incompetent with windows. I've been using PC's since I was a little kid, before windows was around (DOS). It's just the fact that I'm tired of the windows OS and it's fukin blue screen of death. non the less, this is not a question of which is better MAC or PC, who the hell cares anyway. I'm just trying to see what would be the better option between the computers I mentioned. so far it looks like a G4, as I have about $1800 to spend on the comp including the monitor. thats one reason why I was looking at the IMAC (built in 17in flat screen). but if the G4 would be better for upgradability...

My suggestion for 1800 bucks

200 for some 19" CRT monitor (maybe something like this) if you have not figured it out by now, Apple charges obscene prices for monitors.
90 for 512MB PC2700 RAM from crucial

Which leaves about 1500 for the tower, so the two 1.25 G4s I mentioned before are possibilities (one more so than the other). Also check out the these refurbed units at http://www.expercom.com/browse_by_c...CATEGORY_ID=264

PowerMac G4 Dual 867MHz 256/60GB/Combo: $1199
PowerMac G4 Dual 867MHz 256/60GB/Combo + 3 years of AppleCare: $1399

PowerMac G4 Dual 1GHz 256/80GB/SuperDrive: $1399
PowerMac G4 Dual 1GHz 256/80GB/SuperDrive + 3 years of AppleCare: $1599

Personally I would not get the SuperDrive because I can't imagine I would use it, though if I had one around maybe I would, who knows...
Whether to get AppleCare is a choice I leave to you, it ain't cheap but can make life painless if something breaks.

___________________
"You can only drink 30 or 40 glasses of beer a day, no matter how rich you are." - Colonel Adolphus Busch

Major Johnson - February Progressive Mix

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Last edited by auujay on Feb-18-2004 at 01:25