Apple Can't Fix My G5, Offering Me $750 towards new computer

[Catoogie]

I have a Dual Core 2.0 G5 that has been having problems with it's logic board. Long story short, Apple agreed to replace the logic board for free but while doing so also needed to replace the graphic/video card. After doing both there was still a problem so The Apple Store called last night and offered to give me $750 in credit towards a new computer. I have been wanting a laptop so my situation is this. I have an 002R running 7 (which I will upgrade to 9) which would be the best Macbook to get? I'm thinking it would be a Pro due to it having firewire and I'm thinking the small 13" is cool. It's like 2.6Gz or something so it's already fast than what I have now. Will I be able to hook up my Cinema monitor? Will this be sufficient to record on? What other suggestions and/or advice, tips or tricks do you suggest?

Thanks

[starbearer76]

the only problem you may run into with lap tops is the RAM. that desk top you had you could probably max out at 8-16GB? if im not mistaken the new mac laptops only to up to 4GB?

if you plan on only doing 12-14 track sessions at 44.1 with a few plug ins for field recording, then you might be ok. ok... maybe 16 track sessions but you'd have to keep your plug in usage to a minimum. and if you want to run a ton of audio tracks AND have softsynth stuff going on... you'll get plenty of buffer errors. YET, what i just said is what i experienced, and others may have had better luck so don't quote me 100%.

the processing speed is awesome of coarse on the new macs and its close to being on par with the desk tops, and i think that helps with not having to have as much ram as you might have needed in the past.

Im not an expert, so i might be wrong on some of this, but from my own experience of moving from a laptop to a desktop for my main recording setup, i was able to observe some of this for myself.

all i know is that once i started using softsynths and lots and lots of tracks, i started to have major overload problems. moving to a powerful desk top eliminated all of that. so... you might miss that old desk top.

[John Jeffers]

The current Macbook Pros can have up to 8 GB, so I don't see RAM being a problem. Yes, you should be able to use your Cinema monitor, though you'll need a Mini DisplayPort adapter for it. They're about $20.

However, unless it's something you need right away, I'd wait a month or two. The Macbook Pro line is due for a refresh, and speculation is that it's not far off.

More importantly... is there any reason you're not looking at an iMac instead of a laptop? You get more computer for the same money (they're both $1199 for the base models). Better processor, better graphics card, more ports, bigger hard drive, bigger screen. Unless you need the portability, I think an iMac makes a lot more sense for recording.

[jnTracks]

if you plan on only doing 12-14 track sessions at 44.1 with a few plug ins for field recording, then you might be ok. ok... maybe 16 track sessions but you'd have to keep your plug in usage to a minimum. and if you want to run a ton of audio tracks AND have softsynth stuff going on... you'll get plenty of buffer errors. YET, what i just said is what i experienced, and others may have had better luck so don't quote me 100%.

i think this is a huge underestimation of the track count and plugin usage you can get with 4gb of ram.

ram is like real time storage. stuff like sample libraries for virtual instruments can fill it up. but just track count and plugins are dependent on CPU, not ram. you want the two to be balanced of course, and more ram is better, but 4gb is a good amount for a ton of work.

[starbearer76]

wow.... its AMAZING how they are to cram that much stuff into small spaces these days. thanks for correction. im usually 2-3 years behind technology when it comes to computers.

[ott0bot]

The new iMacs are great (i actually have the previous gen), but I'd also look at the new Mac Mini's, since you already have a monitor, mouse and keyboard. They have swappable ram now, and an hdmi port. I'm strongly considering buying one and using my imac as a general home computer.

check it out:
http://www.apple.com/macmini/specs.html

For any of these computer, you'll also need a firewire 800 to 400 cable to hook up your 002r, since newer macs only have a single fw 800 port.

[John Jeffers]

No offense, ott0bot, but I think using a Mac Mini for recording is really kneecapping yourself. They are nowhere near as powerful as an iMac. Minis are great little computers, and have their niche, but that niche is not recording IMO. Like the 13" Macbook Pro, they have a previous generation processor (Core2Duo vs. i3). They also have a slower internal memory bus (1066 MHz vs. 1333 MHz in the iMac) and a slower hard drive (5400 RPM vs 7200 RPM). All those things add up.

[ott0bot]

No offense, ott0bot, but I think using a Mac Mini for recording is really kneecapping yourself. They are nowhere near as powerful as an iMac. Minis are great little computers, and have their niche, but that niche is not recording IMO. Like the 13" Macbook Pro, they have a previous generation processor (Core2Duo vs. i3). They also have a slower internal memory bus (1066 MHz vs. 1333 MHz in the iMac) and a slower hard drive (5400 RPM vs 7200 RPM). All those things add up.

hey, you know....you're right. Although the specs are better than my current iMac (except the 7200rpm), it would be limiting in the future, since you know programs are only going to require more processing power, not less.

Curious to see where you found the 5400rpm specs on the mac mini, i can't seem to find that on the page? It just says it's a serial ATA drive.

also forgot to add....if you ever plan on upgrading to an HD system or utilizing a pci card dsp system.....you won't have those options with iMacs or laptops. But you probably knew that.

[John Jeffers]

Specs are here:

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/s ... TQzMDMxODY

When you get to that page, click the bluish "Compare" button about halfway down the page on the right side. That's where the drive speed is listed.

[ott0bot]

Specs are here:

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/s ... TQzMDMxODY

When you get to that page, click the bluish "Compare" button about halfway down the page on the right side. That's where the drive speed is listed.

oh cool, thanks!