mac or pc, for best laptop performance?

[rockizoid]

no wars, please. does anyone have experience comparing the new macbook pro with new pc's? which will give better performance? i use HD3 on a macpro which is great, but my 3yr old macbook pro is useless once you build a few tracks and start mixing

[nst7]

Well, I can't compare it to windows, but I can say that 3 years is an eternity in the computer world. Even macbook pros from the last couple of years have been very useful for people. The new I5 and I7 versions should be amazing.

The lowest model 13" macbook pro is now the same processing power as my 2 1/2 year old Imac and I can do tons of stuff on my Imac.

[RBp]

Originally Posted by rockizoid

no wars, please. does anyone have experience comparing the new macbook pro with new pc's? which will give better performance? i use HD3 on a macpro which is great, but my 3yr old macbook pro is useless once you build a few tracks and start mixing

Go Mac !!, Macs work harder. imoo

[tamasdragon]

Today, if you want a safe bet, that is mac. Why?

Approved hardware. Win hardware compatibility is not really up to date at avid at the moment. Win7 is still in beta phase at avid. As much as I think win7 will erase the differences between the two os, now osx is the better choice.

I have just tried to test win7 and pt8.0.3beta, and it is very promising, but still has some problems, and oh, did I mention that it is beta?

Now osx, snow leopard works like charm right out of the box. And yes, the current laptop offerings runs circles around even a few years old desktop.

So, today, my anwer is go with the mac.

[BradLyons]

And more reasons to go Mac-----APPLE builds their computers, they build their Operating Systems, they build SYSTEMS that are consistent. Developers write for these systems as opposed to writing code for a general operating system that will run on whatever computer configuration someone decides to build. In other words, there's a purpose...

[RBp]

Originally Posted by BradLyons

And more reasons to go Mac-----APPLE builds their computers, they build their Operating Systems, they build SYSTEMS that are consistent. Developers write for these systems as opposed to writing code for a general operating system that will run on whatever computer configuration someone decides to build. In other words, there's a purpose...

And here is even more reasons.....pc's are not reliable, Mac's rule.........!

[netnoggin]

Originally Posted by BradLyons

And more reasons to go Mac-----APPLE builds their computers, they build their Operating Systems, they build SYSTEMS that are consistent. Developers write for these systems as opposed to writing code for a general operating system that will run on whatever computer configuration someone decides to build. In other words, there's a purpose...

I refuse to get sucked into yet another Mac vs PC argument. No,no,no, I won't, I won't I won't!!!!

But I must admit there's logic in your perspective.


And yet even with the logic of your point, the Developer we are implying here has a Mac area of the forum just a couple of clicks up that is chocked full of issues - indicating they seem to be unbiased and equally fair when it comes to problems.

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by RBp

And here is even more reasons.....pc's are not reliable, Mac's rule.........!

Simply not accurate. However, I do agree that Mac is the way to go for laptop use...because of compatibility, not because of performance(which is worthless if the computer isn't compatible). There are plenty of very potent PC laptops, but finding one that works with PT is another thing entirely

[Dism]

Macbook Pro is easily the way to go for mobile Pro Tools.

Running a 2 1/2 year old Macbook Pro, and it still holds it's own against more than a few desktops I've pitted it against. Most PC laptops are just about useless after 2-3 years. Cheap PC laptops have been flooding the market these days, and it seems like it's getting harder to find one that is truly great for mobile audio.

If you wanted to run a desktop... I would say otherwise, unless you really have the cash to burn. Plenty of smokin' PC desktops out there, that are far more affordable than Macs... but as far as bang for your buck, Macbooks are the way to go for notebooks, IMHO.

[Dism]

Originally Posted by netnoggin

And yet even with the logic of your point, the Developer we are implying here has a Mac area of the forum just a couple of clicks up that is chocked full of issues - indicating they seem to be unbiased and equally fair when it comes to problems.

It's not to say Pro Tools is without problems on Macs... but it's much easier to get Pro Tools going on a Mac, since compatibility problems are far less likely.

The difference in the amount of "optimization" I've had to do with Windows on my PC at work, vs. my Macbook is almost exponentially more. I went nearly a week with Pro Tools crashing on almost every session, until I finally got XP to behave... and this is also on a Rain audio PC. While its CPU can certainly handle everything I throw at it... it won't even recognize all 4GB of RAM it has, and with W7 still in beta, I'm not going to take any chances of breaking my setup in the workplace. Especially since it is now running beautifully.

Since I upped my santa rose Macbook Pro to 6GB... it's been unstoppable. I've been trying to see if even my heaviest VI sessions from work can make it stutter, but it's still quite a beast for a laptop that is 2 1/2 years old. The fact that it will run the same sessions as a modern quad-core PC gives me a lot of confidence in the Macbook line.

While Pro Tools is certainly not without flaw, I can honestly say that I've had a much more pleasant time with it on a Mac than on a PC.