Ultimate portable solution? macbook pro vs. air

[tonejunkee]

Merry holiday! Today marks an important time in history for me - After 13 years of PC I am getting a mac. I've been building PCs and troubleshooting them professionally since Windows 98' and the last time I had a mac was the Apple IIe so I am new to it

The reason for this is weight/power concerns. I need the fastest possible laptop with very little weight. I am preparing for a long trip overseas and will need to be able to:

1. mix large sessions with tons of plugins - large for me is 48 tracks max with video inside the session. I usually stick with 16/44.1 sessions
2. move around freely without a ton of weight - my current dell laptop is 5 lbs and that's too much
3. have a mobile MIDI controller - all i can think of is the korg nano-key but that may even be a bit outdated now. I recall seeing a MIDI keyboard that rolled out like paper...this would be ideal due to space constraints

The recent issue of sound on sound heralded the new macbook air as a serious option with the cover boasting a picture of it with PT9 installed. It looked quite nice and as the gear lust seeped in, a voice in my head told me to head to the DUC first. Is it too early to plunge into PT9? please respond with your advice on the ultimate minimalist studio

tj

[Dism]

The air is slick... but for raw power the Macbook Pro will still serve you best.

Plus, the FireWire port and ExpressCard slot (on the 17" model) gives the Pro far better expandability and choice of interface. If you expect to run a lot of plugins, you're going to want the grunt.

PT9 gives you more tracks and versatility than any previous version. More than worth the crossgrade price for me.

[tonejunkee]

nope. too heavy. the 17 inch macbook pro is 6.6 lbs which is even heavier than the dell! Actually, the 15 is also heavier at 5.6 lbs which leaves the 13 inch model (4.5 lbs)

The most powerful mac Air is 2.9 lbs (15 inch) which sounds incredible. - I just returned from China with my 5.3 lbs Dell and realized I need to drop some serious laptop pounds. They ran the mac air through the paces in that 'sound on sound' magazine feature - anyone else read that? sounded like they were impressed, but I am a bit hesitant about 'flash memory' instead of a HDD

tj

[HD2]

From what I can see with the Air is that it only has usb ports, no firewire, which rules it out as a serious contender for running a session with 48 tracks. PT's does not run well on external usb drives or the internal drive.

[Dism]

Originally Posted by tonejunkee

nope. too heavy. the 17 inch macbook pro is 6.6 lbs which is even heavier than the dell! Actually, the 15 is also heavier at 5.6 lbs which leaves the 13 inch model (4.5 lbs)

The most powerful mac Air is 2.9 lbs (15 inch) which sounds incredible. - I just returned from China with my 5.3 lbs Dell and realized I need to drop some serious laptop pounds. They ran the mac air through the paces in that 'sound on sound' magazine feature - anyone else read that? sounded like they were impressed, but I am a bit hesitant about 'flash memory' instead of a HDD

tj

Well, you can't really get both.

You will have to choose whether power or a pound or two are more worth while to you.

[The Dougfather]

Originally Posted by HD2

From what I can see with the Air is that it only has usb ports, no firewire, which rules it out as a serious contender for running a session with 48 tracks. PT's does not run well on external usb drives or the internal drive.

Exactly.

The air is not an option for pro tools because it cannot have a FireWire drive connected to it.

I wouls say your choices are an older MacBook with FireWire or the 13" MacBook pro.

You may have limited success using the air system drive but ultimately it's going to end in dissapointment.

[tonejunkee]

Is it possible to get any of these macbook pro's with 2 internal drives? I would rather not lug around an external if possible..

I figured it was too good to be true regarding the Air - technology simply isn't here yet (super lightweight + power)

[JazzyJ]

Is it possible to get any of these macbook pro's with 2 internal drives?

You need to do some research about Mac's and about Pro Tools rather than asking basic questions here.

For Pro Tools you need:

1) Computer
2) Audio Drive (FW for Mac, USB for Windows 7)
3) Audio Interface

[tonejunkee]

then I may have to get a PC laptop, since I'm positive they can have two internal drives - however, they are extremely heavy

[Dism]

Are you really that hung up on half a pound of weight vs a world of difference in performance?

A small, light laptop, PC or Mac, isn't going to cut it for real performance for audio professionals. If a pound of weight is your biggest concern, you should rethink what exactly you're doing with your audio setup.