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 Forum index » Instruments and Equipment » OSX as a music workstation
Thinking of getting a Mac laptop
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BobTheDog



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PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 7:56 am    Post subject: Thinking of getting a Mac laptop
Subject description: Some advise would be nice.
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Hi Guys,

As I have now moved over to Logic I am thinking of getting a new laptop as mine is XP.

The two I am looking at are

1. MacBook 2GB ram, 120GB HD & applecare = 1,298 pounds.

2. MacBook Pro 2.16, 2GB ram, 120GB HD & applecare = 1,748 pounds.

So the difference is 450 pounds.

I don't really mind the 13 inch screen so is there any good reasons for splashing out the extra cash on the Pro version?

Also what is the difference between the glossy and normal screen?

Cheers

Andy[/right]
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v-un-v
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 8:15 am    Post subject: Re: Thinking of getting a Mac laptop
Subject description: Some advise would be nice.
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BobTheDog wrote:

Also what is the difference between the glossy and normal screen?


the glossy screen is only useful if you like looking at yourself while you are working Shocked Laughing

The glossy screen is also CRAP for doing any picture editing, because it has too much contrast, otoh, the glossy screen increases the dmax (black) so you get better viewing while watching videos- and if, ahem, again, you don't mind looking at yourself in the mirror!! Shocked

The deciding factor for me getting a MBP over the MB was that wretched Evil or Very Mad screen Twisted Evil

PS, do you know anyone at University, because you may get (quite a bit) of discount if you take that route Idea

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v-un-v
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 8:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

oh yes, I should say that the MBP has Firewire 800 too, and again, the screen is a lot sharper imo. It also has a far better graphics card- if you're into gaming or high end graphics stuff- like CAD, but perhaps not?
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BobTheDog



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PostPosted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 10:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Hi Vunv,

Thanks for the info.

Maybe I will get the pro

Cheers

Andy
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Sonarbase



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PostPosted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 2:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Like v-un-v said if you're into gaming and graphics, you're better of with a pro. If you want to add an mobile Internet card or something you'll need a pro cause the mb doesn't have an expresscard slot.
Another thing is the ram, a pro can go up to 4Gb while the mb can go up to 2Gb.

I use the latest macbook with 2Gb of ram and love it... It's powerful enough to run logic and nice amount of plugins.... I need about 10 to 20 audio tracks at most and run at least 2 inserts on every track.
If you don't need the capabilities of a pro I advice you to save your money for a nice 22" screen or something for working at home.

Sb

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cletus



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PostPosted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 12:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Definitely go for the MBP if you can afford it. Extra RAM capacity and having the express card slot for e-sata can come in handy when running logic.
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rikardgrankvist



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PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 10:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I recently bought the exact macbook you're talking about. I'm very pleased. To me, the increase portability of MB versus MBP was important, so that you can make field recordings more easily. The biggest difference between the two seem to be the graphics, which doesn't matter at all to me, since I work only with music. Use the extra money to buy the mini-DVI to DVI converter and buy a nice big screen for when you're at home. That's my setup.
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renevanderwouden



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PostPosted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 1:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I am thinking of replacing my DUAL G4 1 ghz for a Mac Powerbook, but not the Pro.
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Kassen
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 1:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Speaking of Mac laptops and graphics; a while ago there was a issue where the whole thing would crash if video memory would share ram in the area above 2GB. I can't remember wether that was on the pro or the plain one but it was due to a faulty video card driver. Has that been adresed yet?

I'd like to get into Open GL in the future and that's a serious bottleneck for my current laptop.

Also, are there mature window managers yet that can act as a alternative to Aqua while preserving the native Open GL support of the OS?

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v-un-v
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 4:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I didn't even know there was a problem here Kas. This Macbook Pro has 2gig installed, runs XP in VMware Fusion, while running several drafting programs, and live video from the internet etc etc, and yet runs like a cat off a hot tin roof (and no stability issues either Very Happy )

hope that helps

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etherline



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PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 5:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

renevanderwouden wrote:
I am thinking of replacing my DUAL G4 1 ghz for a Mac Powerbook, but not the Pro.


I've got a powerbook. It's a nice wee computer but the sharp edges are not great when you are typing and the small screen really does become a drag after a while.
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v-un-v
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 5:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

etherline wrote:

I've got a powerbook. It's a nice wee computer but the sharp edges are not great when you are typing and the small screen really does become a drag after a while.


But how big is your screen? There are 17" screen G4 Powerbooks you know Wink

Also most of the time, this MBP is connected to a separate 20" monitor (made by NEC, not Apple). The great advantage of this is one gets dual screen/ mirror capability Cool

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dewdrop_world



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PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 8:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

v-un-v wrote:
I didn't even know there was a problem here Kas. This Macbook Pro has 2gig installed, runs XP in VMware Fusion, while running several drafting programs, and live video from the internet etc etc, and yet runs like a cat off a hot tin roof (and no stability issues either Very Happy )

hope that helps


The MacBook does use some system RAM for video.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303407

Apple wrote:
The Mac mini (Early 2006), MacBook and iMac (Mid 2006) computers use the Intel GMA 950 graphics processor for video output. This graphics chip set shares the main system memory of the computer rather than having dedicated graphics memory. The GMA 950 allocates a base amount of 80 MB for video and boot processes at startup. In a computer configured with 512 MB of SDRAM, this leaves 432 MB of SDRAM available to Mac OS X in a standard system (configured with 512 MB SDRAM).

Mac OS X may make additional main memory available to the graphics processor for texture use beyond the base 80 MB amount mentioned above, depending on the application being used. The most common types of applications that request more system memory to be used as graphics memory are 3D and graphics-intense applications.


The MacBook Pro has dedicated video RAM separate from system RAM (IIRC).

hjh

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etherline



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PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 8:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

v-un-v wrote:
etherline wrote:

I've got a powerbook. It's a nice wee computer but the sharp edges are not great when you are typing and the small screen really does become a drag after a while.


But how big is your screen? There are 17" screen G4 Powerbooks you know Wink


Beg pardon; I meant an Intel Macbook Embarassed
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elektro80
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 8:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

dewdrop_world wrote:
v-un-v wrote:
I didn't even know there was a problem here Kas. This Macbook Pro has 2gig installed, runs XP in VMware Fusion, while running several drafting programs, and live video from the internet etc etc, and yet runs like a cat off a hot tin roof (and no stability issues either Very Happy )

hope that helps


The MacBook does use some system RAM for video.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303407

Apple wrote:
The Mac mini (Early 2006), MacBook and iMac (Mid 2006) computers use the Intel GMA 950 graphics processor for video output. This graphics chip set shares the main system memory of the computer rather than having dedicated graphics memory. The GMA 950 allocates a base amount of 80 MB for video and boot processes at startup. In a computer configured with 512 MB of SDRAM, this leaves 432 MB of SDRAM available to Mac OS X in a standard system (configured with 512 MB SDRAM).

Mac OS X may make additional main memory available to the graphics processor for texture use beyond the base 80 MB amount mentioned above, depending on the application being used. The most common types of applications that request more system memory to be used as graphics memory are 3D and graphics-intense applications.


The MacBook Pro has dedicated video RAM separate from system RAM (IIRC).

hjh


Right!

This means that the MB is an excellent tool for general computing but far from perfect for use with apps like Aperture. The MB runs Logic just fine and apart from issues like the MB not having a card slot ( for say an eSATA Card ), there is no FW800 and the bundled drives are still 5400 RPM ( AFAIK ) then I´d´say that the MB is quite good. The MBP is the only option if you really need fast external drives and a decent graphics card. The card slot in the MBP also allows for gear like the UAD-1e box and such.

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GovernorSilver



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PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 2:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Kassen wrote:
Speaking of Mac laptops and graphics; a while ago there was a issue where the whole thing would crash if video memory would share ram in the area above 2GB.a alternative to Aqua while preserving the native Open GL support of the OS?


That's a problem in and of itself.

I say the same thing to those shopping for a Windows laptop that want to run graphics-intensive apps.

Avoid shared memory.

Unless you love being miserable a lot.
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Kassen
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 2:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Yeah, I figured that one out already :¬).

I'm not complaining; my laptop was a bargain when I bought it and now that it has a gig of ram it's still working fine so I'm getting my money's worth but I'd like to get into graphics. I'd like to have visualisations of what my sequencer and msuic are doing and project those, that kind of thing. That aint happening on my current laptop :¬)

Still, video cards have a finite amount of RAM and at some point it'll run out. OSX isn't especially modest with it's footprint there either (I think it clocks in at 80 or so MB of video RAM?) and if I get a new laptop it'll have to last for a few years so I have to think about the future and future demands that'll be placed on it so that's why that video driver bug looked scary to me.

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