What to Buy? iMAC vs Macbook pro

[getz76]

The upgrade to Pro Tools LE 8.0.3 (final) is expected to be free. I am not sure if that has ever been said officially. I cannot imagine AVID would charge for this minor upgrade.

There is a subforum relating to the Snow Leopard issues here.

[BlueThursday]

I bought a refurb 8-core Mac Pro for $2400, don't forget about those.

[Avid]

Pro Tools 8.0.3pr Snow Leopard Prerelease

Q: Will the final Pro Tools 8.0.3 release be free or a paid upgrade?
A: Pro Tools 8.0.3 will be a free update for all registered Pro Tools 8.0 HD, LE, M-Powered, and M-Powered Essential users.

[CodyAtCaptive]

Any word on when the Snow Leopard/PTLE 8 issues are going to be sorted out? I assume that since they have 8.03 out that they are pretty close to having a solution.

[nod25]

Originally Posted by BlueThursday

I bought a refurb 8-core Mac Pro for $2400, don't forget about those.

Yep.

[joey545]

I've been giving this a lot of thought, I am sorely tempted by the 27 inch iMac though I think I don't want to compromise on mobility. Can anyone elaborate on what the minimum I need in a Macbook Pro to run Pro tools error free?

Will the 15'' Core II Duo with 4gig Ram cut it? What sort of limitations may I run into?

(I can't stand the fact that you get the same for half the price in an iMac! rrrr :)

Also from my reading on the forums it seems that the Mbox 2 USB works fine with snow leapord, can anyone confirm?

thanks

[djkiller]

I would go with a mac pro quad desktop... you don't have to buy from apple. i bought my mac pro for 2,100 when they were listed at 2,500+ and used my 42' lcd with it and spent 10 dollars on the cable and also used my old monitor. i went to pricwatch dot com and found brand new macs that were 300-400 off the price since they had bulk. the laptop only hold so much ram and is dualcore so why not go bigger for the same price? the imac actually looks pretty nice for an all in one but the mac pro i think would serve you better for what you want to do. i thought about getting a new imac for the portable aspect and being able to use it on stage and just pick it up and go. but i think a mac pro quad would be the best bet and like i said don't buy through mac go search pricewatch for some deals in your range and buy ram from new egg or someone like that. also on the ram side just keep in mind sure protools le only usess 4gb but what about the future and 64bit apps that are soon to be seen? also what if you wanted to use logic which takes advantage of additional ram through plugins also photoshop and some of the other programs that takes advantage of more ram.

the one thing i look at when buying a new computer is the FUTURE. you always want to buy at least a step ahead of the consumer standard to get many good years out of your computer. when i bought my mac in 2006-2007 i could of gone dual core and saved a little but i'm glad i didn't now and i thought about that in advance.

[getz76]

joey543,

Any of the new MacBook Pros will run Pro Tools well. Make sure you get the PRO, as you need the FireWire port. Upgrade to 4gB RAM.

If you use a load of virtual instruments, you will eventually find a breaking point. However, I have yet to really tax my older white MacBook with Pro Tools. I generally do not run a lot of virtual instruments, and when I do it is through Reason 4 in a ReWire plug-in. A modern Core 2 Duo and 4gB RAM is a lot of power.

@dkjiller,

I would think a 42" television would be tough to use. The resolution is only 1920x1080 at best, and you would need to view at a distance. It might make more sense to run a pair of 24" monitors at 1920x1200 each and get effectively twice the resolution in half the space. Or run four 24" monitors at 1920x1200 each and get four times the resolution in the same space.

My system is dual use. I spend as much time in Photoshop as I do in Pro Tools. I am running a 30" Dell at 2560x1600. A lot higher resolution than a 42" television and usable at a regular desk. Makes editing in Pro Tools a breeze.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2677/...5a3af604_b.jpg

[djkiller]

getz76

yes and dual cores are great. i'm just saying if one is to buy a new mac it would be smart to look into the future and be a step ahead of the consumer standard for purposes of longevity. things will probably change soon. i'm sure we will see quad laptops in the next 6-8 months standard. but duals are fine but why go dual if you can go quad for the same price? it would make sense to get a quad at this point and you can be set for awhile. a lot of my friends with dual core desktops run well on them but all of them are looking at going quad in mid 2010. i'm just suggesting if you put up so much money it would be good to get something that will last from the current date in to the next 5 years. if i bought a dual 2 years ago i would be happy till 2011 given it will run 64bit apps and has a little over 4gb of ram. so not dissing the dual cores out there at all...no need to defend or boast about it, it just makes sense to think forward into the future and getting the biggest bang for your buck when you are buying a new mac. if it was a pc dektop i would just say well you can update easily later and keep the same computer.

as far as my 42' i like it just fine and can read it just great! it's super easy to use for me and fits my desk/wall! for some reason this conversation feels like a mac vs pc war but it's not lol

[getz76]

Originally Posted by djkiller

duals are fine but why go dual if you can go quad for the same price?

Because the original poster now wants portability and lugging a Mac Pro around generally requires a hand-truck.

Reading helps.