Help with deciding next computer for production/mixing? Mac or PC?

[ImNoDJ]

I'm currently working with a celeron because I have no choice. I sold my i5 rig before I got into producing and I'm kicking myself now.
Honestly though, you don't need an awful lot of power if you can optimise Windows. This celeron dual core laptop handles Traktor very well, less than 10ms latency with my controllers and no audio dropouts. In terms of production it was doing great. It handles Massive, Nexus, FM8, Harmor etc with no issues. That is until I started building up my presets, it's having a few issues now but this is probably down to lack of RAM. A core 2 quad is with 6-8GB of RAM is a major increase on what I'm currently using & I'm confident that it's going to equate to complete stability and fit my needs perfectly, for a while atleast anyway.
But yeah it handles synths very well, I do full production on this thing.

A G5 is a ten year old museum piece. Any $500-1000 modern PC laptop will completely kick its ass.

[Dark Passenger]

A G5 is a ten year old museum piece. Any $500-1000 modern PC laptop will completely kick its ass.

I'm fully aware of that, I was looking for a very very cheap solution

[deevey]

(on mac you have parallèle desktop.app for working with all os you need .. )

Hopefully I'l like the Mac OS so much that I don't need to use that I have been working with windows my entire adult life though, so it's going to really need to impress me for that to happen haha

Not worth it save for a few specific applications that don't require alot of horsepower, Bootcamp however works like a champ for proper intensive tasks e.g. gaming

Intel based with 2 harddrives is the route I'm going anyways H*******h is really that easy? I thought you had to build a very specific system and spend hours modding to get a working hackintosh build?

You can get a "working" system together pretty handy, however maintaining that systems stability update after update becomes a real chore - personally I'd stick with windows on PC's and OSX on Mac for anything mission critical

These days you could even save more money and go AMD.

AMD processors are hit and miss due to issues with USB audio streaming, they sometimes work, but if they don't, the only solution is replacing the machine.

Note: H********h discussion is/was not allowed on this forum

[Jester]

Merged.

[MalcolmDeXXX]

I have an i3 desktop with an SSD running Ableton Live 9 and it's fine.

That said, get the best you can afford.

[Dystinct]

I'm going through a similar situation right now. I have a built PC in the basement but wanted a mobile solution to run Maschine or Traktor. I have been searching relentlessly through every computer website I can think of to find a decent laptop under $900.

I found a new 2 in 1 laptop with a i5 in it for a decent price. Nice machine with a good screen, back lit keyboard, and decent amount of memory. I have also been considering a 2012 macbook. The processor is good enough for my needs, I can upgrade the ram, convert the DVD drive to more storage and upgrade the HDD to an SSD.

I really want something that is going to be easy. Easy to set up, easy to use, and fun to work with.

[Dark Passenger]

Not worth it save for a few specific applications that don't require alot of horsepower, Bootcamp however works like a champ for proper intensive tasks e.g. gaming



You can get a "working" system together pretty handy, however maintaining that systems stability update after update becomes a real chore - personally I'd stick with windows on PC's and OSX on Mac for anything mission critical



AMD processors are hit and miss due to issues with USB audio streaming, they sometimes work, but if they don't, the only solution is replacing the machine.

Note: H********h discussion is/was not allowed on this forum

Thanks I'm going to go for the most powerful intel based system I can afford, if I'm going well on an old dual core laptop I can probably put up with anything haha. My AMD laptop hates my soundcard, it's unusable. I think you're right about hackintosh, can't bare to imagine the amount of problems that may arise (which kind of takes away the whole mac 'feel' if you ask me.) Mac OS for Mac, Windows for everything else!

[Dark Passenger]

I have an i3 desktop with an SSD running Ableton Live 9 and it's fine.

That said, get the best you can afford.

i3 is a solid chip! Really don't need insane amounts of power

[Dark Passenger]

I'm going through a similar situation right now. I have a built PC in the basement but wanted a mobile solution to run Maschine or Traktor. I have been searching relentlessly through every computer website I can think of to find a decent laptop under $900.

I found a new 2 in 1 laptop with a i5 in it for a decent price. Nice machine with a good screen, back lit keyboard, and decent amount of memory. I have also been considering a 2012 macbook. The processor is good enough for my needs, I can upgrade the ram, convert the DVD drive to more storage and upgrade the HDD to an SSD.

I really want something that is going to be easy. Easy to set up, easy to use, and fun to work with.

I'v been buying laptops for a while now, some really decent ones, some not so much (like the one I have now) ... My first piece of advice for you is always go second hand. You can half your costs and double the potential of the machine that way, albeit it's always wise to re-install the operating system from scratch if you do that.

Your budget is good, you don't need masses of power to run Ableton, but a good solid system obviously helps. A laptop with an i5 CPU, atleast 4GB of DDR3 RAM and dedicated graphics (such as Nvidia, NOT INTEL) should run everything you need really well, and if you go used you'll have plenty of budget left over for upgrades. I'v been looking at the Dell e6410. A good used one with an i7 should be within your budget. Great CPU, DDR3 RAM, illuminated keyboard, dedicated Nvidia graphics chip, and the DVD drive can be swapped out for another HDD or SSD. Plus, it's dell!