Dell Inspiron 6400 vs Macbook Pro...
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sparklepuff
- Posts: 3300
- Joined: Sat Apr 22, 2006 4:54 am
- Location: Brooklyn
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suburbanbather
- Posts: 1376
- Joined: Sat Jul 03, 2004 11:19 am
- Location: Waldorf MD
+1 I have had to deal with both Dell and Apple customer service. Apple was quick, painless, and easy to actually understand what the hell they are saying over the phone. Dell OTOH, dragged their feet to solve my issue. I also must point out that I have had many hardware and software problems on the Dell(Win XP Pro). The switch to Apple has made my life so much easier. If you must go PC, avoid Dell.OvertoneZero wrote:raw wrote:I add that Dell maybe not the best choice (except for the guarantee)...
QFE
Dell is the suck
A few things to know...
Parallels is $80 and includes XP. It doesn't do Direct X, so games won't work, but it will open in windowed mode in OSX... for games you have to go with Full XP ($120 methinks) and Reboot in Bootcamp (free) to switch Operating Systems...
There are some really good free flugs that are PC only, but ony one has no Mac equivalent: Glitch. And it's a bit played, IMO.
Plan on getting the Applecare warranty (REALLY good personal experiences). You can wait up to a year (Last I checked)... it extends the warranty to 3 years, so you can upgrade your rig after 2 years, with a full warranty left on it for a year, and get about 45-60% of the comp's original cost. NO PC can do that. Without Applecare you would get about 30%, and would have had a computer with no warranty for the last year.
Good luck.
Parallels is $80 and includes XP. It doesn't do Direct X, so games won't work, but it will open in windowed mode in OSX... for games you have to go with Full XP ($120 methinks) and Reboot in Bootcamp (free) to switch Operating Systems...
There are some really good free flugs that are PC only, but ony one has no Mac equivalent: Glitch. And it's a bit played, IMO.
Plan on getting the Applecare warranty (REALLY good personal experiences). You can wait up to a year (Last I checked)... it extends the warranty to 3 years, so you can upgrade your rig after 2 years, with a full warranty left on it for a year, and get about 45-60% of the comp's original cost. NO PC can do that. Without Applecare you would get about 30%, and would have had a computer with no warranty for the last year.
Good luck.
15" PB 2.5 Ghz, 4 Gig RAM, 750 GB HD, Live 9 still no cue points or program change messages?!?. Doesn't do shit.
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anti-banausic
- Posts: 1609
- Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2004 9:15 pm
- Location: NYC
I also have to add:
Amberience, have you actually tested the new SATA drives even at 5400 RPM. Sure they aren't as good as the 7200 RPM SATA drives are going to be, but I haven't had any issues running any of my tracks that were composed on my old computer that had a 7200 RPM drive.
I did do some research and bought a 160 Gig Hitachi 5400 RPM SATA which Tom's Hardware tested and indicated was on par with Seagate, and better than other manufacturers' 5400 RPM SATA drives.
Honestly, I haven't seen a red D yet. I hope that continues. Otherwise I will just buy a new 200 Gig 7200 RPM SATA drive when those become available in the near future.
Best,
AB
Amberience, have you actually tested the new SATA drives even at 5400 RPM. Sure they aren't as good as the 7200 RPM SATA drives are going to be, but I haven't had any issues running any of my tracks that were composed on my old computer that had a 7200 RPM drive.
I did do some research and bought a 160 Gig Hitachi 5400 RPM SATA which Tom's Hardware tested and indicated was on par with Seagate, and better than other manufacturers' 5400 RPM SATA drives.
Honestly, I haven't seen a red D yet. I hope that continues. Otherwise I will just buy a new 200 Gig 7200 RPM SATA drive when those become available in the near future.
Best,
AB
Macbook c2d 2.0, 2G RAM, 160G HD 5400 RPM, OSX(10.5.5), XP Home, LIVE6, BCR 2000, UC33e, Yamaha P-200, Logic Studio, KRK V6 II
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anti-banausic
- Posts: 1609
- Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2004 9:15 pm
- Location: NYC
I should also add that since my old computer was a PC, I use Windows extensively to compose with some plugs that aren't yet available as UB, and some freebies that I love.
It works a charm. The only real issue is that the fans run a little more to keep it cool, but that is because I have windows set to "Always on".
Yes, Apples are a little more $$$, but I love working in OSX so much that it is actually worth it for me.
I am much more productive.
It works a charm. The only real issue is that the fans run a little more to keep it cool, but that is because I have windows set to "Always on".
Yes, Apples are a little more $$$, but I love working in OSX so much that it is actually worth it for me.
I am much more productive.
Macbook c2d 2.0, 2G RAM, 160G HD 5400 RPM, OSX(10.5.5), XP Home, LIVE6, BCR 2000, UC33e, Yamaha P-200, Logic Studio, KRK V6 II
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Amberience
- Posts: 967
- Joined: Tue Sep 23, 2003 2:09 am
- Location: London, UK
Well I have a SATA drive, but it is 7200rpm. Speedy as though, speedy as.anti-banausic wrote:I also have to add:
Amberience, have you actually tested the new SATA drives even at 5400 RPM. Sure they aren't as good as the 7200 RPM SATA drives are going to be, but I haven't had any issues running any of my tracks that were composed on my old computer that had a 7200 RPM drive.
I did do some research and bought a 160 Gig Hitachi 5400 RPM SATA which Tom's Hardware tested and indicated was on par with Seagate, and better than other manufacturers' 5400 RPM SATA drives.
Honestly, I haven't seen a red D yet. I hope that continues. Otherwise I will just buy a new 200 Gig 7200 RPM SATA drive when those become available in the near future.
Best,
AB
I just ordered a Dell Inspiron 1501. I'm fairly confident that it'll do what I need it to. I don't dig OSX, and I don't know how XP on a Mac performs, haven't researched it enough. Price was a determining factor though. I spent £469 with Dell, whereas with Apple it would've probably been a lot more.
I liked the look of the mac-mini, but Portability was a priority, and I didn't want to have to lug around a monitor.
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leedsquietman
- Posts: 6659
- Joined: Sun Nov 19, 2006 1:56 am
- Location: greater toronto area
I use both mac and pc computers and they both have their strengths and weaknesses but although I would love a MBP, it is an expensive machine for what it is.
A lot of Live users are mac fanatics as it's a cross platform program. I like macs too but I have owned 5 Dell computers, 4 of them were totally awesome and reliable and the 5th was handled professionally by Dell who were fine, except for making me go through a stupid diagnostic on the phone when it was obvious what the problem was. It took 15 minutes out of my life, so ultimately was no big deal and the problem was fixed fast.
Apple's care falls down too sometimes, I have seen it happen at first hand, and the imacs in our computer lab crash just as frequently and sometimes more so than their PC counterparts. Don't believe the hype - macs can and do sometimes fail and you are excluding yourself from a lot of great music software and plugins if you go that route. On the plus side, you gain a stable platform with a great operating system which at a pinch can run win xp 95% of the time without comptability issues and of course, it looks cool.
I's say if you could get the MBP for 300-350 dollars less then get it, otherwise there are great PC equivalents from many manufacturers worth considering. Also the guy who put colours into the features should have considered that the Dell offered a 7200 rpm drive (100 GB) against a 160 GB 5400 rpm drive. I would take the lesser size and extra rpm speed ANY DAY of the week. Makes a huge difference to track count and plugins in my experience. You can always use external HDD for storing audio files.
A lot of Live users are mac fanatics as it's a cross platform program. I like macs too but I have owned 5 Dell computers, 4 of them were totally awesome and reliable and the 5th was handled professionally by Dell who were fine, except for making me go through a stupid diagnostic on the phone when it was obvious what the problem was. It took 15 minutes out of my life, so ultimately was no big deal and the problem was fixed fast.
Apple's care falls down too sometimes, I have seen it happen at first hand, and the imacs in our computer lab crash just as frequently and sometimes more so than their PC counterparts. Don't believe the hype - macs can and do sometimes fail and you are excluding yourself from a lot of great music software and plugins if you go that route. On the plus side, you gain a stable platform with a great operating system which at a pinch can run win xp 95% of the time without comptability issues and of course, it looks cool.
I's say if you could get the MBP for 300-350 dollars less then get it, otherwise there are great PC equivalents from many manufacturers worth considering. Also the guy who put colours into the features should have considered that the Dell offered a 7200 rpm drive (100 GB) against a 160 GB 5400 rpm drive. I would take the lesser size and extra rpm speed ANY DAY of the week. Makes a huge difference to track count and plugins in my experience. You can always use external HDD for storing audio files.
I'm surrounded by macs (I work for an audio college) My dell 9200 sits proudly on my desk. Is it ugly..Yes. Has it run flawlessly for 2 years...YES
I use it everyday doing demos in class. It's not uncommon for me to have Word, Excell, Power Point, Live, Reason, Pro Tools and countless plug-ins open simultaneously and the thing just works. I use it on stage...not a glitch!
The G5 running in our Pro Control studio...well thats another matter!
Recently caught a show with someone using Live on a macbook: audio drop outs, CPU spikes...
At the end of the day both have their good and bad points. Keep doing your research and the answer will present itself...just dont Rush. I spent 3 months weighing it all up before I jumped in...I've never regretted my decision.
So many of the horror stories you hear on both platforms are due to the user not the equipment
I use it everyday doing demos in class. It's not uncommon for me to have Word, Excell, Power Point, Live, Reason, Pro Tools and countless plug-ins open simultaneously and the thing just works. I use it on stage...not a glitch!
The G5 running in our Pro Control studio...well thats another matter!
Recently caught a show with someone using Live on a macbook: audio drop outs, CPU spikes...
At the end of the day both have their good and bad points. Keep doing your research and the answer will present itself...just dont Rush. I spent 3 months weighing it all up before I jumped in...I've never regretted my decision.
So many of the horror stories you hear on both platforms are due to the user not the equipment
Exactly. If you can't make music because you bought the wrong Mac or PC, take yer shit, put it back in the box and leave it on the curb because you're too incompetent to use either.lunabass wrote:So many of the horror stories you hear on both platforms are due to the user not the equipment
Use what makes you happy.
Oh, and Macs suck infected donkey dick.
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leedsquietman
- Posts: 6659
- Joined: Sun Nov 19, 2006 1:56 am
- Location: greater toronto area
lunabass - I have an Inspiron 9100. It weighs slightly less than a pregnant elephant runs a freaking desktop pentium 4 chip at 3.2 Ghz very noisily and hot, is uglier than Dennis Rodman in a blonde wig and pink stilettos and has a battery life of about 16.7 seconds on a full charge etc, etc. 
But with the echo indigo io card, it runs cubase and Live and soundforge or any other pro audio like a bloody king, so long as it's plugged into the mains. I (with track freezing) have many cubase projects with 50 plus tracks and multiple fx, live projects with >32 tracks, messed up morphing fx , several vstis etc. It kicks the crap out of the old Apple G4 powerbooks, I know because I ran them both side by side and the G4 powerbook crapped out with only a few tracks and minimal fx, had less memory, less HD space, worse graphics card and cost 400 dollars more. Although it looked darn cool and had a longer battery life...
Now, is anyone thinks I'm PC biased then offer to give me your MacBook Pro to 'convert' me. I think Apple are doing everything correct with their laptops except for the pricing...
But with the echo indigo io card, it runs cubase and Live and soundforge or any other pro audio like a bloody king, so long as it's plugged into the mains. I (with track freezing) have many cubase projects with 50 plus tracks and multiple fx, live projects with >32 tracks, messed up morphing fx , several vstis etc. It kicks the crap out of the old Apple G4 powerbooks, I know because I ran them both side by side and the G4 powerbook crapped out with only a few tracks and minimal fx, had less memory, less HD space, worse graphics card and cost 400 dollars more. Although it looked darn cool and had a longer battery life...
Now, is anyone thinks I'm PC biased then offer to give me your MacBook Pro to 'convert' me. I think Apple are doing everything correct with their laptops except for the pricing...