Decisions? computer..

Easy now,

hope u are all good

so i have got abit of money too spend and im no 100% sure what im gonna invest in..

ive bin usin mpcs for about 4 yrs (2000classic, now 2500), havent really used computers too much other than as a basic platform to lay down my beats that i have made and stored in the mpc. Ive mainly used cubase, cooledit, audicity. And usually on laptops, mainly other peoples.. But i am comfortable using computers in general..

Ive got abit of money coming through and im pretty sure i wana get a mac. i have been considering pc, i have read alot of good articles on mac/pc. but think i think im goin mac..

so im gonna hae approx 1500 uk pounds.. im thinking imac and was just gona go 21.5 inch new model: http://store.apple.com/uk/configure/MC509B/A?mco=MTg1ODMzNTk but now im thinking quad core would be good 2 have, but they only do this in the 27inch imacs.. (something to do with the extra size allowing a larger cooling unit..).. so now i could go all out n get the 27/quadcore: http://store.apple.com/uk/configure/MC511B/A?mco=MTg1ODMzNDk..

i get a 12% discount through my work so it would only end up bein a little over budget, prob could save that extra through work fairly quick..

i feel abit cautious spendin all this money, and wasnt originally planning on spending it all.. was gonna save a little bit for a holiday.. but think its worth gettin best specs possible if im gonna do it atall..

the other option is to get a macbookpro 15" i7, 4GB for about 1600 uk pounds, so agin abit over budget.. do you think this would perform as well or better than the quadcore imac.. im not to fussed about the portability but i suppose it could be a benefit at some point..

what would you do if you had the money and wanted a good reliable (pref mac)computer for your music and (a possibly abit of webdesign work in the future..)?

do you think its worth spending the extra p to get the quad core even tho i wasnt initially bothered about the extra screen size..?

anythoughts much appreciated..

cheers

I think Mac is a good choice but if you wanted a dedicated audio pc then check these out...


http://carillonac1.com/

http://rainrecording.co.uk/


I've had a Carillon since 2003 and it still works really well.

im sure your gonna get a lot of people saying MAC>PC

But, honestly if you dont get on the Internet with this new computer....PC is the best way to go. If your using it strictly for music, you can build yourself a decent PC with built in Card Reader, Firewire ports and/or USB ports, and get yourself a seperate monitor.


For $600, I have a QuadCore running at 2.33ghz, 750GB Hard Drive, 6GB RAM and im running 32-bit Vista with a 20" monitor and a 19-1 Card Reader

No virus', no spyware, no blue screens...NOTHING. Runs quietly and smooth as hell

Mac g5 intel chip duo 2.5 with 3-4 gigs of ram is your best bet. It comes with firewire built in and cost about $250-$300 american. Best bet. Call any studio and i bet 90% use mac. For non music i love windows 7. But it is what it is. Mac makes computers for heavy software and multi program simultianious use. I have had 100 tracks loaded while using with izotope ozone, izotope rx2. Two heavy resource hogs.. not one clip,lag or issue. using logic pro helps to but seriously..Mac is the truth son.!

Out of the choices you've given I'd say the quad-core iMac.

The Macbooks are nice, but disgustingly overpriced IMO. I use an old Toshiba laptop running Vista of all things and touch wood it's been fine. Unless you plan on taking your Mac to play out anywhere I wouldn't look twice at a Macbook.

The smaller iMac is a lovely product, but again for the price, particularly with your discount it's well worth investing a little bit extra to future-proof yourself. The quad-core is a beast.

thanks for the responces all.

yeah i have been temptin by the pc build, but i do want to use the computer to access the internet in the future (am doin a web design course soon). So thinking mac will be the safter option.

Thanks Scooby, yeah thats kind of what im thinking.. i may have to wait until xmas but would be quality to have the 27inch quadcore mac..

Do you think it is worth getting logic pre installed (about 160 pounds)? I could get a copy of ableton of a mate and am thinking this would be suffice for what i need, but am really tempted by logic and possibley reason..??

i would go for the mac myself, and you could install logic yourself, it has like 7 discs, takes about 5 hours, but its definetly worth saving the extra money, thats like at least 200 us dollars if i remember correctly! def worth the 5 hour wait to install logic by yourself, and youll always have the discs incase you want to uninstall it sometime. thats a major thing i hate about pre installed software, you usually dont get a disc (at least with pre installed windows operating systems).

go with the mac, i have a macbook pro 2gb ram right now and i use it for music, works great. if you need portability then go with the macbook, but if not just get the desktop.

there is also some good webdesign programs for mac i belive, i havent used them myself, but i know people that have, dreamweaver is the one that comes to mind; might not even be a web design program, but im pretty sure it is. but i guess it will depend on what software your class uses, it will probalby be both mac and pc compatable.

cheers damien.

yeah dreamweaver is the programme im gonna be using on the course.

im pretty certain im gonna go for the maxed out imac..

ill let you know when i get it..

cheers

Miser wrote:Thanks Scooby, yeah thats kind of what im thinking.. i may have to wait until xmas but would be quality to have the 27inch quadcore mac..

Do you think it is worth getting logic pre installed (about 160 pounds)? I could get a copy of ableton of a mate and am thinking this would be suffice for what i need, but am really tempted by logic and possibley reason..??

Personal opinion really dude. I'm an Ableton user and everything about the interface suits me down to the ground. It's very clinical and simple (which I like)... the stock processing tools that come with it are immense, and obviously if you ever do decide to do some live work the option is implimented excellently.

Having said that, Logic was designed by Apple, so it will be optimised to run with their hardware. I don't think Ableton fully supports Apples special "use the graphics card as an extra processor" thing that I can't remember the name of. Logic apparently has a very nice tape delay emulator that comes with it, in fact I've read in a few places about how good the stock plug-ins are.

To be honest for £160 it's probably very worthwhile, you can always try a demo of Ableton later on if you decide you're not feeling Logic.

Reason... I have mixed feelings about it. I started on Reason, but I always felt the sound lacked something. It's an incredible piece of software no doubt, particularly if you feel like using it as a super-standalone giant synth rewired into another program. But I found it very lifeless, and it wasn't really conducive to what I wanted to do. I much prefer my synths to be here next to me. I also think the "cables" thing is pretty pointless. But again it's personal opinion, give a demo a go and if you like what you hear then invest, if you don't move on.

As for saving up, it's got to be worth it. You'll be so inspired through having waited and worked hard to get those extra processors , and let's be honest as far as products go it looks f*cking amazing.

The last time I looked on the Apple configurator page it was £160 for Logic Express.

WOW who said just buy a PC!? Well I oughta... Okay. if you got quite a few quid to drop I say go hardcore go all out and get A Mac PRO 8Core. Thing is a monster and faster than almost anything out there. You'd be geared to run ProTools , Avid, Abelton, Whatever!

If youre not looking to drop that much of your funds. A lower end Mac Pro or iMac is what you need. Don't waste your time looking at PCs. Honestly, I work on PCs all day long great for the office but a headache for home and studio work. may cost more but you will be much happier when you hear all your buddies complain about their computer issues and reliability lapses. You will have no idea what they're talking about.

Those high end PC that are strictly workstations that were mentioned earlier are something to consider as well.

Remember you get what you pay for.

I would say Mac. Yeah I think they are a bit pricey but everything works well together and really stable.
Plus you can use Logic too which is a brilliant bit of software in my opinion.