Dell Inspiron 6400 vs Macbook Pro...

Machinate · Post by **Machinate** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 9:15 pm

leedsquietman wrote:No offence, but I wouldn't expect too much from a mac mini, definate performance compromises there for the sake of cool image and portability.

If you're going the mac route, at least go for an imac running INtel ccore2duo.

You'd be surprised how much power there is in one of those little critters - the MacIntel minis are 1.66/1.83 core Duos. That's plenty of oomph for working with Live.

But Eraldo seems to forgetting that his mac broke just after buying it... that's sooo not good for one of the most expensive laptops on the market. my 2 cents anyway.

Amberience · Post by **Amberience** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 9:17 pm

Machinate wrote:
leedsquietman wrote:No offence, but I wouldn't expect too much from a mac mini, definate performance compromises there for the sake of cool image and portability.

If you're going the mac route, at least go for an imac running INtel ccore2duo.
You'd be surprised how much power there is in one of those little critters - the MacIntel minis are 1.66/1.83 core Duos. That's plenty of oomph for working with Live.

But Eraldo seems to forgetting that his mac broke just after buying it... that's sooo not good for one of the most expensive laptops on the market. my 2 cents anyway.

Well he did say that he's been using macs for ages, and this was the first time it broke. And they did replace it for free.

Amberience · Post by **Amberience** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 9:24 pm

To be honest, I don't think I can stretch my budget to an iMac. I can only really afford the Mac Mini. But I could afford to get in the top tier of the mini range:

* 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo
* 1GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x512MB
* 80GB Serial ATA drive (5400rpm)
* Mac OS X (British)

For audio recording, I can get an external USB2 drive, they're cheap nowadays. I can get a mac compatible keyboard and mouse. And a VGA TFT monitor these days is only £65 + shipping.

The Dell cost me £469. The expresscard I bought cost me £60. So right there I have enough to get the above mac mini.

A friend of a friend can get us a 15% discount. So the price for the above would be: £492. Not that much more than the Dell.

glu · Post by **glu** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 12:16 am

I would not get a mini right now- they need to be updated.

iMacs come with core2duo ----2.0Ghz C2D has 4mb L2 cache instead of 2.
7200 RPM hard drive as well, plus more storage 160GB?
Plus you can add an ATI video card
dual monitor support?

I would imagine these factors make a difference.

I am in no way condoning an Imac though

Amberience · Post by **Amberience** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 1:57 pm

Already said I can't stretch my budget to an iMac, and I want a portable setup fairly soon so my band can start recording and so I can do a live set easily enough for my degree performance.

glu · Post by **glu** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 2:50 pm

I already said I am in no way condoning an Imac. Just wanted to point out THE MINI is long overdue for an update. good luck.

Amberience · Post by **Amberience** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 3:38 pm

hehe. Cool, thanks man. As it turns out, the iMac is becoming a very real possibility.

xzusa8ky · Post by **xzusa8ky** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 5:25 pm

Hallo There!

Go for MAC you will never go back! Thats for sure!

Amberience · Post by **Amberience** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 1:46 pm

So um... I'm buying the iMac at the end of the week.

Machinesworking · Post by **Machinesworking** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 2:59 pm

Amberience wrote:So um... I'm buying the iMac at the end of the week.

Why not the macbook? Granted, kind of looks like a ladies compact, but it's within budget, and portable.
Big advantage of the macbook pros is express card, video card, and illuminated displays.....

Amberience · Post by **Amberience** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 3:47 pm

Machinesworking wrote:
Amberience wrote:So um... I'm buying the iMac at the end of the week.
Why not the macbook? Granted, kind of looks like a ladies compact, but it's within budget, and portable.
Big advantage of the macbook pros is express card, video card, and illuminated displays.....

It isn't within budget.

darkcatt · Post by **darkcatt** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 9:15 pm

stay away from Dell.

They are bad news. Sure everyone will have a success story but they are on the path of Gateway. Mac would be vastly better, Hp has known firewire conflicts.

Toshiba is good if you don't mind horrible support
Sony kicks ass

Just stay away from Dell, also remember that all low end Dells are Acers.

Machinate · Post by **Machinate** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 9:17 pm

many many many people have had horrible experiences with Sony Vaios, so there is more to it than "good" and "bad", then..

darkcatt · Post by **darkcatt** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 9:20 pm

Sony has a horrible Oem repair contract service
"service net" Aside from that I haven't read of too any issues.

Reguardless stay away from Dell

lunabass · Post by **lunabass** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 12:19 am

darkcatt wrote:Reguardless stay away from Dell

For what reasons though? Whats your experience with them?