Stability for live gigs: Mac or PC

RawTheory · Post by **RawTheory** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 7:36 pm

I'm going to be able to purchase a laptop in a month or two and I want to know if there are a lot of PC users out there who've had good track records with stability. I use a PC desktop and I've had great stability even though its online. I've stayed away from cracks and I use McAfee firewall and virus protection and I've only had a handfull of crashes. Live is so stable anyway. But regardless I've always heard that "Macs are better for stability." Can anyone attest to that? If its just a fable then I can save a lot of money

globalgoon · Post by **globalgoon** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 7:39 pm

i've done plenty with a PC and it has never crashed or played up

djmyke · Post by **djmyke** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 8:04 pm

globalgoon wrote:i've done plenty with a PC and it has never crashed or played up

my stupid toshiba has this dfectiv video driver... crashes can be expected... its my luck..
can even get good drivers from ATI...

i want to get a new laptop but i dont want another pc/toshiba... because of the traumatic experience...=)

im considering a black macbook....to hav a diferent view of life...=)

in my country a core duo toshiba with 256mb ram costs 80,000pesos

i can even get a black macbook with 2gb RAM for only 80,000pesos

with all the protector acesories n casing

wich one should i geT?=)

dj superflat · Post by **dj superflat** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 8:25 pm

my sense is that, with standard use and standard care, the average mac is more stable than the average PC. but that's not saying much, b/c PCs obviously vary greatly, how much more stable is the real question, etc. and PCs can be sufficiently stable in my experience if you take care of them, configure them correctly, etc. (and my mac has crashed at inopportune times, as well, so mac's aren't infallible).

all that said, i'm not sure i still wouldn't consider buying a mac laptop, prices being what they are these days (but that assumes switching from PC to mac is possible with your soundcard, etc.).

aliasA · Post by **aliasA** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 1:35 am

I dont think there is really any point in getting 30+ replies of people backing up or argueing with "macs are more stable than PC's". Everyone in the world has heard the same thing you have. And for good reason. I think it speaks for itself. Ya, there are millions of PC people that will tell you they dont have problems. Remember, if they all had problems, PC's wouldnt exist. So i think it is just pointless to even read every little persons individual opinion. Go with your instincts, and just remember what has been said for many years now....Generally, macs are more stable than PC's.

zappen · Post by **zappen** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 2:02 am

remember what has been said for many years ... the world is flat!

leisuremuffin · Post by **leisuremuffin** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 2:10 am

macs have the same standard parts.

PC, not so.

a well built PC will be perfectly stable, but note that since what's inside a pc isn't standard, you *sometimes* end up with conflicts.

this is just one reason.

.lm.

malxwal · Post by **malxwal** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 2:15 am

I've got a 1 month old MacBook with a gig of RAM, and it has already had a couple of freakouts, though nothing a save and reboot of Live couldn't solve. Not sure whether it was the Mac or Live that was playing up though....

djmyke · Post by **djmyke** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 3:13 am

malxwal wrote:I've got a 1 month old MacBook with a gig of RAM, and it has already had a couple of freakouts, though nothing a save and reboot of Live couldn't solve. Not sure whether it was the Mac or Live that was playing up though....

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

RawTheory · Post by **RawTheory** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 3:22 am

malxwal wrote:I've got a 1 month old MacBook with a gig of RAM, and it has already had a couple of freakouts, though nothing a save and reboot of Live couldn't solve. Not sure whether it was the Mac or Live that was playing up though....

Well thats discouraging....

shaneblyth · Post by **shaneblyth** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 3:52 am

the bottom line is which PC ? there is such a lot of different hardware combos that that is more the issue.. If you want to use a PC you should be asking what is the best unit to use ?
The Mac is easier as the hardware is standarised and therefore less likely to crash in most cases.
Of course an Intel Mac is a PC and Mac so if you want to play with both OS's (Windows and OSX )then you can. I have several PC's and several macs PPC and Intel and find my Macs a bit more stable and hassle free The PC is not bad .. just not as good.. both do the job
Make your choise but if you go PC you will need to do more research and get the right unit and combo of parts

lectronin · Post by **lectronin** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 5:04 am

I use both Macs and PCs. My Powerbook is 3 years old, and therefore not very powerful by today's standards. In my experience, Mac OSX is infinitely more stable and less obtrusive than Windows. However, because of the particular combination of hardware and software that I use (Yamaha 01x, Live, and Reason), I use a PC for performance, since these work better on the PC. A notable exception is Reason. I seem to have occasional crashes using Reason, especially when it's rewired to Live. Mac just switched over to Intel chips, so as a rule of thumb, it's better to wait a generation or two for the dust to settle. Although, this transition from IBM to Intel seems to be going smoother than the transition from OS9 to OSX.

klangsulfat · Post by **klangsulfat** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 6:28 am

I don't make live music. But in this case I would possibly prefer my Dell Inspiron rather than my MacBook. While the MacBook seems to be sometimes a little diva, the Dell is more on an craftsman: not really beautiful, but strong and reliable

And I'm not talking only about hardware stability ...

djmyke · Post by **djmyke** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 6:35 am

Thomas Alker wrote:I don't make live music. But in this case I would prefer my Dell Inspiron rather than my MacBook. While the MacBook seems to be sometimes a little diva, the Dell is more on an craftsman: not really beautiful, but strong and reliable And I'm not talking only about hardware stability ...

diva?=)

klangsulfat · Post by **klangsulfat** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 6:37 am

djmyke wrote:diva?=)

From Wikipedia: "A less flattering use of the term diva has come about in that the term is sometimes seen as interchangeable with the word bitch; that being a negative term to describe an unpleasant, demanding, and troublesome woman."

Stability for live gigs: Mac or PC

Stability for live gigs: Mac or PC

Stick with a PC for now