White Macbook

[Soma Spiral]

Now that I am thoroughly unimpressed with the new models, I would like to know how well the current entry model, the white "penryn" macbook with firewire, works with the mbox2 pro and 003R firewire interfaces.

I was waiting for the new macbooks because of the firewire problems created when apple left TI for Agere/Lucent. I found many claims of problems with imacs and mbp's that used agere fw400/800 chips, but didn't notice people complaining about macbooks that used agere 400 only. To be safe, I decided to simply wait for the new model, but now the new models under $2000 have no firewire at all.

If the white macbook firewire works with the mbox2 pro and 003R, I will get one. Upgrading on my own with 4GB of third party ram and a 320GB hard drive will get me a fully capable audio computer for $1200, a much better value than the new apple models, but only if the agere/lucent firewire implementation works.

Can anyone verify the functionality of a white "penryn" macbook with a firewire interface? How many simultaneous recording tracks? Lowest usable latency? Does it work with buss power? Does it work when running from battery when not plugged into the wall?

Thanks,
Soma

[DigiTechSupt]

Have you considered getting one of the previous MacBook Pro models? I see many places blowing them out at $1399 or even less...

[audiobob]

Originally Posted by DigiTechSupt

Have you considered getting one of the previous MacBook Pro models? I see many places blowing them out at $1399 or even less...

Yeah..what DTS says. Check this out: http://store.apple.com/us/product/FB487LL/A

A new MacBook is $200 MORE than that refurbed MBP with the same processor. I think I picked up the last of the refurbed 2.5's yesterday at Apple online for $1499. That machine new was $2499. Crazy.

[Soma Spiral]

Thanks for the heads up. I checked on-line and there certainly are some great deals on the old model mbp's. I also noticed the white macbook I originally asked about is selling for $869 with rebate. This would be an amazing price for a computer that actually works well with firewire audio. Does it?

Soma

[BGMusic]

I have a white macbook, a santa rosa (late 2007) and use it with a vintage mbox. It runs pro tools 7.4.2 and logic 8.x and live and everything else very well. I use firewire drives but of course the mbox is usb. I'm sure it will run a firewire interface just fine. The problems were with bus power, so if you have power supply for the firewire device use it and you should be fine.

Just max out the ram and put in a nice sized hard drive and you're good to go.

[joe.cavers]

Yea I'm using a white Macbook, with a 2.Ghz Intel Core Duo (Not Core 2 Duo) and only 1 GB of RAM and it's running pretty well, I'm sure with an up to date machine with 4GB of RAM you'd be absolutely fine.

JC

[Soma Spiral]

The santa rosa mosel is when apple switched from ti to agere firewire. That's when the problems started. Digi's compatibility page lists them as not compatible with mbox2 pro. Firewire hard drives work fine but many audio interfaces do not. The older core duo machines have the good ti firewire. Also, I am interested in using buss power (mbox2 pro) for mobile recordings of nature.

So does anyone have direct experience with an early 2008 penryn macbook, model numbers MB402LL/A, MB403LL/A, or MB404LL/A, using a firewire audio interface. Their firewire implementation is the same as the new current white macbook.

Soma

[Rent-A-Rocker]

Digitechsupport help please!

I recently purchased a 2.4 ghz white macbook pro "penryn". Ran out and bought it spur-of-the-moment when I heard it was the last model with firewire. I subsequently purchased (and registered) a mbox 2 pro to replace my old mbox 1. I just finished downloading protools 8. Will be running OS X 10.5.6. Have not installed the version of 7.4 that came with the Mbox 2 pro.

I came across this forum thread while researching the protools 8 install. So before i go ahead with it, my questions are:

Will this hardware/software combination work? I read that the penryn macbooks would be supported; but then I heard about this Santa-Rosa chipset firewire interface issue.

Will keeping the mbox 2 pro plugged in to its power adapter address the firewire power problem discussed earlier in this thread?

Are there any patches or hardware settings necessary with this set up that I should know about?


Thank you,

-R-A-R

[ptuser1]

Soma Spiral,
Have you found out if the Penryn MacBook works with the 003r? I am interested in getting one of these Macbooks myself.

DigiTechSupt,
Are you suggesting that the MacBook Pro prior to the "Unibody" MacBook Pro runs Protools and a firewire interface such as the 003r? Just wonding because this is an option for me too. The Digidesign support page says they are still in testing.

Thanks.

[ptuser1]

Originally Posted by DigiTechSupt

Have you considered getting one of the previous MacBook Pro models? I see many places blowing them out at $1399 or even less...

DigiTechSupt,
Are you suggesting that the MacBook Pro prior to the "Unibody" MacBook Pro runs Protools and a firewire interface such as the 003r? Just wonding because this is an option for me too. The Digidesign support page says they are still in testing.

Thanks.