13" Macbook pro on my mind…???
I have been using a 17" ASUS laptop for just about 3 years now and it’s been great but a pain when traveling. I have been thinking of getting a 13" for when I’m on the road. At first I wasn’t planning on spending too much but now a 13" macbook looks pretty fine!!
How many of you out there use one for DJ’ing? do you find it a bit small?
I have a 13" MBP and Its fine for DJing (nothing is left out with Traktor/Serato, sometimes a stretch with Ableton), but does get a bit confined for production as I got used to a 27" display.
i have a 2010 mbp 13", just upped the ram to 8gb & a hybrid SSD 500 gb hd, the thing screams.
I just bought a 13" baseline MBP Friday. If you’re considering buying one, you should. There’s really no other way of putting that, haha. It’s an incredible machine that handles anything I’ve thrown at it up to this point. Traktor/Serato will scream on it, for sure. I did an improv set yesterday after getting everything setup and transferred over, and it’s pretty much amazing. 
Right now is a great time to buy one, too - Best Buy and Apple are offering educational discounts + $100 Best Buy/iTunes gift cards. I just told them that I was taking some extra classes and they gave me the discount. 
now you got me thinking..i currently have a 13" MBP and was thinkin in getting a iMac for production but seems like my 13" is limited so i was just gunna but a bigger macbook like a 17" do you think they take up to much space?
sorry for thread jacking
LOL no worries.
My first apple product was my iPhone 3GS. Coming from Nokia and Sony the apple is the best phone I’ve ever had!!
I can’t justify buying a new laptop as my 17" ASUS is still going strong, I would love to have the portability of a 13".
I know I’d love the Mac, I’m just trying to find motivation to justify the purchase!!! LOL
@JesC, How’s the 8GB better than the regular 4GB. Even under heavy usage I don’t exceed the 4GB..
Also got a 13" from early 2010 and loving it. It’s got a 60GB SSD for OSX and apps, 500GB 5400rpm HDD.
Macs are cool. I am planning on purchasing one myself, but I am waiting for the macbook refresh which is rumored to be either at Christmas or early 2012. Will be a complete redesign 
hmmmm maybe i should wait…
… you could always wait and wait for new systems…
13 inch works fine, i just bought a second hand macbook (pro) 2008 model put a 500 gb hybrid in and 5 gb memory. no problems here.
If you just gonna use it with traktor, maybe a second hand is worth thinking about. Got mine for 350 dollars. just needed to put some extra money in for some upgrades.
not to sure the next release is going to be as big of an upgrade as the previous upgrade.
the biggest thing is going to a new body design.. if you feel like waiting for a new body design then wait.
if they do anything significantly greater.. I would expect to see a raise in price as well.
I’d buy now
Although we had the 13 inch discussion a couple of times, I personally think it’s a matter of personal preference. I like the 13’’ for it’s good compromise between screen real estate and portability. It’s also more than enough for traktor, unless you desperately need room for four decks and a relatively big playlist. For two decks or 2 and mini sample decks, it’s enough.
As far as the upcoming redesign is concerned, I’ve read a lot of rumors (to be taken with a grain of salt) that there is a redesign towards the Macbook Air slim form factor in the works, at least for the 15 inch model. IF that is true, and if that also concerns the 13’’ pro, it’s downside might also be that it’s SSD based like the macbook air. I like SSDs in general, but if that’s true, big hard drives that can be built in there might be hard to get hold of. And anyway, apple redesigns it’s hardware every year, more or less, so if you count in a couple of weeks or months wait until the first production flaws have been fixed after initial release, you’ll always end up with a macbook that is close to becoming an older model.
If there’s a redesign coming. I can’t imagine that it’s gonna change CPU architecture or the chipset much. If anything, it’s gonna ditch the optical drive and upgradability of the hard drive, anything else will probably be cosmetic. (Just my two cents).
Now i’m reading about the air’s…decisions, decisions!! LOL
The newest generation of airs are much better than the initial release. The only thing that put me into the MBP range over the MBA was the price and storage capacity.
$1600 for 13" MBA with 256 SSD vs $1200 for 13" MBP with 320 non-SSD.
For me, it was just a matter of saying $400 is not worth SSD with less space, as I’ve NEVER found myself needing SSD speeds. On top of that, I like the optical drive since I buy Computer Music Monthly and love the sample CDs, along with having the ability to pop a DVD in when I’m flying.
You seriously can’t go wrong with either machine.
Why don’t you just buy a big ass monitor and wireless keyboard/mouse and one of these:
Instant iMac!
Honestly, any MacBook from the last couple of years should be able to take anything you can throw at it. If you’re really worried, slap another 4Gb of RAM and a SSD in there.
My 08 MB could handle anything I’d throw at it.
Not much difference form my '08 MB to my '11 MBP.. cpu usage is lower on everything.. but that was never an issue on my 08.. so it’s basically the same.
Part of me thinks I should’ve kept my '08 a little longer.. BUT my dad has it now and he loves it, so its all good!
I agree with these guys. I have a second hand 13" 08 MB that I got for $500 and as a dedicated DJing laptop it works perfectly fine. I’m no where close to maxing the CPU load in traktor; and thats playing 2 deck w/ effects and cue mashing.
I need the extra ram cause I run Serato & Ableton Live with the bridge, I also need this when recording my sets. for alot of people its over kill but i never close my browser, always have bluetooth & wifi. The way is see it, ill rather how free ram then no ram at all.