Finally thinking about going Mac...

[ForgotenWarrior6]

I'm thinking of purchasing a Macbook pro 17" next year. I'm tired with all the problems I've been getting with my PC.. Random crashes, random blue screens, pro tools freezing.. It isn't a bad machine ether, I built it myself.

Anyway, my question to all you Mac/DAW users is, is it worth spending about 3,000 US dollars on a Mac for School & Audio/video editing?

 

[LydonB]

Yep.

 

[pipaguapique]

Yep.

+ infinity

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

My work life has changed for the best since I switched to Mac. Thank you Steve

 

[egan.]

If you are near an apple store it's hard to argue with-- the service is simply second to none IME. Get apple care and they fix just about everything for free for 3 years. Don't forget that if you're a student you should be able to get a 10% discount through your school.
Obviously this all assumes that you want to work in OSX. Certainly Win7 has gone a long way to close the gap but I do still feel like macs have the best (mainstream) OS.

 

[Ola Englund]

yes it's totally worth it!

 

[drew_drummer]

Is it worth it for the hardware? Nope. for the most part it's the same hardware as any old PC. This is a fact.

Is it worth it for the stability and Mac only software? For you to decide. I build really good PC's and they're as stable as any Mac that I use. I also had it setup as a Hackintosh for a while. Really stable again.

Your blue screen issues and crashes are going to be fixable. Buying a Mac is a bit of a brute force fix, but it will probably work. Or you could just build a sick-as-fuck PC and have change left over for plugins.

The choice is yours at the end of the day. But there is no magic gold-dust by owning a Mac.

 

[ForgotenWarrior6]

Is it worth it for the hardware? Nope. for the most part it's the same hardware as any old PC. This is a fact.

Is it worth it for the stability and Mac only software? For you to decide. I build really good PC's and they're as stable as any Mac that I use. I also had it setup as a Hackintosh for a while. Really stable again.

Your blue screen issues and crashes are going to be fixable. Buying a Mac is a bit of a brute force fix, but it will probably work. Or you could just build a sick-as-fuck PC and have change left over for plugins.

The choice is yours at the end of the day. But there is no magic gold-dust by owning a Mac.

Yeah, I realize all that.. I've been building PC's for years now. I'm just tired of the compatibility issues with windows 7 64 bit. It's epically retarded.. Digidesign started to work on the drivers but I'm still having loads of problems with protools randomly freezing and/or crashing...

I just want a reliable portable system I can run pro tools out of pretty much.. Getting final cut pro would be a bonus too.

It'd take a while to save for it. It sucks having a shit job. Ha!

 

[drew_drummer]

Well, if you're familiar with building PC's, I'd maybe consider going the hackintosh route. Much cheaper.

 

[Wolfeman]

I'm a die hard PC guy, always have been, but I love my Macbook Pro. It does take some time to get used to, but after you get the hang of it you will fall in love.

So nice to have both options around the house(Mac and PC).

 

[ForgotenWarrior6]

@drew_drummer
Yeah, I was considering that for awhile, but I'm looking for a laptop to haul around. I'm not to familiar with laptop builds so it's probably best for a company to take care of it for me. Even though I enjoy building computers its probably time for a break from it (my current is the 4th I've built for myself).


Some of the allure is the unibody design though... If they just kept them ugly like they did in the 90's and in the early 00's then I probably would have less interest haha.

 

[LydonB]

Well, if you're familiar with building PC's, I'd maybe consider going the hackintosh route. Much cheaper.

May be much cheaper to build a Hackintosh but if something breaks, you are SOL and have to figure out what the problem is yourself versus taking it (or sending it) to Apple and having them fix it for you in a pretty short time span.

 

[ForgotenWarrior6]

Also I don't plan on cutting PC completely out of my life. Chances are I'll keep my desktop for my very occasional gaming.

 

[drew_drummer]

May be much cheaper to build a Hackintosh but if something breaks, you are SOL and have to figure out what the problem is yourself versus taking it (or sending it) to Apple and having them fix it for you in a pretty short time span.

Which is why it isn't recommended for everyone. You need a brain and the ability to use a search function.

And in reality, if something breaks in a Hackintosh, it's easier to replace, cheaper to replace, and enables you to update your machine more often and keep it going. With Mac's people clutch on to them for decades, even though by rights they're out of date within 4 years just like any other computer.

The amount of people still running G4's and G5's is slightly mind boggling. These people refuse to let go because they spent so much on them. Anyway... eventually they'll have to let go when everyone goes Intel only.

 

[drawnacrol]

Yeah its definitely worth it, I've had mine for 2 years and still running perfectly,
Apple may charge crazy prices for their macs and their getting higher every year but for me its worth it for stability so I don't have to worry about crashes or freezing. You can use crossover/Wine and parallels desktop to run any game on your Mac aswell. I've Windows Xp installed as well as crossover to run exe files and try out .dll VSTs.

 

[mickrich]

Completely worth it.
If you are going to do video editing in school you will most likely need FCP and will need a mac to run it. You will also be able to run Logic on your mac.
I always wait for Apple to do an upgrade then buy the previous model at huge discount. I currently have a 17" 2.8 Core2Duo which I bought brand new the week after the i7 upgrade for 40% off from a site called jigsaw24.com in the UK.

I also have a 2006 MBP 15" 2Ghz which is still running strong and can easily run most studio sessions done on the quad 2.6 Mac Pro.
(I need 2 MBPs because I need a backup when I teach in case one goes down)
Also remember that a MBP will hold it's value FAR better than a PC laptop.

 

[dfer]

Which is why it isn't recommended for everyone. You need a brain and the ability to use a search function.

And in reality, if something breaks in a Hackintosh, it's easier to replace, cheaper to replace, and enables you to update your machine more often and keep it going. With Mac's people clutch on to them for decades, even though by rights they're out of date within 4 years just like any other computer.

The amount of people still running G4's and G5's is slightly mind boggling. These people refuse to let go because they spent so much on them. Anyway... eventually they'll have to let go when everyone goes Intel only.

Hey drew_drummer,


I got a imac myself but I'm considering a hackintosh in the near future.

Question - Is Pro Tools stable on the hackintosh (besides the common PT Bugs of course)?

 

[arv_foh]

The amount of people still running G4's and G5's is slightly mind boggling. These people refuse to let go because they spent so much on them. Anyway... eventually they'll have to let go when everyone goes Intel only.

I think it just says something about the build quality and stability of Apple being that these people are still holding on these machines, some of which are 10+ years old

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

Buying a Mac is an investment that you will get back on different levels. Keep in mind that you will be able to resell it for a good price years after you bought it when you wouldn't get a peanut for a built PC bought at the same time.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

When I got my iMac, I started actually enjoying using a computer again for the first time in years. Little by little I realized all the stupid shit I had gotten used to in the PC world was long gone.

And this comes from someone with a dark history as a teenage PC nerd. If you never modded your 386's MHz display to show a dirty word when the turbo button was pressed, you are not in the position to tell me my PC hate comes from just not knowing how to use them