Mac Route!?

Timans

Well, I've always liked the thought of getting a Mac but just never did. Now, with me selling my pc to get a laptop, I think it may be the time. I would have about €1000 to spend on a Mac laptop, ex-vat.

Keep it mind the ABSOLUTE max is €1100, none of this "stretch to €1500" etc please.

I would be using it for browsing, storing my quite large music collection, Cubase Music Editing, listening to music, watching DVD's maybe etc. And, of course. Football Manager. Maybe some small Photoshopping as well.

What do you think? Should I for a Mac? take the plunge? And which one?

Thanks.

Breezer

Do you need portability? If so, it'll have to be a Macbook, since a Macbook Pro is out of the question at that price. The 2.16Ghz white model sells for €1,032.23 ex VAT. This is the fastest processor currently available in a Macbook. A bit of Googling suggests that both Football Manager and Cubase are pretty processor-intensive, so it would make sense to go for this. Admittedly I have no experience of these programmes though.

I recommend buying the smallest hard drive and the least RAM you can from Apple, as they charge way over the odds. Upgrade by buying from Komplett and Crucial.com, respectively, and sell the old components if you want.

Bear in mind that while a Macbook should run Football Manager, it has an integrated graphics card rather than a dedicated one, so most 3D games are out of the question.

I've never owned a Mac desktop so I'll leave it to others to decide whether a Mac Mini or an iMac would be better, though at that price you could only afford the basic 2.0Ghz, 20" iMac.

If you're a student (or know one), be sure to check out the Apple Online Education store for good discounts. Also the refurb store offers systems cheaply that may have been put together but then the order was cancelled, or were returned. They are all certified by Apple to be good as new and come with the full, 1 year warranty.

One last point to note: are you using the Windows versions of Football Manager and Cubase? If so, you'll need to install Windows, and if you only have an OEM copy on your current laptop, it may or may not work on your MacBook (and of course, even if it does work you'd be breaching Microsoft's licence agreement ). Football Manager would probably run better in Boot Camp than in Fusion or Parallels. Since Apple seems set to pull the plug on Boot Camp in Tiger once Leopard is released, you may be best waiting a few weeks till that happens.

mikemac

Football Manager comes in a PC/MAC version on the same disk.
So no need for Bootcamp or similar software.

It'll work straight out of the box

Breezer

I really wish more software came like that. Adobe has started doing it with Dreamweaver, Flash etc. (the old Macromedia products) but not with Photoshop or the Creative Suite products.

Timans

Yeah, I need portability. The reason I am going for a laptop is because I really don't have the room for a desktop.

Cubase and FM are both compatable for Mac's so that all alright.

It's very easy to put in a HDD into the mac and RAM as well and is there any specific one's you'd recommend?

I want another gig of RAM and at least 250GB hdd.

Do you guys recommend I go for a Mac then? or, Will I regret it?

whiterebel

Timans wrote:

Yeah, I need portability. The reason I am going for a laptop is because I really don't have the room for a desktop.

Cubase and FM are both compatable for Mac's so that all alright.

It's very easy to put in a HDD into the mac and RAM as well and is there any specific one's you'd recommend?

I want another gig of RAM and at least 250GB hdd.

Do you guys recommend I go for a Mac then? or, Will I regret it?

If it'll run what you want, and you have Bootcamp as backup, I can't see you regretting it. I traded up from a G4 Mini to the latest Core 2 Due Mini am just amazed at how quickly it eats through video conversion, etc, and the mini has the same internals as the MacBook.
Buy it and enjoy it.

cornbb

You'll have a nightmare running Cubase on a Macbook if you plan on doing any sort of heavy stuff with it (eg multitrack projects with lots of plugins). They're great machines and all but they're just not meant to handle heavy multimedia stuff. I know you don't want to hear this, so sorry

Timans

cornbb wrote:

You'll have a nightmare running Cubase on a Macbook if you plan on doing any sort of heavy stuff with it (eg multitrack projects with lots of plugins). They're great machines and all but they're just not meant to handle heavy multimedia stuff. I know you don't want to hear this, so sorry

Why must you shatter the dream!?

Any recommendations for Cubase then?

440Hz

cornbb wrote:

You'll have a nightmare running Cubase on a Macbook if you plan on doing any sort of heavy stuff with it (eg multitrack projects with lots of plugins). They're great machines and all but they're just not meant to handle heavy multimedia stuff. I know you don't want to hear this, so sorry

+1

cornbb

Ah you'd pull it off if you had to as long as you loaded up on RAM and HDD space. The small screen would be annoying too though. So you could always hang onto that 19" monitor advertised in your sig If you have your heart set on a Macbook then get one, just be aware that you might experience frustration when doing intensive audio work.

Personally I'd save for a Macbook Pro or spend your budget on a PC laptop*, which would offer you better specs for your cash then a Macbook.

*I know there'll be a backlash for suggesting this in the Mac forum, but lets face it, I'm soooo right

Timans

Such as what? Laptops are pricey, and if I was to look at a Macbook 2.16ghz with 2GB RAM, I can't actually see myself getting a better pc for that price.

I am not saying I'm right, but I don't know. Help appreciated!

ZENER

cornbb wrote:

You'll have a nightmare running Cubase on a Macbook if you plan on doing any sort of heavy stuff with it (eg multitrack projects with lots of plugins). They're great machines and all but they're just not meant to handle heavy multimedia stuff. I know you don't want to hear this, so sorry

Afraid I'd have to disagree with you there. Picture Reason3 with a lot of plugins, Racks, a Midi Bodysuit and a Projector all been driven from a 2GHz Core Duo Macbook with 3GB RAM. Then consider that this setup went to Russia recently and performed 3 concerts LIVE in front of a couple of thousand people. Along with several concerts here in UCD again live, and behaved flawlessly with up to 90% CPU load !!

Look at the video section of the artists website if you still doubt it.

ZEN

Breezer

Timans wrote:

It's very easy to put in a HDD into the mac and RAM as well and is there any specific one's you'd recommend?

I want another gig of RAM and at least 250GB hdd.

If you go to Crucial.com, you can enter the exact model you buy into a form and a list of compatible memory will come up - in the case of the Macbook, they offer a 2x1GB kit. Although the Macbook can support up to 3 Gigs - I've only bought off Crucial so if you're looking for more maybe someone else can advise.

For the hard drive, I got this 250 GB model off Komplett. No complaints except that I had a bit of a problem getting the OS to recognise it because it came with the wrong firmware. I downloaded a fix off the company's website, burned it to a CD, booted off the CD and it loaded the new firmware to the drive automatically; since then I've had no problems AFAIK this was only a problem with the original shipments of the drive and since Komplett have now gotten new stock in by the looks of it you should be fine.

Timans

Lol, now you've turned it all on it's head again!

Cubase is quite intensive, I know that. But, I have no experience with Mac's so I cannot tel so, I'm relying completely on you guys to tell me what to do!

I do want a macbook but, that's my heart over my head. I've always wanted one so, I'm obviously going to lean towards that.

440Hz

Ok.... I appreciate everything people have posted here, and no doubt that Zen's mate gets on ok with his by the sounds of it.. all I can do however, from my point of view is to tell you my experience.
I use alot of audio software, and intensive graphics apps for that matter too, I have used them on everything from a low spec'ed iBook to my current 2.4 MBP, and personally, if I thought I had to run Cubase or something similiar on my old MBP even (2Ghz 1GB RAm) it would just annoy me. There is no question it will run on a Macbook, and espcially a pimped out one like users have suggested, but IMHO it will frustrate you.. I think, that after a short amount of time you will be sitting watching the beach ball spin and more than likely screaming mean things at your Mac asking it to hurry up. Having said that, you would be doing the same with a slow PC.

Cornbb's point about the screen is very valid as well. I remember trying to work with DP on a 12" iBook and I thought it would do my head in.

In short, if you want to go Mac, go for it by all means, but just do so in the knowledge that it will be slow. Personally, and im biased, I would take a Cubase running slowish on a MacBook above a higher spec'ed PC anyday. But, that's just me

deevey

ou'll have a nightmare running Cubase on a Macbook if you plan on doing any sort of heavy stuff with it (eg multitrack projects with lots of plugins). They're great machines and all but they're just not meant to handle heavy multimedia stuff. I know you don't want to hear this, so sorry

Ableton / Reason / Traktor / Photoshop and Video Applications lilke Arkaos / Livid Union / Neuromixer etc. run absolutely beautifully on a Pimped macbook !!... (I haven't tried Cubase) - I'm using the older intel Core solo

Video Editing Applications like / FCP / and After Effects of course run slower than on a MBP but certainly fast enough for a bit of everyday slicing and dicing and manipulation.

2gigs is minimum to make things comfortable.

440hz I can understand that with only a gig Ram you would be frustrated, jeeze even 1 gig photoshop was a joke can't even imagine trying Cubse.

I dont see how a pro would make much difference for the kinds of Apps listed ?
- most of these these arent graphically intensive and the machines (bar real nice graphics card and bigger screen) are virtually the same spec :-S

Buy one on the refurbished store EX VAT is only 739 euro and the same warranty - dont think the (very) few extra mhz is worth the cash - but thats me

- get a 250 gig HDD off komplett (150) and 2 gigs of ram from memoryc.com (80 euro), SORTED at under a grand for the lot

I love the 13' screen and use it for everything its ....just "dinky"... then again this is the biggest laptop screen I've had in 4 years.

In short, if you want to go Mac, go for it by all means, but just do so in the knowledge that it will be slow. Personally, and im biased, I would take a Cubase running slowish on a MacBook above a higher spec'ed PC anyday. But, that's just me

Of course you would ... not worrying about crashes all the time it leaves the mind free to think of wondrous things, its not that they never happen, but you just dont worry as much :P

440Hz

deevey wrote:

440hz I can understand that with only a gig Ram you would be frustrated, jeeze even 1 gig photoshop was a joke can't even imagine trying Cubse.

That was all I could manage for a while. I have to say though, on that particular machine when I bumped it up I didnt notice too much diff. It was a single core with 2Ghz, and I actually shocked myself with the difference in speed upgrading to the 2.4Ghz C2D.

Like I said though, and agreeing with you deevey, a pimped out MB will be okay, I just know that personally I could not go back to it. Then again, the intensity of my workload has increased a lot since my iBook/early MBP days and what Im running now would probably have ignited my iBook.

Timans

Right, looks like I COULD have a seller for the pc.

So, what deals am I looking at?

I have €1100 and want the best deal available for a laptop.

Thanks.

WizZard

Argh. If you had another €73 you could buy the mid-range Macbook in the EDU store

* 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 1GB memory
* 120GB hard drive1
* Double-layer SuperDrive

(Eur 1,173.70)

Timans

I'm not a student though, well a Leaving Cert student, but not a college student.

Breezer

AFAIK a Leaving Cert. student is ok. They don't check in any case.

ethernet

Breezer wrote: »

AFAIK a Leaving Cert. student is ok. They don't check in any case.

Apple Education Store wrote:

Who is Eligible To Purchase?
The following education individuals are eligible to purchase through the Apple Store for Education Individuals:
- a teacher, lecturer, tutor or other supervisor of students at an education establishment
- a student aged 18 and over with a valid student card, attending, or accepted into, an education establishment
- a parent purchasing on behalf of their child who is a student currently attending or accepted into a Higher or Further Education establishment

Purchase Quantity.
Staff, students and parents purchasing from the Apple Store for Education Individuals will be allowed to purchase the following quantities of product per academic school year:

a. Desktop: One (1) may be purchased per academic year
b. Mac mini: One (1) may be purchased per academic year
c. Notebook: One (1) may be purchased per academic year
d. Display: A maximum of two (2) may be purchased per academic year
e. Software: A maximum of two (2) per software title may be purchased per academic year
f. iPod: there is no limit on the quantity of iPod purchases per academic year

...

Statement of Eligibility and Acceptance of Terms and Conditions. By clicking “I accept” below, I agree and confirm that:

(i) I am a member of one of the defined groups above eligible to purchase and that the products being purchased direct from Apple Sales International are for the personal, education, and/or research use of a student, teacher, lecturer, or staff member.
(ii) Apple may contact me to request proof of my status and may refuse my order if I do not provide proof which is satisfactory for Apple.
(iii) The terms and conditions at the link below apply to my purchases from the Apple Store for Education.

Well if they don't check, that's great.

Timans

Yeah, I'll order it from the EDU store I think.

Any horror stories from ordering from there and them taking it back though?

im...LOST

I ordered for the Discount store. I am a student anyway but they didn't even check. I'm sure you'll be grand.

Hotblack Desiato

cornbb wrote: »

Personally I'd save for a Macbook Pro or spend your budget on a PC laptop*, which would offer you better specs for your cash then a Macbook.

*I know there'll be a backlash for suggesting this in the Mac forum, but lets face it, I'm soooo right

I priced up a few laptops last June before getting my 2.16GHz Macbook. The equivalent Dell came with a 1.8GHz Core2Duuo, just upgrading the CPU to match the Macbook cost 600 euro... that's the upgrade cost not the laptop cost!

I primarily run Linux on my Macbook (treason!) :eek: so initially didn't even consider a Mac; the price/performance ratio of the Intel Macbooks is actually very good. It's also a smaller/lighter package than the PC equivalents, the good looks don't hurt a bit, and the lack of Windoze Tax was the clincher