how tough are the macbooks?

Mazzo · Post by **Mazzo** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 6:18 pm

My acer aspire one is good for basic djing but I want something a bit more powerful

can one of those white macbooks stand up to a few knocks/spills etc?

Mazzo · Post by **Mazzo** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 6:54 pm

I GOTTS TO KNOW!

I need to get a new laptop for tomorrow night

doc holiday · Post by **doc holiday** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 6:55 pm

the cases crack easily

duluxdog · Post by **duluxdog** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 6:57 pm

A friend has one and it's pretty solid. I think the black ones are very sex, also. And if you get a black one then it won't show up marks/stains as easily as a white one. Ultimately, you might want to save a little longer for a macbook pro and get an aluminium shell if the issue of toughness is going to be the ultimate decider. I went for a macbook pro partly because of the aluminium case.

Mazzo · Post by **Mazzo** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 7:00 pm

cheers

I don't want to spend too much as I have a habit of dropping/pouring liquids on laptops

also is 1GB ram enough on a mac for running live? (6 audio tracks + 2 vsti tracks)

jgerry · Post by **jgerry** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 7:19 pm

Get a keyboard cover in case of spills. But don't be puttin' drinks next to your laptop!

http://www.iskin.com/product_kbrd_macbook.html

As for memory, don't cheap out and get 1GB. Get 2GB, minimum. 4 gigs right now is less than $100.

LOFA · Post by **LOFA** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 7:23 pm

doc holiday wrote:the cases crack easily

+1

Also, the keyboard is wack. My capslock key fell off and I never, ever use it.

sroom3000 · Post by **sroom3000** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 7:35 pm

I've had one of these:

http://www.speckproducts.com/products/s ... book-13/24

on my macbook for about a year and a half and it protects it very well.
tough shell.

Mazzo · Post by **Mazzo** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 7:46 pm

cheers

I was thinking of getting an acer aspire 2920z
similar spec to the macbook but 200 pounds cheaper.

MMMMM!

shame about the macbooks being a bit rubbish build-wise

hacktheplanet · Post by **hacktheplanet** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 7:52 pm

Yes, the case cracks easily. It also gets quite dirty and stains easily. You MUST get Applecare. I had my entire case replaced for free because of various cracks and discoloration. Only took them about 4 days shipped.

That being said, I haven't experienced any failures in a year, and I'm very hard on my computer.

weeddigger · Post by **weeddigger** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 7:55 pm

Guy, Macbooks are awesome, but according to http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

An update/better computers are coming soon.

Mazzo · Post by **Mazzo** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 9:01 pm

thanks for your help. I need to get it for a gig tomorrow night, so I can't wait for the new macbooks

zsazsa · Post by **zsazsa** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 9:44 pm

i know the lenovo laptops (IBM thinkpads basically)
are pretty tough and have a hole in the middle where spilled drinks drip through.

leedsquietman · Post by **leedsquietman** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 10:00 pm

Dell has complete care on their laptops, which covers spillages, droppages and whatever else for a reasonable amount, which is way better than what Apple offer in Applecare. Lenovo have builty in protection for droppages that makes sure the hard drive isn't wrecked as a result. Although specific 'tough book' type laptops are a) way too expensive and b) usually under specified.

You should turn off anti-virus when running Live. Turn off the wifi too. This is a drain on Macbooks as well (wifi).

The sound card in the Macbook is equally as dire as the ones in most PC laptops. If you are serious about your audio, you would buy a better audio interface, regardless of which platform you choose.

The thing about maintaining the fooker - widely variable. In most cases, once you've configured the PC how you want it, you don't need to go back and mess around unless there is a specific reason to, such as a reinstall or you misconfigured something or occasionally, an o/s update causing a bug or whatever. These kind of bugs also occur periodically in Mac OSX updates too, although usually a Mac requires less configuration at the start.

AeonDubz · Post by **AeonDubz** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 11:38 pm

alot of pc laptops can be thrown/kicked around, spilled on, etc and can take a beating.. like some dells, toshibas and panasonics . I dropped my first mbp and the hd died, after applecare.. I spilled water on my keyboard of the next mbp and it destroyed the logicboard. I would suggest reinforcing with some kind of shock proof rubber if you get a mbp and also get one of those keyboard cover things. Unfortunately I can't say good things about durability with the macbooks, maybe I just had bad luck. I'm using osx86 on a dell until I find a better solution....