MacBook Pro and music software

guitarzero

Hey, curious as to how capable this MacBook Pro would be in using music software, pro tools etc. Any observations are welcome.

http://www.adverts.ie/mac-pro/macbook-pro-15-inch-early-2008/1528115

yoyo

Moved to Mac.
I wouldn't invest in a machine with a 8 series Nvidia video card, heres why. They all will fail at some point. Just my 2cs

Nick

guitarzero

Thanks Yoyo

Im very much in the dark on hardware.

If anyone is actually bothered:):), I have about 400 - 500euro to spend on a laptop for music software and a few Adobe programs.

http://www.adverts.ie/for-sale/computers/124/q_macbook/page-1

These were the searches.

yoyo

Just avoid machines with an 8 series Nvidia GPU and you should be alrite, 7/9 and the newer GPUs don't have the same issue. Even Intel GMA and most ATI chipsets are ok

Nick

guitarzero

Would you recommend a standard MacBook for music software? After reading through a Mac thread there seems to be a bit of contention around that saying that a standard MacBook cant cope too well with music software.

yoyo

guitarzero wrote: »

Would you recommend a standard MacBook for music software? After reading through a Mac thread there seems to be a bit of contention around that saying that a standard MacBook cant cope too well with music software.

Well Macbook Pros are quite expensive, and certainly will cost over your budget, I honestly don't know much about Mac, but if you have a tight budget would you not be best sticking to PC, especially as both those programs are multi platform?

Nick

conor.hogan.2

Yeah I don't see any need to buy a Mac for this unless you want some Apple specific software and are willing to get an old second hand mac.

QuadLeo

A macbook is fine for running music software (i.e. pro tools, reason, live etc...) But it all depends on the specs, obviously. A 5 year old macbook won't run pro tools 10, or live 8 as well as a new macbook, based purely on it's specs. I ran pro tools sessions on a macbook with 3GB ram, 120GB HD, and 2.0gHz C2D for years. One thing that you should look out for is whether the laptop has firewire or not. The newer ones don't afaik. A firewire drive was pretty much essential in running my pro tools sessions on my macbook. Obviously you're not going to be able to run a pro tools session with 30+ tracks with plugins on every channel. But you'll comfortably be able to run an average band session. p.s. some reverb plugins take up a lot of processing power.

As for a macbook pro, they'll run music software without any problems. As long as it's not an old machine, like pre 2006.

guitarzero

Thanks for the responses folks.

I suppose the reason I choose a mac is that I had one before for a short time, seemed useful when using the Adobe Suite. So I thought music software would be ideal too.

I'm not averted to getting a PC, the most important thing would be the specs for music software and the abobe programs. Would a PC be cheaper with the minimum specs required?? And would I have to get one cater made?

Could anyone throw out a few specs that would be ideal maybe?

holystungun9

My two cents. If you get something from the last two years (maybe?) you will end up with an i5 processor and 4 gig ram which is generally what you will want if you are planning to get another two to three useful years out of it. (Of course i7 plus 8 gig ram would be nice too)
If mac, well the Core2Duo should still do the biz for a couple of years I guess.
If you have particular software in mind, I suggest you go to the website and check minimum computer specs they require.
Hope that helps a bit. Feel free to chip in or correct any of my info.

QuadLeo

When it comes to mac vs pc for music my choice would be the mac. With equal specs etc...

From my experience macs last a lot longer than any pc laptop I've ever had. They have way less problems, and pretty much every piece of software on them runs perfectly (bar pro tools on occasion). From a technical point of view the macbook pro on-board soundcard is really good and OSX seems to handle audio very well. So I'd recommend a mac over pc any day when it comes to pro audio/photo/video. This is the mac forum though....

guitarzero

Cheers for the input folks, really appreciate it.

There seems to be over 50 specs for Pro Tools software, I'm guessing there are only a few that are terribly important. There seems to be so many things to watch out for which is kinda frustrating

- I'll have to avoid a Nvidia GPU

- I'll have to make sure it's no less that a few years old or else the current software wont work

- Firewire drive is essential according to above

I honestly would have thought a generic MacBook could cope with the software.

For anyone who wants to go the extra mile with me on this, these are the options I have in terms of price range. If one within the 400e - 500e mark is sufficient then great. If its over 500e, I'd give it some consideration. Thanks.

http://www.adverts.ie/macbook/apple-macbook/1578937

http://www.adverts.ie/apple-computers/macbook-black/1567147

http://www.adverts.ie/macbook/macbook-13-white-core-2-duo-4gb-ram/1565592

http://www.adverts.ie/other-apple-products/apple-macbook-core-2-duo-2-16-13-white/1406752

http://www.adverts.ie/ibook/apple-mac-g4/1505348

http://www.adverts.ie/macbook/macbook/1549170

http://www.adverts.ie/laptops-and-netbooks/macbook/1422397

QuadLeo

Out of the laptops you posted I'd only consider these 3;

http://www.adverts.ie/other-apple-products/apple-macbook-core-2-duo-2-16-13-white/1406752

http://www.adverts.ie/macbook/macbook/1549170

http://www.adverts.ie/laptops-and-netbooks/macbook/1422397

In this price range you should look for a 'Core 2 Duo' rather than 'Core Duo' and as much RAM as possible. 2GB RAM isn't ideal for music software. A good option is to buy the one with 4GB RAM and update the HD to an SSD from crucial. This one update (which is easy to do, with limited computer knowledge) will make a dramatic improvement on the overall speed of the computer.

Another option would be to buy the one with 1GB RAM and update the RAM from memoryc or crucial or whatver. Again it's easy to do and doesn't cost to much. Crucial.com will run a test and will tell exactly how much RAM your system can take and how much it costs. And their prices are reasonable.

And as for the firewire drive, it's essential if you're planning to run large projects with numerous music tracks, but if you're working on smaller projects or compositions a USB HD would do.

I have to say though, that at this price range with macs you're looking at laptops that are a few generations old. You could be better off looking at a PC (if performance and speed are you're ultimate goal), something like this, just as an example.