Possibly purchasing a Macbook

Recording Techniques, People Skills, Gear, Recording Spaces, Computers, and DIY

Moderators: drumsound, tomb

AudioJunky
takin' a dinner break
Posts: 198
Joined: Fri Jul 21, 2006 5:12 pm
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

Possibly purchasing a Macbook

Post by AudioJunky » Thu Aug 10, 2006 5:45 pm

I'm very close to kicking my MDD G4 dual 867 out of the house... well, I may keep it as a sample machine or something but..

What possible disadvantages am I looking at by buying a Macbook Intel Core?

I want to:
1. Eventually record drums, track vocals, guitar, etc.
2. Use it as a main computer that is portable w/an attached monitor/keyboard for home use.
3. Run Logic Pro.. like I am now. Maybe run Reason 2.5.

I know it will be more powerful than my G4, and WAY QUIETER. (I can finally turn the closet my G4 is in to a vocal booth!) There would only be a Firewire 400 and a couple USB hookups- but that is no more than I use now.

Feedback appreciated. And no, I am not going to spend $3000 on a Quad Pro.

audiojunky

trumpetgunk
alignin' 24-trk
Posts: 67
Joined: Sat Dec 03, 2005 5:41 am
Location: New York City

Post by trumpetgunk » Thu Aug 10, 2006 10:18 pm

If you buy one right now, two things could, and probably will happen, in the not so distant future:

1) Apple will upgrade their operating system and you will be stuck having to purchase the new one for $129 or staying with a newly outdated computer. Of course, it will take time for all of your programs to update too so that the new OS may not mean much in the short term.

2) Apple will upgrade the chips in their MacBook line and you will be stuck with a computer that was outdated in only a couple of months. You will still have a very nice laptop computer that will run all of your programs but you might be kicking yourself for not waiting.

If you can wait till January, I highly recommend a Macbook. :wink:

maxadocious
alignin' 24-trk
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Jul 22, 2006 11:31 pm

On Laptops

Post by maxadocious » Fri Aug 11, 2006 12:37 am

Well, I got the Powerbook G4 2 years ago and a Firepod. I upped the RAM off the bat because my plan was to record with it. It did well, BUT I could hear that it was working really hard, the little fan blowing really hard. Sometimes, there would be some latency which is weird considering that it's a firewire connections, recording with no digital effects and everything into Cubase LE... My hard-drive "failed" 9 months after buying it (luckily still under warranty).

My point is... that I am not a believer in the hard-drives on Apple Laptops. I don't know if it was just bad luck on my part, or if you're not supposed to record five tracks at the same time or something... Perhaps they're better about it now with more power and all; or maybe I could solve my problem for cheap by buying an external harddrive.

just thought I should relay that anecdote.

Also, I love apple; the other guys (microsoft) don't know what is what, and never took art history. But what was said about Apple updates leaving their old stuff behind is very true; I second the idea to only buy after the MacWorld. You know, get it while it's Hot.

sonikbliss
buyin' a studio
Posts: 919
Joined: Fri Apr 09, 2004 6:49 pm
Location: Florida

Post by sonikbliss » Fri Aug 11, 2006 7:07 am

I really want one of the new macbooks too, but I try to never buy the first version of anything so I think I'll wait awhile....

User avatar
Jeff White
ghost haunting audio students
Posts: 3263
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2006 6:15 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Contact:

Post by Jeff White » Fri Aug 11, 2006 9:20 am

I highly recommend buying your Mac used. I bought both my G5 and PB G4 off of eBay and saved about $1200, even more if you consider sales tax. I spent a lot of time watching auctions and communicating with sellers.

Joel Hamilton also recommends an online Mac store that sells used or refurb models.

Anyway, yes, wait until January, there will definitely be a major update by then (maybe even Leopard release). A MacBook or MacBook Pro will be amazing for audio, especially compared to a PB G4. Should be on par with a Dual 2.0-2.3GHz G5 by then, maybe faster. We'll see about the system bus. Obviously the RAM being limited to 2GB may be an incentive to stay with a tower. Depends on what you need.

I'm tossing around the idea of selling both my G5 and PB and picking up a Mac Book Pro next spring. I think at that point the Mac Book Pro will most likely smoke my Dual 1.8 G5, which only has 1.25GB of RAM and does everything I need it to do. We'll see.

Jeff

AudioJunky
takin' a dinner break
Posts: 198
Joined: Fri Jul 21, 2006 5:12 pm
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

cool

Post by AudioJunky » Fri Aug 11, 2006 12:00 pm

Thanks for the heads up on that. When I bought my MDD Dual 867, it was one of the first "dual" towers released. Later that year they released a system update- and yes I had to wait a while before I came up with the $ for that. In addition, they instantly fixed the noise problem that year with their next line of towers- so you guys are def. right.... January... January...... ;)

So when you purchase a used Mac, you can always throw AppleCare on to it and you are covered, right?

User avatar
Jeff White
ghost haunting audio students
Posts: 3263
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2006 6:15 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Contact:

Post by Jeff White » Fri Aug 11, 2006 12:03 pm

So when you purchase a used Mac, you can always throw AppleCare on to it and you are covered, right?
Neither of my Macs have Apple Care. I know... I know... However, there are many Macs on eBay come with the remainder of AppleCare... some even 18months.

Jeff

Josiah LE
audio school graduate
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 1:05 pm
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

Post by Josiah LE » Fri Aug 11, 2006 11:30 pm

I just bought a Macbook and downloaded PT 7.1 It's great but here are my disadvantages.......No Autotune, No Reason re-wire, No T-Racks, No Amplitube, and No Sampletank 2. We have to wait until Feb. 2007 for these companies to adjust to the Intel. Ik multimedia is charging for the upgrade on top of that. It's expensive to be current.

kingtiger
audio school
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Aug 12, 2006 2:41 pm
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Contact:

Universal Version

Post by kingtiger » Sat Aug 12, 2006 2:53 pm

Yeah, I purchased a MacBook 3 or 4 months ago and the only problem I have is with the new Intel chips...not all programs will run quite like they're supposed too, because they were designed to run on the old PowerPC chips. Many software manufacturers are releasing new versions of their programs as "Universal Binary" so that they will run on both the PowerPC processors and the Intel processors. Any programs that aren't Universal Binary either won't run, or will run through a converter called Rosetta (it's built into the OS) and will most likely run slower, and maybe with some bugs.

Also, since the MacBook is new, the longer you wait, the more of its bugs will be worked out.
~corey. oltman.
Image
music | graphics | web

drunton
pushin' record
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2003 11:48 pm
Location: Cary, NC
Contact:

Post by drunton » Thu Aug 24, 2006 11:25 pm

I am looking at updating my G4 1.3 PB and here is what I have found:

1. Cubase will not add intel support until ver 4 - which is a pay for upgrade

2. DP, Logic, PT all seem to work

3. Waves released their update and the email made comparisons - 2.1GHz CoreDuo running OSX always outpaces same processor running XP. 2.1GHz CoreDuo gives the dual G5 2.5GHz a run for the money - beating it on some plug-in counts. The quad still wins - what a surprise.

4. Cubase SX3 running bootcamp on a 1.8GHz duo MacMini was running very nearly equal processor load (soft synths only) to a Athlon Dual processor at 3.8.

Regarding Apple:
1. Some updates are expected in September
2. The new OS release will have some "grandfathering" date, but they have not said when.

So, as others said, hardware results look promising but there will be growing pains on the software side.
- Another toy that helped destroy the noble race of man
- www.corporatelockdown.com

AudioJunky
takin' a dinner break
Posts: 198
Joined: Fri Jul 21, 2006 5:12 pm
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

The next line of Macbooks

Post by AudioJunky » Fri Aug 25, 2006 1:33 am

Does anyone have a clue when the next line of Macbooks are due out? I'm starting to think- "damn, I can't wait 6 months." Is there an apple site that gives info on the next release of their products.. or is it just a, *boom* SURPRISE new models out! type of deal?

audiojunky

kingtiger
audio school
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Aug 12, 2006 2:41 pm
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Contact:

Post by kingtiger » Fri Aug 25, 2006 10:01 am

There's usually not much notice. When I bought my 15" MacBook, I (nor anyone else) had no idea that the 17" was coming out the next week.

However, there are often some general estimates (i.e. "this will come out next Spring"), and a good source for thsi and other such things is The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) at http://www.tuaw.com/.
~corey. oltman.
Image
music | graphics | web

drunton
pushin' record
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2003 11:48 pm
Location: Cary, NC
Contact:

Post by drunton » Fri Aug 25, 2006 11:30 am

macrumors.com for some good "rumors" but beware, they are rumors and I have never tracked their accuracy.

The thought is that something is happening early September. Mac-mini high volume orders are being denied and told there will be a delay on shipping - so there is a bet that there will be an update here. Hard to say if it will flow to the macbook/mb pro line or not.

I would wait until mid Sept if you can hold off 3 weeks. Of course, the longer you wait the more you get - but that is always the case. Fortunate/Unfortunate technology continues to evolve :lol:
- Another toy that helped destroy the noble race of man
- www.corporatelockdown.com

User avatar
ottokbre
deaf.
Posts: 1996
Joined: Wed May 07, 2003 8:54 am
Location: sanfranzizko

Re: Possibly purchasing a Macbook

Post by ottokbre » Tue Aug 29, 2006 1:46 pm

AudioJunky wrote:There would only be a Firewire 400 and a couple USB hookups- but that is no more than I use now.
This is way better than FireWire 800 anyways:

http://firmtek.stores.yahoo.net/sata2ensm2e.html

800mbs vs. 3,000mbs
boobs are life's fountain

lg
steve albini likes it
Posts: 390
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2006 8:27 am
Location: venice, ca

Re: Possibly purchasing a Macbook

Post by lg » Tue Aug 29, 2006 3:47 pm

ottokbre wrote:This is way better than FireWire 800 anyways:

http://firmtek.stores.yahoo.net/sata2ensm2e.html

800mbs vs. 3,000mbs

ooh, muy impresionante!

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 43 guests