What new computer should i get?

[BenjaminGolinvaux]

i have a sony vaio Z1 (1.7Ghz centrino)

i have installed a fresh xp pro on a 2nd partition and applied all balckviper tips (www.blackviper.com).

Also, all the drivers can easily be found on the preinstalled 1st partition.

I have a RME multiface and this system is PERFECTLY stable and REALLY fast. I also own a dual G4 mac, and although it's more stable and feels "lighter" than the preinstalled vaio XP pro install (with all applications sucking cpu time, stability and memory), it doesn't feel as tight and stable as the LIGHT xp installation.

bottom line : once tuned and streamlined, my vaio with xp pro is the best computer i ever used for music.

but i'm quite paranoid about it : i am very reluctant in installing new software on it and would never install office or such craps.... (i have the 1st partition for that).

also it is very good looking

[pix]

I would just recommend some type of Mac, if you have the funds for a dual g5 then hell yeah go for it. I just don't have any faith in PC's anymore after using them for 10 years. .

I had to laugh 10 years of pc, very brave, now when MS finally got it right you gave up ? While you suffered with PC I enjoyed Macs, now I have pc cause it performs better, dont give a damn about stupid brands, what works , I use it, these are only plastic, sillicon and wires, whatever the name.
Same goes for Allienware, you can get Clevo barebone they use, get all your specs you want, without the stupid Allien logo for 50-70% of their price. Get Adam`s pc o, otherwise IBM, Vaio if you want good built quality.

+1

got a Sager 3790. Not a perfect laptop but performs flawlessly. RME multiface as well.

Don't know about the rest of you but since I got winXP my PC is more solid than the moon.

Macs fasninate me but not for audio purposes. Unless I want to spend 3500$ on it...

[twain_x26]

When you're looking at cpu's they all say things like socket 939 or socket 754. Can someone explain what this is refering to?

[12micsn1]

Everytime, I see this question I wonder if you would like someone else to buy your computer. Buying a computer comes down to one of three things.
1. Money an how much do you want to spend. How much computer do you desire.
2. Operating System you are most comfortable with XP(PC) or OSX(MAC) platform.
3. Software programs (sequencers, virtual instruments and effects) that you desire to use and requirements. PC has alot more software then MAC

[twain_x26]

Everytime, I see this question I wonder if you would like someone else to buy your computer. Buying a computer comes down to one of three things.
1. Money an how much do you want to spend. How much computer do you desire.
2. Operating System you are most comfortable with XP(PC) or OSX(MAC) platform.
3. Software programs (sequencers, virtual instruments and effects) that you desire to use and requirements. PC has alot more software then MAC

Actually that's a completely ignorant statement. Would you buy a new car without asking around to see what companies produce quality and which ones produce shit? Some companies produce bad products. Some cpu's are more efficient than others. Since I've only ever used a mac before, I have no clue what kind of performance Pc's have audio wise. Which is the main reason i asked.
And I'm glad I did. I recieved alot of helpful advice in this thread.
See look. I restrained myself from calling you a brainless asshole.

[laptop_blasta]

I decided to go with a Windows laptop and now I'm starting to regret it-- it's a very good machine: HP Pentium 4 (2.8GHz), 512, 60GB, ATI video, 15.4 screen. And I maintain it well and keep it free of spy-crap, etc.

And it runs Live 4.0.3 fantastically -- BUT it has some small problems that really make me nervous:

1) When I boot up Windows, it occasionally doesn't recognize my M-Audio keyboard controller, my MBox, or my Behringer BCR2000. A Windows box appears saying: "you have a new device, do you want to install it?" So I reinstall the drivers and everything's fine. But man-- it makes me nervous about performing live with it. (This happens maybe once every 20 times I boot up the machine).

2) It crashes occasionally and reports "Serious program error" which kills whatever I'm doing and requires a complete reboot to continue. This problem has been reported by *many* PC users on this forum. For me, this happens roughly once every 20 hours I use the program.

I do NOT wish to bash the PC -- I chose a PC because I've done some great work with PCs, and I'm far more familiar them than Macs. But if Macs are more reliable in terms of recognizing hardware and general crashing, I'd seriously have to think about switching. I really don't care what the underlying OS is-- I just want my Live system to run consistently.

Does anyone have experience using Live 4 on both platforms? Is either more consistent? Thanks,
D

[MrYellow]

I'm looking for maximum performance

AMD over Intel.
PC over Mac.
More memory.
Faster drive.

Also if you have the money.... (It costs 10x as much) go for a name-
brand memory. There is about a 25% speed increase in using the best
memory..... like.....

http://www.mushkin.com/
http://www.corsairmicro.com/

Mushkin is $1000 a gig at the top of the line, but much faster than generic
brands. (Able to handle more overclocking)

As for stability....

This is not to get onto the pc/mac thing, but think I should point out some
stuff as benignly as possible.... Just to fill you in on how XP really works
compared to OSX.

I can run XP for weeks/months/years without a reboot and no crashes.
It's just a matter of setup, with PC you have options on how u want to set
it up, with mac it's stable out-of-the-box because there are no options.

If you run lots of music apps on XP as it comes out-of-the-box. It will be a
dog. Just gotta learn a few things on how to set it up.

This site is a good start...
http://www.musicxp.net/

Learning a little bout how to adjust services and profiles is a very good
idea.

Also setup a separate hardware and user profile for music so you can
switch back to using more of the features when surfing the net or
whatever.

-Ben

[twain_x26]

I used to have random crashes all the time when running live in osx, but since 4.1 came out I don't think I've had any.
I mainly run live and reason as far as audio software goes, and reason NEVER crashes. Not once ever. And like I said, since the update live hasn't crashed on me either. So I'm currently pretty confident in lives stability under osx. It may change in the future but I hope not. Performance wise most people I've spoken with seem to think live is more powerful under windows. But I don't know personally, that's actually one of the reasons I started this thread so I can sort it out. I've been considering moving to windows.

[AdamJay]

Does anyone have experience using Live 4 on both platforms? Is either more consistent? Thanks,
D

No issues with my HP AMD
and no issues with my G4 Powerbook
as far as "consistency" goes... i'd give that to the Mac, as mr. yellow said - out of the box its great and the same can't be said for Windows.

it depends on how much of a geek you want to be about your machine.
have you done anything at all to optimize your windows machine?
do you defragment on a regular basis. are you using the net? and if so virus scanning, spy-ware blocking?

there are so many endless things you can do on a PC to optimize your machine.. down to disabling the printer ports and editing the registry, it just depends on how much you want to be a geek when it comes to setting up your machine.

[FORMAT]

So what is everyones suggestion for the best computer to run live?
I plan on upgrading soon, and am looking for suggestions. I'll mainly be running live with reason rewired. I don't use to many effects, vst's, or AU's, When I do I mostly use amplitube and battery.
So what does everyone suggest? Powermac G5, alienware? what?
And PLEASE try not to start bashing macs or PC's. I'm just looking for opinions on what i should get and why. Not reasons why macs or PC's suck. They both have their shortcomings and highlights. There. Now that's settled. What should I get?
And if (or rather when) someone suggests I build a computer, be specific. What processor should I get, what brand of ram etc., how much etc. Because otherwise suggesting I just use my best judgement and build my own isn't particularly helpful.
Oh yes, and despite not using many vst's etc, I do need a powerful computer. I'll probably push it to it's limits anyways. (I seem to be better at this than most people. maybe I just do everything wrong. I'm not quite sure)
thanks

Have you looked at the Mac mini?
F.

[paul campbell]

well, i laugh at all of you cause i have a 1.4ghz pentium 4 laptop with 512mb ram and 40g hard drive, yeah!





























































i apologise