Thinking of buying a Mac

[Rodrigo Herrera]

I use Pro Tools 7.3.1 through an M-Box 2 mini, and need advice on which Mac to buy to get the best recording quality for under $1,000. Please advice

Thanks in advance!

RH

[albee1952]

First of all, you won't get any new Mac for under a grand. Secondly, no new or recent Mac will run PT7.x. Any new one is likely to have Snow Leopard or LION, which means PT9 or 10. I would build a quad core PC if it were me. Since the original i7 socket 1366 and X58 motherboards are considered "old", you should be able to assemble a very nice rig for a grand or less. The i7 950 and 960 are plenty powerful and will run XP just fine(which you need if you wish to keep using 7.3(Windows 7 is a better OS but requires at least 8.0.5).

[flommer]

Originally Posted by albee1952

First of all, you won't get any new Mac for under a grand. .

Not true.

Some people run Mac Minis with excellent results.

[nst7]

Yes, any of the Mac Minis would be fine, or the cheapest Imac (not much above your limit). The Mac Minis do not come with a keyboard or monitor, but you can use existing ones if you have them. If not, you should factor that into the price.

And Albee is correct that you will need PT9, or preferably, PT10.