Need laptop recommendations for music production

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
1

Need laptop recommendations for music production

So I’m trying to find a solid laptop for music production, it doesn’t have to be the best but get the job done (hopefully smoothly)

My budget is about $1000 ($1100 max) and I’m very interested in MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs (Retina as well) and really prefer only the 13 inch models. 8GB Ram is an absolute must for me and I would like an SSD however I don’t mind if it doesn’t have that.

Please help me find some solid deals on some! (Also I’d like to find deals with financing for like 6,12, or 18 month financing) Refurbished is okay with me, same as used!

ALSO SHOW ME SOME EXCELLENT PC’s as well!!

2

Macbook Pro 13’’ is great. Can’t go wrong. I suggest picking up a good Mini Display Port to HDMI cable too so if you have a reasonably sized tv monitor nearby you can use it as a bigger screen for your DAW/ plugins

As for where to find a cheap one… unless you’re a student I donno ):

3

Lenovo T or W series (previously IBM’s)

I’ve got a W530 (more than your budget mind) for music production but I’ve had T31’s and T61’s in the past (they’re all still going strong)

They’ll shit all over Macs spec/price and they’re built like tanks

Check out the ‘Legends of Thinkpad’ page

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/special-offers.workflow:ShowPromo?LandingPage=/All/US/Landing_pages/Awards_and_Reviews/2007_04_awards_legends_overview

4

Oh yeah and there’s an old adage that anything with ‘pro’ in the name really isn’t pro at all.
It’s just consumer gear dressed up a bit…

5

Take the top W530 model, add the cost of a 512GB SSD, and compare it to the top Macbook 15" model. (£2000 vs £2200)

You’re still stuck with a slower GPU, older CPU, slower SSD (SATA), and a lower resolution screen. The W530 also weighs 700g more and is almost twice as thick.

6

You should be able to pick up the last Gen Retina in the Apple Refurb Shop for $1100 with 8gb / 256

Unless you are well versed with optimizing PC’s (or willing to learn alot) I’d say go for the Macbook, or else feel free to spend half your time dealing with nitty problems.