Mac Mini or I3 Intel PC For LE 8 in the UK

[devineandrew]

Its a rare occasion, but since buying the Mbox2 Micro with LE8 The wife has allowed me to spend around £500 - £600 on a new machine, so I can run pro tools, but also she can use it for music etc. So my two options are a new Mac Mini or a Ie Intel PC With windows 7 - but I wondered have people had experience using pro tools on any of these sort of systems and how solid it runs?

[MikeLip]

Post in the Mac forum and ask about the Mac mini's. You'll get the good answers there.

For PC's, they are the best value for money. You'll get more tracks and plugs for the $, but you need a compatible system. So it takes _your_ time to research a working system. Remember time is money.

Its either a) spend the time to save $ on pc (~half price); or b) go with no-brainer Mac.

If you can afford the time, then research pc rwquirements for Pro Tools - its as easy as posting your shopping list in this forum. If you can't afford the time, go Mac. IMHO.

Me, I came from electrical engineering, so I'm pc inclined. But I drive a Toyota.

Mike.

[spkguitar]

Originally Posted by MikeLip

If you can afford the time, then research pc rwquirements for Pro Tools - its as easy as posting your shopping list in this forum. If you can't afford the time, go Mac. IMHO.

This is well said and good advice.

I'm not sure I've seen any absolute successes with i3 Windows machines (yet), so finding a working compatible model is probably going to be a rough go.

I know 2 people who have Mac Mini Pro Tools 8 systems and both work very well as long as the requirements are followed (separate FW hard drive for recording audio, etc).

I used to be on MikeLip's side of things, and liked to tinker and save money, but as I'm getting older I'm finding that the "it just works" scenario is worth spending the extra cash for me.

[MikeLip]

Originally Posted by spkguitar

I used to be on MikeLip's side of things, and liked to tinker and save money, but as I'm getting older I'm finding that the "it just works" scenario is worth spending the extra cash for me.

Funny how mortality changes your perspective. I'm with you brother, I want my weekends back - you only get so many.
Mike.

[devineandrew]

Lol - thanks chaps have decided on a Mac Mini in the end with 4gb of RAM, should do the trick nicely. Cheers for the advice!