Both of them are in the same price range, have 4 Go DDR3 1066, a Radeon Mobility 5650 video card, a 17.3" screen with 1600x900 max resolution and Windows 7 Family Premium.
The 1st one is an i3-330M CPU with a harddisk of 640 Go.
The 2nd one is an i5-430M CPU with a harddisk of 500 Go.
In my opinion, the second one is more interesting as the CPU is better and i can still increase the storage capacity later with an external harddisk… something i can’t do with the CPU on the first one !*
What do you think about them ? I’m going to use :
Ableton Live 8.
Probably a lot of different VSTs.
An Akai APC40 controller.
An external M-Audio Fast Track Pro soundcard.
Do you think that’s enough to produce my tracks and to start playing my liveact in a few parties ? Am I missing something ?
i would agree with howard, but im sure the acers are a hell of a lot cheaper. if you dont have the money and your not going to be using the laptops to perform live i see no problem on getting a pc. i have a old dell that has ableton,and serato that i used to dj out with and it never has given me any problems. but my next laptop is going to be a mac for sure, just gotta save the money first
You could probs get around 2-3 Acers for a macbook though, I agree Macbook is going to be the better choice but then if you’ve not got the money (not everyone has, especially in this recession) then at least something is better than nothing for now.
[quote]tommyt (29/04/2010)[hr]i would agree with howard, but im sure the acers are a hell of a lot cheaper. if you dont have the money and your not going to be using the laptops to perform live i see no problem on getting a pc. i have a old dell that has ableton,and serato that i used to dj out with and it never has given me any problems. but my next laptop is going to be a mac for sure, just gotta save the money first[/quote]
Great choice Tommy! Mac’s are so intuitive and so much easier to use. Its the best $2500 I have ever spent! And I would do it again!
Funny though, I talked to a manager for Microsoft at a loft party at the winter music conference. He worked for the xbox/mobile division. I continued to tell him that Microsoft needs to rewrite their code. If they dont, then they will continue to lose market share to Apple. He said the usual “Microsoft values the opinions of their consumers and that he will send an email to his colleagues”. I dunno…
[quote]howiegroove (29/04/2010)[hr]Get a Mac! If you can’t afford it, then save a little bit of money up. It would be well worth it. Trust me.
And if you don’t trust me… then ask anyone else on this forum that does have a Mac. :D[/quote]
Dont trust him!
Trust me…Get a Mac lol
I was a PC for 15 years, bought a mac after my Dell died on me and never looked back.
…But Macbook with similar spec to the ones above will set you back at least £1500 so not cheap
But I’d even consider Core2Duo based one instead because for what you want to do stability is going to be one of the most important factors. (and its very easy to work around performance issues in modern DAWs)
BTW its worth checking out apples factory refurbished store as they can have really great deals and the gear comes with the same warranties, etc as the new ones.
[quote]roben (29/04/2010)[hr]You could probs get around 2-3 Acers for a macbook though, I agree Macbook is going to be the better choice but then if you’ve not got the money (not everyone has, especially in this recession) then at least something is better than nothing for now.[/quote]
Yeah, but I would probably just keep what he has now until he saves up the money.
i own a macbook pro as well, i also suggest getting a mac if you do have the money(i suggest trying it out first though not everyone is going to like the new operating system environment) but from the selection that you gave definitely get the i5 its a no brainer, if they have i7 models go for the i7 even if it means an extra 150-200$ it will be well worth it and it will be a drastic improvement speed wise.
Thank you very much to everybody for all your precious advices !
I really don’t know about Mac… i worked with them for a while and never understood why everyone is blessing them. Despite what people says and from my own experience, a Mac can also be unstable and crash. Every Mac user tells me that they are more intuitive and easier to use but i really have no problems with PCs… i’m on PC for 18 years and there is nothing i can’t do easily with them…
I agree… Windows 95 was a big joke… Windows 98 (First and Second edition) was even more funny… Windows ME is the biggest FAIL in the operating systems story… but since Windows NT, every OS from Microsoft is getting better. Windows 2000 has a slow boot but is very fast and stable. Windows XP is faster to boot and still very stable but a bit outdated now. Windows Vista is now stable but still a massive fail because of its ressource consumption…
But Windows 7 is definitely, imo, the best operating system i ever used until now… it’s stable (I never have to reboot it except after installing or updating softwares… my computer stays ON for weeks without rebooting), fast like Windows XP (even faster in many applications) and more beautiful than Vista, MacOS and any other OS i know.
Don’t get me wrong, i really don’t care about the “beautiful” argument for this laptop… i’m going to use it to play my liveact on gigs and what i need the most is speed and stability… but i’m using Ableton Live on my home computer for 6 months and never experienced unstability… it is an Intel Core 2 Duo E8200, 4 Gb DDR2 and a GeForce 8800 GTX 768 Mb which was running on Windows XP Pro x86 and now on Windows 7 Pro x64. The laptop configuration is better than this…
My point is that I have no problem with PCs and i’m sure i won’t have any problem with Macs… but i’m not a rich man and if i have to spend 1800 euros to get a Macbook which is more or less powerful than a 700 euros PC, I really need more than “trust me, it’s intuitive, it’s easy to use and it worth the money”. If you can, please tell me what I can do with a Mac that I can’t do with a PC. Please tell me what is faster to do on Mac than on PC and why should i use a Mac and not a PC to play my liveact on gigs !
I forgot to mention i’m a .NET developper on C# and VB and I could also use this laptop for my work…
[quote]mike dessler (29/04/2010)[hr]a Mac can also be unstable and crash.[/quote]
BLASPHEMY!!!
[quote]mike dessler (29/04/2010)[hr]Every Mac user tells me that they are more intuitive and easier to use[/quote]
This is true.
There has to be some reason that more musicians use a Mac than a PC. I dunno. Going to a mac for both my music and my general computing is the best thing I could have ever done. Ultimately, it’s up to you.
And if you want to run windows on a Mac, you have that option available. Go grab a copy of Parallels for Mac.
[quote]mike dessler (29/04/2010)[hr]Thank you very much to everybody for all your precious advices !
I really don’t know about Mac… i worked with them for a while and never understood why everyone is blessing them. Despite what people says and from my own experience, a Mac can also be unstable and crash. Every Mac user tells me that they are more intuitive and easier to use but i really have no problems with PCs… i’m on PC for 18 years and there is nothing i can’t do easily with them…
I agree… Windows 95 was a big joke… Windows 98 (First and Second edition) was even more funny… Windows ME is the biggest FAIL in the operating systems story… but since Windows NT, every OS from Microsoft is getting better. Windows 2000 has a slow boot but is very fast and stable. Windows XP is faster to boot and still very stable but a bit outdated now. Windows Vista is now stable but still a massive fail because of its ressource consumption…
But Windows 7 is definitely, imo, the best operating system i ever used until now… it’s stable (I never have to reboot it except after installing or updating softwares… my computer stays ON for weeks without rebooting), fast like Windows XP (even faster in many applications) and more beautiful than Vista, MacOS and any other OS i know.
Don’t get me wrong, i really don’t care about the “beautiful” argument for this laptop… i’m going to use it to play my liveact on gigs and what i need the most is speed and stability… but i’m using Ableton Live on my home computer for 6 months and never experienced unstability… it is an Intel Core 2 Duo E8200, 4 Gb DDR2 and a GeForce 8800 GTX 768 Mb which was running on Windows XP Pro x86 and now on Windows 7 Pro x64. The laptop configuration is better than this…
My point is that I have no problem with PCs and i’m sure i won’t have any problem with Macs… but i’m not a rich man and if i have to spend 1800 euros to get a Macbook which is more or less powerful than a 700 euros PC, I really need more than “trust me, it’s intuitive, it’s easy to use and it worth the money”. If you can, please tell me what I can do with a Mac that I can’t do with a PC. Please tell me what is faster to do on Mac than on PC and why should i use a Mac and not a PC to play my liveact on gigs !
I forgot to mention i’m a .NET developper on C# and VB and I could also use this laptop for my work…[/quote]
to this.
The first computer I ever owned was a Mac… but that was like 20 years ago…
Since then I have been using PCs almost exclusively…
I have the whole windows operating system committed to memory.
there is not a THING that I could not do on it that somebody could do on a MAC.
except Run Logic (and even that is possible if you know your sh*t)…
for me it comes down to customization & price.
for the same price as the best macbook pro…
You are going to get a ridiculous PC laptop… or desktop.
I work heavily with both Mac and Windows based computers…
I use Mac at home because I don’t have to worry so much about updates and security issues and compatibility issues for music. Sure you can get some good antivirus software for windows a lot of which is free if you want.
Yes if you have used windows for along time its easy to figure things out, but the fact remains that most of the software i used like ableton, cubase and Native instruments stuff generally ahad compatibility issues on windows based software/hardware combos. I would constantly get drop outs and failures/crashes on my windows laptops during live DJ performances if asked to hook up someones soundcard etc to use or something similar on the fly. The Mac just always seems to handle it.
You WILL get more for your money with a PC short term, but I seem to get more longterm with my Macs.
It may have been the laptops I had that were problematic, but I felt like I was chasing updates and drivers all the time to try get things to work.
The Acers are great though if you do go windows, I find them some of the best for the money.
Regardless of what you choose you will be happy to be honest as most current hardware is up to scratch.
Have you visited an Apple store and asked to have a play with a macbook or macbook pro?
Oh also if you can and you want to use the laptop for performing in a club or similar anti glare screens or non glossy ones tend to be better.
- Both of them are in the same price range, have 4 Go DDR3 1066, a Radeon Mobility 5650 video card, a 17.3" screen with 1600x900 max resolution and Windows 7 Family Premium.
- The 1st one is an i3-330M CPU with a harddisk of 640 Go. - The 2nd one is an i5-430M CPU with a harddisk of 500 Go.
In my opinion, the second one is more interesting as the CPU is better and i can still increase the storage capacity later with an external harddisk… something i can’t do with the CPU on the first one !*
What do you think about them ? I’m going to use :
- Ableton Live 8. - Probably a lot of different VSTs. - An Akai APC40 controller. - An external M-Audio Fast Track Pro soundcard.
Do you think that’s enough to produce my tracks and to start playing my liveact in a few parties ? Am I missing something ?
Thank you for your help.[/quote]
i think 500gb is enough to be getting on with. when you get your laptop google “speed up windows 7” and “tune up windows 7” basically taking off all the crap processes it will ship with. might as well go 64 bit while your at it!
the whole buy a mac thing is really retarded.buy a laptop you can install osx on,thats all,google will show you the rest of the way.there is no mac vs pc debate because mac is a pc,in a cute case(which you can grab a brand new mac pro tower for like 150 bucks,i got one not to long ago,i like the build and look)that comes with osx and a ****ty warranty.
Go for the i5 mate with 64bit windows. PC all the way here but thats just me. More user friendly to me in all areas but that might just be because I know the hardware and software inside out… And that being said I bet there is a lot more people out there who could help ya with pc issues over mac issue should anything go wrong out of warrenty.
Stay away from the Macintosh… Just not a fan of the old bucket of crap dolled up in a nice white uniform. No thanks, I don’t want a bit of that apple!
@o.p. am i seeing things with the prices of those notebooks?if not that site is extremely overpriced.either way to help answer your original question without a windows vs osx rant(because macs are pcs)dont purchase any notebook with an i3 processor for your needs.for the price listed for the notebooks youre looking at,with some careful shopping(take a look at sites like newegg,etc) you can grab one with an i-7 processor,when making a selection on one with an i-7 processor make sure the processor model listed has qm after it for example i7-840QM.
lol
