Quitting PC, gonna try Mac, have MBox2 Mini

[cessnapilot]

I got burned pretty bad in college by system 7 (long story) back in 1992, and have cursed and avoided mac since.

One mouse button? How is that right? On my PC's I have mice with 5 or more.

Anyway, as I have to admit I know nothing of Mac laptops, and want to run PT in a mobile environment, my questions are these (again my lack of familiarity prevents me from constructing and intelligent search string):

1. among the current Mac laptops, Which one am I going to pick up that will run the PTLE 8 and MBox2 Mini that I already have after my failed attempts at making W7 64 bit work. I want a lightweight laptop.
2. What peripherals do I need? On the Windows side of the house I needed a FW external drive. Same story here?
3. What else do I need that's not already in the MBox2 Mini box or the Mac box as-is? I have some really good headphones already.
Thanks all

Trev

[Obsidian Dragon]

Don't let all the hype confuse you. A Mac is in many ways just another computer. The difference is not so much in the hardware anymore as Mac's use Intel processors just like their Windows counterparts. It can be argued that Apple has better product designs and control over the components used in their machines. What is different is the operating system. Mac OSX is considered easier to use by most people and often makes difficult configuration tasks with little need for user knowledge. Apple does control the hardware and OS in most cases which results in better testing and consistent results.
As for Protools LE and the Mbox2Mini, the Macbooks Pro line will work fine. Protools is one of the more fussy applications out there and that is true on the Windows side as well as the Mac side. There is a list of system tweaks you should do to get the maximum stability and performance listed in the General Troubleshooting sticky thread at the top of this forum. You will need an external Firewire drive for your audio sessions. Apple recently switched to Firewire 800 ports so plan accordingly. Since you have a Mbox2Mini which is USB there should be no problems with confilcting firewire speeds. The current Macs that don't work with Protools because they don't have a firewire port are:
1: current white Macbook with rounded edges
2: Discontinued 1st generation unibody Macbook (no firewire port)
3: Any Macbook Air

[flommer]

1. MacBooks have no FW ports, so no go there. So MacBook Pro.. Fastest one you can afford. The 13" are probably the only "lightweight" ones.. But a 7200RPM system drive is a nice option to get and those seem to be only available in the 15" and bigger models.. Get 4GB ram right away, minimum. You might be able to get the RAM from a 3rd party a bit cheaper, but it comes in pairs so I think you will not be able to use the factory 2GB if you buy an aftermarket 4GB upgrade. Make sense? Give these guys a call to talk about upgrades, FW drives, etc:

http://eshop.macsales.com/

2. Same on Mac. Your FW drive needs to have the correct chipset... Oxford xxx (I forget the current version, 924 maybe?)

3. Too vague.. What do you want to do? What are you concerned about? I'd say get a mouse, too.. I've never been a touchpad fan.. But the touchpad gestures on OSX are supposed to bee pretty useful.(not necessarily for PT..)

Find a friend who has a Mac and try it out. You may or may not enjoy the experience

[cessnapilot]

Originally Posted by flommer

3. Too vague.. What do you want to do? What are you concerned about? I'd say get a mouse, too.. I've never been a touchpad fan.. But the touchpad gestures on OSX are supposed to bee pretty useful.(not necessarily for PT..)

Find a friend who has a Mac and try it out. You may or may not enjoy the experience

I'm just going to do some tracks to riff and solo over and see what comes out of it. I like the vids I've seen about building rhythm tracks and warp markers and all that ish. I have ideas that pop into my head and I just want to capture them, kind of like a musical diary, if that doesn't sound too fruity.

I have no friends with Macs. It's a dirty word to those guys. The very thought of me buying a Mac is to blasphemy. It's like scooters and fat girls, it's ok to do it as long as no one sees you.

[cessnapilot]

So would this to the trick? It's got a 5400rpm HDD but it's available at the BB about an hour from here.
Apple MacBook Pro at Best Buy