What macbook would you advise me to consider?

wizard · Post by **wizard** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 1:00 pm

i want to get a macbook for music production, and other music related stuff and to do my music tech coursework on

i am going to be buying on like a monthly plan so the possibilty of a macbook pro is there but are the 700 pound ones decent enough

Elkie · Post by **Elkie** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 1:08 pm

the macbooks are more than quick enough unless you plan on running millions of plugins!

you can get a 2ghz reconditioned one for about 600

buy it with the standard RAM and HD, then upgrade them yourself, a LOT cheaper, you can upgrade the Ram to 2gb for less than £30, and if you want a bigger hd, they arent too expensive either, i just got one for mine from ebuyer for about £70!

the screen being so small can be pretty annoying though to be honest!

all depends on your budget i guess, but dont bother upgrading it straight from apple, they overcharge massively for the upgrades, and they are so easy to do on your own!

wizard · Post by **wizard** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 1:13 pm

hd?
ill probably get the 700 pound one in that case!

Elkie · Post by **Elkie** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 1:16 pm

hd - hard drive

they come stock with 80gb, which is a bit small these days, but you can get them pretty cheap now, if you upgrade make sure you get a 2.5" SATA drive.

unless you have an external hard drive, in which case 80gb should be fine

wizard · Post by **wizard** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 1:19 pm

sick man cheers,

Horza · Post by **Horza** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 2:04 am

Do you reckon a macbook air with 1.6 intel dual core and 2gb of ram would be enough for music production and Traktor?

Elkie · Post by **Elkie** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:20 am

i dunno, 1.6 is a bit slow by these days standards, and seeing as the macbook air doesnt have a cd drive, installing stuff might be a bit of a hassle...

if i was you, id save some money and go for a standard macbook!

thesis · Post by **thesis** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:37 am

Horza wrote:Do you reckon a macbook air with 1.6 intel dual core

1.6 is pushing it... I wouldn't go for the Air unless you are specifically need something small/light. Its only got 1 USB port, and no firewire. Also, you can just about get a Macbook Pro for the price of the Air!

cursedc · Post by **cursedc** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:37 pm

Horza wrote:Do you reckon a macbook air with 1.6 intel dual core and 2gb of ram would be enough for music production and Traktor?

that would be just fine if you are just using traktor and doing some beats/bass. If you are going to use a ton of plugins and some heavy audio recording...you might want something a bit more meaty. for live shows, a 1 ghz would do you fine.

More ram the better!

I'm using a G4 (1.5ghz) macbook with Logic Pro 7 and using loads of plugins, It works like a champ!

az · Post by az » Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:46 pm

Air has one USB port and no firewire so you would be stuck for hooking up MIDI keyboards, external HD and Firewire sound cards, so stay away!

misk · Post by **misk** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 6:34 pm

i wouldnt get a macbook air unless you were gonna go for the solid state HD. then it would scream for things like traktor, live, etc... but yeah thats around $3000. little too much for a baseline laptop with a SSHD.

two oh one · Post by **two oh one** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 6:52 pm

Misk wrote:i wouldnt get a macbook air unless you were gonna go for the solid state HD. then it would scream for things like traktor, live, etc... but yeah thats around $3000. little too much for a baseline laptop with a SSHD.

Nothing is too much for a BASS LINE laptop.

misk · Post by **misk** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 6:57 pm

two oh one wrote:
Misk wrote:i wouldnt get a macbook air unless you were gonna go for the solid state HD. then it would scream for things like traktor, live, etc... but yeah thats around $3000. little too much for a baseline laptop with a SSHD.
Nothing is too much for a BASS LINE laptop.

LAWL. god your so clever.

prik.

spencertron · Post by **spencertron** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 7:26 pm

wizard wrote: i am going to be buying on like a monthly plan so the possibilty of a macbook pro is there but are the 700 pound ones decent enough

yes, perhaps push for a faster processor (you don't need a pro)...it's what i use...and simple to upgrade the ram once you decide you need it.

the MB Air will probably become frustrating due to it lacking basic things like a cd-rom drive and only having one usb.

producing and using the trackpad is a pain (you will want to use a mouse)

You will most likely use a Midi over USB controller at some point, already you need 2 usb ports (forget about bluetooth mouse for now)

Any software that requires a usb dongle key...

usb soundcard/firewire soundcard.

and as for hubs, USB hubs have been known to cause latency with midi over USB

two oh one · Post by **two oh one** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 7:28 pm

Misk wrote:
two oh one wrote:
Misk wrote:i wouldnt get a macbook air unless you were gonna go for the solid state HD. then it would scream for things like traktor, live, etc... but yeah thats around $3000. little too much for a baseline laptop with a SSHD.
Nothing is too much for a BASS LINE laptop.
LAWL. god your so clever. prik.

I am?

What macbook would you advise me to consider?

What macbook would you advise me to consider?

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