
Originally Posted by
FK
The differences you are talking about are very little when compared pound-for-pound, I'd say more like 10% at most.
There are plenty of brand new MacBook Pros for sale around $1,500.00 (NEW 2008 models, but from a generation ago, still with
Core 2 Duo 2.4 up to 2.6 GHz processors). When you take a PC and add all of the options those have, such as 512 Meg
video card, 320 Gig 7,200 RPM hard drive, Dual Firewire 400 + 800, DVI video out that can drive 1920 x 1200 external
monitor, Express Card slot and such, you find that the prices are actually very close, quite competitive in fact.
If the features and expansions listed above are too much for you, just buy a regular MacBook for $800.00
For the record, the pictures of MacBook Pros above appear to be of 15" models, and not 17" except maybe the one at the bottom?...
The main point for me is that since the applications I run are mostly cross-platform, it's more down to a matter
of picking the platform where I will not ever have to worry. Been running OS-X for the last 7 years on gigs and
it has been absolutely rock-solid, as it is built on a Unix-like foundation (FreeBSD) known for its reliability and
secure multi-user architecture. When you need mission-critical performance, you may want to think twice
before picking an operating system which is mostly famous for its 'Blue Screen of Death', random freeze-ups,
and how many viruses, trojans and rootkits have a habit of installing themselves on the machine you are
using while surfing the Net, or from receiving attachments from trusted parties who themselves got infected.
(i.e.: Windows OS)
That is, of course if your gigs are important to you, rather than the $174.25 you might save by getting the PC, and
which I'd argue is so quickly made back by a working DJ that it may not even be worth talking about.
And for those who see me as a Mac fanboy, I have just as many PCs running Ubuntu or Windows, but I think that
before people make blanket statements where all of the considerations are not clearly laid out, they might want
to focus on picking the best tools for each particular task, rather than worrying about the initial amount spent on
the computer,which is very little when compared with what they have to spend later on music, storage, software,
maintenance, expansion and peripherals.
For example, I believe that USB 2.0 for either storage or audio interfaces is nowhere near as reliable as Firewire,
either in terms of speed or stability. Having two Firewire busses as on the older MacBook Pro, one FW800 for storage
and one FW400 for the audio interface seems to be a guarantee that things will stay predictably smooth.
There are no PC laptops with those two built-in, you'd have to make one of those happen from a PC card or 'Express
Card' adaptor. If you are hell-bent on running Windows on a MacBook you also can, natively which means the
speed is just as good, since the MacBooks are basically PCs.
I am not in love with any of them, but clearly happy to have found what I believe is the optimal model and
environment to get the job done day after day, in the most punishing conditions. If something better comes
along I'll be just as happy to switch to that.
While I do realize that all of this might sound like overkill, please keep in mind that it was written it in the hopes
that it might be helpful information for those considering these factors with a view to get serious and professional
about using such a setup in front of a crowd. Obviously, for a 'hobby' or bedroom setup, none of these factors are
that important, and a PC running Windows and USB peripherals will be just as fine and save the user some dough,
although just how much will really be a question that is answered when making a feature-for-feature analysis.
And I'll STFU now.
fk
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