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Originally posted by aNYthing I was considering it! I have a lenovo T61P - C2D, 4GB RAM, AND it has Cardbus slot +512MB NVidia video... How hard is it? I'm willing to give it a shot.

Installing OSX on something you haven't purchased in an apple store depends entirely on your hardware configuration.

http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

The process has gotten so much easier in the past 18 months with bootloaders now. It's depends on how computer savvy you are honestly. I built mine because I'm poor and I'm a total computer geek.

But in the end if you have the money just go with a real mac.

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If you want to go PC, then build it, don't buy off the shelf or even manufacturer configured systems.

For you I would actually say go for a mac.

Why? becuase like you I used to work with computers and tech support (for audio/broadcast) and one day I got to the point I just got bored of maintaining PC's just to run normally as they should do.

I was kind of gainst macs becuase they didn't offer all those deep tweaking options that windows does but was forced to get mac by a new job as the studio only uses macs.

It was like seeing the fucking light. Not because of OSX (i don't care either way), but just simply because of the sheer amount of time I saved not doing anything in terms of maintenance. My workflow instantly increased by about 20% in th long run just because I was fighting with XP or Vista or Win7 to make it doe what it fucking should.

Then I just stopped even thinking about maintenance apart from a very occasional, 5 min repair disk permission. I have three PC laptops for various other uses (business, personal, and audio) and each onehas it's own set of problems, and weird kinks, that make me so much more appreciative to sit in front of my imac.

So I can't upgrade much on my imac. Give a shit. I have the soundcare I need, all the memory I need and ample USB, DVI out and FW sockets. it's nearly 3 years old now, I've put that thing through hell and I'm only just getting to the point I need to consider a reformat.

Honestly, I don't think I could ever go back to a PC for full time audio production, and I've owned a PC in one form or another since I was 5 years old.

And trust me, when it comes to a frech install it's a fucking 45 minute breeze. Back it up, slap the disk in, install your extra peripheral hardware (IMO also easier and faster than on a PC) run software update (once) and install your programs of choice.

Last time I did the whole thing was done in 2.5 hours, and that includes every audio, video and graphic program you can think of.

And then there's logic.....

also another thing for pcs

Search online for people that have a system with your soundcard that is rock solid so there are no surprises. There are so many variables and components that to just chose without checking what others have done is rubbish. Find the system most people seem to agree is stable and just go with that. Don't deviate at all and you will avoid alot of hassles.

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Originally posted by aNYthing ....And this in reference to???

i dont get the question?

i have a quad cpu 2'7ghz and 4gb ram on windows xp 64 bit and i can tell you that with few channels & fx's i hear distortion.

A mac for djing is not my cup of tea as i believe there's no much difference but for heavy producing i think mac wins clearly

i dont think distortion has anything to do with anything. and theres a huge difference when it comes to djeing, id never dare to dj with windows. sorry but you got it mixed up

it's not a secret that Mac is more efficient handling the software and that for heavy tasks such as graphic modeling, audio editing and similar tasks is the recommended option.

When it comes to djing mac could be more stable but i rarely see crashes on my windows laptop, i have used it some times for 2-3 hour sets and no problems or freezes.

but djeing is like 100 times more critical that producing, so u need the most stabile platform available. macs just better for anything creative

If there's one thing I learnt even as a kid, it's that you buy brands for laptops but you never, ever, buy brands for a desktop. You build your own.

PC seems better suited for you. Win7 is brilliant. Forget the people mentioning maintenance, they are projecting their experiences with previous windows versions. I've had my new system since Feb and I haven't done a single bit of maintenance on it. I don't even remember doing a defrag yet, apart from a month ago when I went to do one and it told me there was no need as fragmentation was minimal.

Logic/Cubase - Same shit. Shouldn't sway your decision all that much if you're using the latest versions.
Ableton runs rock solid on any system so this also shouldn't affect your decision.

If you're also going to be using it as a general purpose system and occasionally gaming, PC is again a better choice.
Make sure you get a MOBO with a TI firewire interface. The Gigabyte UD3/5/7/9 all have it with USB3 too.

You said you're not connected to the internet so autoupdates don't really apply here, but if you do, they are a breeze. Where XP ocassionaly used to break something during an upgrade, you can't even notice anything with Win7. It just happens and it works fine.

Take any Windows criticism with a grain of salt, because most opinions are based around XP/Vista, not Win7.
You're also going to save a shit tonne of money not just in the short term, but long term as well.

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I'd go PC... Mac lacks the PCMCIA port as you mentioned so its just going to cost you a fortune. And macbooks aren't really great value for money IMO. Mac Pro's and iMacs might be a bit better (especially the iMac) but mac pro's are really very overpriced I think.

To be fair on mac, there are lots of cracks out now for it I think, and most software generally is compatible with mac. Some freeware stuff and more obscure programs aren't, and that would probably bother me. But those things shouldn't sway your decision too much.

I think its really a matter of your attitude to computers. With PC, you get used to being constantly on the cutting edge, always upgrading hardware and software to get the best performance and most interesting new features. Personally, I like that, because it makes things a little more exciting being able to run some weird program that someones just written but is a little unstable.

With mac, there are lots of people who are still running a ten year old system for recording, and are happy doing it. Its a completely different mind set IMO, much more about functionality, where the computer is really just an appliance rather than something you have to put work into. I guess it has its advantages for situations where you need rock solid stability, but that has its down sides too IMO.

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Originally posted by Kenny Rogers iMac and Logic/Ableton. decent specs, decent OS, tidy looks/build/performance, easy setup/maintenance. supports all major software. I agree that Steve Jobs is a douche though and its the one reason im still consider hardware. 2000 can get you a decent yamaha or roland workstation or something like that. theres really no need for a full OS to make music, id like to have something more dedicated. but it doesnt exists. fucking world, i hate it.

What are you talking about? No one uses those daft workstations any more except wannabe RnB "beatmakers" and TV jingle composers who have to bang something out in less than 15 minutes ten times a day.

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If you're any good with a windows based pc don't bother getting a Mac because you should be able to create a fairly equal (if not better) setup with Windows in terms of stability and performance.

Unless you want to run Logic or any other mac-specific application. Or if you don't like Windows. Those are (imo) the only fair reasons to go Mac.

I'm more anti-mac by the day. But I won't bother explaining because it would not contribute.

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