Buying a Macbook Pro Possibly - Advice

[Melodeath]

Ok, so I've been using Windows XP and Sonar for years. My band's album is not 100% mixed, and my desktop PC died this past weekend. I'm not sure why the computer died. It powers on, then powers itself off after no longer than 1 minute. I tried replacing the PSU, which allows the computer to boot into windows, but still shuts down immediately.

I have my projects backed up to an external drive (and I think my hard drives in the dead PC are fine and I can just buy a couple enclosures and use them as externals), but naturally, they are Sonar format. I need to finish them by this month, as it's part of a school project.

Since I need a new laptop, and I already had a working desktop PC, I have been planning to buy a Macbook Pro. However, I was waiting for Apple to update their laptop line, as they are currently over 8 months old. Now that my PC is dead though, and the Apple hub on my campus is liquidating, I can get a Macbook Pro for cheap.

I can buy a 15" MBP, 2.8 GHz, 4Gb RAM, 500GB HD
or
17", 2.66 GHz, 4 GB RAM, 320 GB HD, for the same price.

What would you recommend? Screen size is not a huge issue, as I have a 20" LCD from my desktop I can hook up, and I don't do any mobile recording/mixing. Also, I definitely need more than 2 USB ports, so the 17" has an advantage there as well. If I got the 15" I would have to use a USB hub all the time - would this cause USB devices to run slower/unreliably?
I prefer a bigger HD, naturally, but I realize dboth of these HDs are probably 5400 RPM

I know 7200 RPM or above is always recommended for recording/audio, but does a 5400 RPM HD really suck? I would probably be recording onto an external firewire drive at 7200 RPM - I assume this would be faster than recording onto the internal 5400 RPM drive? Is my DAW going to run slow and shitty on a 5400 RPM drive? If I have to replace the internal drive with a 7200 RPM one anyway, the stock HD size is unimportant anyway.

What do you think?

Also, if I do get a MBP, I will have to install Windows XP or Windows 7, as I need to run Sonar at least to finish up these mixes. Does anyone have any experience mixing through bootcamp on a Mac? Is it reliable? How hard is it to set up Windows on a Mac?

Thanks a lot for the help

 

[arv_foh]

You shouldn't have any problems running devices from a USB hub. I'd say get the 15", and Boot Camp is cake to set up on a Mac. Some of the MBPs do have 7200 rpm drives, but not all of them.

 

[006]

Yeah dude the hub would be fine. Just use the external firewire drive for audio read/write and run the apps off the internal, it will be perfectly fine. The 15" would get my vote.

 

[Wolfeman]

Get the 17inch.... I sat in front of both the 15 and 17 for hours before buying mine, and the 17 won hands down.

As far as hard drives, you can get a 7200rpm drive for less than $80 if it doesn't already have one in there.

 

[jipchen]

+1 for the 15", it's superfast. 17" is enormous and unnecessary. The 15" goes easily into a backpack.
With an external TFT, i put the mixer on the MacBook's screen and the rest on the big screen. perfect.
Windows via Bootcamp is as reliable and stable as Windows on a PC. No, it's more stable
Setting up Bootcamp and Windows is also pretty easy, you'll need a XP CD with at least service pack 2, better 3, and the CD needs to be boot-able. You can create it very easy with freeware if you don't have one.

 

[greyskull]

15.
the 17 is HUGE. i like to carry my Laptop with me.

 

[xconnyx]

buying myself a mac book pro was one of the best choices i have made... ever, osx is such an easy thing and super stable, not just audio wise.

edit//

15" + 24" external screen (dual screen mode)

15 is not to big to carry and not to small to work with on tour.

 

[Melodeath]

I think I'm leaning towards the 15" because I think it also comes with OSX 10.6, instead of 10.5 on the 17", but I could be wrong. Anyone know about this?

Also, running a DAW off an internal 5400 RPM drive is not a big deal?

Thanks for the comments so far

 

[Wolfeman]

Aww come on, the 17 isn't that big. It fits in my 15" Targus laptop backpack. I'm also a big fan of more DAW workspace.


And it's great for movies and watching HD porn.

 

[Wolfeman]

I think I'm leaning towards the 15" because I think it also comes with OSX 10.6, instead of 10.5 on the 17", but I could be wrong. Anyone know about this?

Also, running a DAW off an internal 5400 RPM drive is not a big deal?

Thanks for the comments so far

All laptops coming from apple after august 2009 shipped with 10.6 installed. So you'd have to check the date on it. Even if it didn't have it, it's only a whopping $29 bucks. Much more affordable that Windows.

 

[iHate]

If you can wait I would say wait a month or so for the core i5/i7 macbooks to come out.

 

[AdamWathan]

If size isn't an issue, get the 17". The 17" is the only current MacBook Pro that still has an Express Slot, and trust me you will find many more uses for the Express Slot than a fucking card reader. That way you don't have to daisy chain your external drive to your interface for example.

 

[Melodeath]

If you can wait I would say wait a month or so for the core i5/i7 macbooks to come out.

I've been waiting since November. I never thought I'd be buying a current MBP, but these are desperate times. It's also cheaper than student discount, or even refurbished models.

 

[Melodeath]

If size isn't an issue, get the 17". The 17" is the only current MacBook Pro that still has an Express Slot, and trust me you will find many more uses for the Express Slot than a fucking card reader. That way you don't have to daisy chain your external drive to your interface for example.

True, but that would involve buying an express card with firewire. Besides, what's wrong with daisy chaining?

 

[Wolfeman]

True, but that would involve buying an express card with firewire. Besides, what's wrong with daisy chaining?

I'm pretty sure most interfaces are not able to run at certain settings when daisy chaining is involved. At least all the ones I've had would limit you to 44.1

 

[Melodeath]

Well, that's shitty news

I always thought 1 firewire port was limiting, but then I remembered daisy-chaining, but that was assuming everything worked perfectly

 

[John_C]

For your current computer: check your CPU fan, my bet is it isn't spinning up, causing the CPU to overheat

 

[Melodeath]

The CPU fan is spinning for sure. However, the one time I got my computer to stay on for about 2 minutes, i briefly got to check the CPU temp with a program, and the temp was over 100 degrees celsius. Thent he comp shut off. So either the CPU IS overheating, or it's reporting something wrong.

Either way, I don't really know what to do.

Again, the computer wouldn't boot, so I replaced the PSU. Now it boots, but still shuts off after the same amount of time.

 

[Panzer667]

The CPU fan is spinning for sure. However, the one time I got my computer to stay on for about 2 minutes, i briefly got to check the CPU temp with a program, and the temp was over 100 degrees celsius. Thent he comp shut off. So either the CPU IS overheating, or it's reporting something wrong.

Either way, I don't really know what to do.

Again, the computer wouldn't boot, so I replaced the PSU. Now it boots, but still shuts off after the same amount of time.

It's the CPU cooler for sure. Se if one or more of the springs attaching the cooler to the motherboard have come loose.

There are rumors of new MBPs coming soon so i would advice for you to wait either way.

 

[Melodeath]

I just made sure the cooler was securely plugged in, and tried the computer again, but it shut off right after the XP screen, right before the logon screen.

I guess I'll try some thermal paste

Also, like I said, I've been waiting for MBP updates since last year. I really need a computer in the next few days though.