So basically, I’m getting a new laptop as my old vostro 1500 just isnt cutting it anymore. I’ve been looking to spend around 400-600 bucks and have narrowed it down to 2 options. Either a macbook pro similar to this one… Pardon Our Interruption...
or
a lenovo thinkpad edge 14, which looks like a really great laptop. the lenovo really outspecs the macbook in every class (processor, hard drive, ram) (at least the ones in my price range) and even features a spill resitant keyboard…
Old macbooks = the suck. They are underpowered and overpriced. The new ones are good but way overpriced. If you don’t have the cash for a new macbook, get the edge. The old macbook industrial design and battery life weren’t even that good comparatively, which is the only reason I’d ever switch to a mac.
lol. Honestly I can’t use a mac at all. Things like double-click close for windows is so annoying because I’m used to windows. I had one of those bulb-like colored all in one imacs. I liked it till I realized that apple had no idea that hard drives were not supposed to get hot and shouldn’t be sandwiched in a giant hotbox… Had the hard drive replaced twice, died twice. Never bought a mac again. haha.
I’m about the purchase my first Mac here in the coming weeks. While the pricetag is extremely steep, I figure if I can make my HP last as long as it did (5 yrs) then I can probably do the same for the Mac.
I think a common misconception is that getting more bang for your buck (more spec) is the best option.
Get what suits your requirements.
Do you need more that 2 usb ports etc.?
Are you using power hungry apps that need the higher spec?
I know nothing of the Lenovo. I do know that Macs have worked for me but if i needed more spec id be looking at the PC option as well.
@OP… to be honest the Macbook isn’t massively future-proof. It’ll run DJ software today no problem but if you are looking to produce or for something that’ll still kick ass a couple of years from now you might be struggling.
eg. it has about the same spec as the HP PC I paid $800 3.5 years ago. I know apples and pears and all that. You might consider coughing up a few hundred more and get a better spec.
OK serious answer. Official refurb Macs are pretty good, but they tend to come in above the $500 price point. Despite what most of us mac fanboys will tell you, it’s perfectly possible to run Traktor or whatever on a PC. It usually needs a little more tweaking, but it works fine. And as is obvious, you can generally get a higher spec PC for the same money.
Until linux has better DJ software (mixxx >.>), I’d go with the mac simply because it’s a sensible unix-based system. I’m running a lower-spec 2006 macbook with no issues in Traktor, but some real lag when producing in ableton.
Thinkpad’s are great though, Much better hardware IMO
well I rly dont know how much tweakin one needs nowadays, my asus c90, thats like way to old, got itself an ssd and when w7 dropped it got that, and the only tweaks I did was turned off indexxing and wifi,
Hey OP look at some of the black macbooks. They’re amazing laptops and built like tanks. I’ve been using mine for a while now, and highly recommend them!
As a mac guy, my recommendation is (sorry, Karlos): base it on your OS preference. You like windows? Why switch? You like osx? Why bother about windows? IF you prefer osx, get a used macbook with at least a core2duo cpu. The coreduos will not be supported by osx lion anymore.
Really, for DJin, an older macbook WILL work fine. So will an older Windows notebook. Pure specs matter, but they’re not everything. I mean, I’ve got a 2,4 GHz macbook, and I DJ with it, make my tracks with logic, do photo editing etc. So would I if it was a 2.4 GHz core2duo windows machine, I guess (except for the logic part, obviously).
If it’s just about the money and you don’t care about the OS, take the thinkpad. Usually pretty reliable machines.
Its still quite civil, just someone asking a question with someone answering 
