Best pre Unibody MBP for Pro Tools

[soundboy35]

Looking for a replacement MBP for mine that doesn't play well with PTLE.
I want the Silver model because of the FW400 & 800 ports, as well as the Express card slot.
I had a 2.33g, so maybe I had a bad one or need the earlier or later model "prior" to the Unibody.
Please respond with real experience, and not "I heard....."
I would like to get 4gig of ram for it, which I think they can all have?
I know there's lots of you out there

[The Dougfather]

Using an early 2008 MBP 15" 2.4Ghz C2D with 4GB ram. Has xpress slot and FW400/800.

Works just fine, it's the 8.0.4 bugs that are causing issues.

[Shazbot79]

I agree with the Dougfather. The 2.4 15.4 with the 400/800 and Expresscard, (I used a SIIG FW400 plus Glyph Quad) is the one to go for. It also has the TI chipset. I had to sell mine recently due to lack of work, gutted. There were some nvidia graphic card issues with some of these models (I didn't have any) but if my memory serves me correct there was some scheme with Apple regarding this. I also used to have a 2.16 Macbook Pro with 400/800 and and express, not as powerful but was a also a fantastic machine. Lastly, the 2.26 13" is a great machine, but lack the ports. I have had many macs over the years but I can honestly say (with regards to Music Production) the 2.4 15.4 is the baby. :)

[Che_Guitarra]

Is there an issue with the unibody MPB, or just the price a deterent?

I want to get mobile, but I also gotta run a 003 and glyph HD. I'm aware I can daisy chain the Glyph through the 003's spare FW400 into the FW on the laptop, having never done this before i'm not sure if this introduces new operational issues (I currently got an iMac with 2 x FW400s).

If money is no issue (ha ha - I wish!), would the latest and greatest MBP be the best option? For music production - how would a Macbook with 2.4G CPU + 4G RAM compare to a MBP with a 2.4G CPU + 4G RAM? Is a Macbook a capable machine, or not suited for the purpose?

[The Dougfather]

You could use the older Macbooks with firewire, i had one it worked well with my 002R and Mbox.

The new MB's don't have firewire so no option for external storage makes it a non starter.

Even with a single FW800 you should be fine, you ideally need a dual FW400 port drive, the only issue with putting the drive after the 003 is that it doesn;t pass data when switched off so it's always advisable to put the drive first.

MBP > FW800 to 400 Converter > Drive > 003

[Che_Guitarra]

Hmmm.... I got some thinking to do.

I do use most of the available tracks in PT LE, so one FW 400 port may be pushing my luck? I want seamless operation, so if i'm constantly dealing with dialog boxes and error prompts i'll end up throwing it out the window in frustration. I hit the performance ceiling often enough with my iMac, but at least I know when it's coming and I can kinda work around it.


Thanks for pointing out the correct position in the daisy chain - would never have thought to put the HD before the 003.

I might just hold off and wait until I can afford a base model MBP

[nst7]

Keep in mind also, that the extra firewire port on the 003 is not meant to use for daisy chaining, and you might encounter problems trying to do that. It's mainly there as a convenience when your 003 is hooked up to your computer and you want to access the firewire bus for something else, such as transferring video from a mini dv camera, or using a digital camera firewire card reader, etc.

The proper way to daisychain is via the hard drive's 2 ports.

Ideally, if you get a new macbook pro with 1 800 port, you can keep it fw800 the whole way until you get to the 003.

These drives work great:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other.../MEAQ7500GB16/

You would go: computers 800 port to 800 port on drive, then 400 port on drive to 003. With these, the drive acts as an 800 to 400 adapter.

I have successfully done 3 hard drives (2 for audio, 1 streaming samples) and a 003R off of 1 800 port on my Imac.

[tribedescribe]

I bought a 2.5ghz 08 silver macbook pro 15" (MB134LL/A) Its rocks for pro tools on the go.

It has a 4gb of memory, a express card, firewire 800 and 400, and also has a 200gb 7200 internal hard drive. Some say the internal hard drive speed helps.

I have had horrable luck with daisy chaining in the past on multiple system's. Its a gamble I recommend not taking. I now run my hard drive off the 800 port and my audio interface off the express card firewire 400. It works flawlessly. I used to have a old white macbook and daisy chaining worked untill I upgraded to 7.3 and 7.4. When I switched to recording off the internal hard drive it worked better, go figure. (no recommended though)

Although I am really happy, If I had to do it all over I would consider spending the extra bucks and buying a unibody 17" macbook pro. It has a slightly faster processor but more importantly it can take 8gb of ram. Making it better in the future. But it is also much more expensive. Fyi I got my MBP off evilbay used for $1050 last spring. Just make sure it includes the operating disc!!!

[soundboy35]

I now run my hard drive off the 800 port and my audio interface off the express card firewire 400. It works flawlessly.

What kind of track/plugin counts are you getting? Buffer errors, etc? That was my problem.

[notrude55]

Originally Posted by Che_Guitarra

Hmmm.... I got some thinking to do.

I do use most of the available tracks in PT LE, so one FW 400 port may be pushing my luck? I want seamless operation, so if i'm constantly dealing with dialog boxes and error prompts i'll end up throwing it out the window in frustration. I hit the performance ceiling often enough with my iMac, but at least I know when it's coming and I can kinda work around it.


Thanks for pointing out the correct position in the daisy chain - would never have thought to put the HD before the 003.

I might just hold off and wait until I can afford a base model MBP

Please don't throw it out the window, just send it to me I'll give it a good home