Mac or Windows Laptop for Live

chazndave · Post by **chazndave** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 11:51 am

Please help

I'm currently running Live 6 on my mac book. However I've been plagued with problems since I bought it (the mac). Now there is a charging issue and the only way to resolve it is to have the motherboard replaced which is going to cost somewhere in the region of £650!!!!!!!

I can still use the mac but have to run it from the mains so no good to take on the road to use for a gig (the power leads come out very easily if knocked).

Are Macs the bee all and end all for use with Live or is there a good Windows alternative?

Thanks

ollyb303 · Post by **ollyb303** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 12:08 pm

Oh Chaz (or is it Dave?) you've really opened the doors up for a good old fashioned Mac vs PC forum fight here! This topic has been seriously done to death...

Many Mac users will tell you that Mac is the way to go, many Windows users will tell you the opposite - We just can't seem to agree on this one!

My $0.02 - I run Live 7 on a Dell Vostro 1510 laptop (XP Pro SP3, Core2Duo, 4Gb RAM) and it runs like a dream. I'm not saying it's better than anything else, or that there aren't other options out there, just that that's what I use and it works.

chazndave · Post by **chazndave** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 12:42 pm

Thanks for you're reply Olly - it's Dave btw

)

Thought i may. I did try searching for previous threads on the subject but couldn't find any for some reason.

anyone else had problems with their mac's?

djfm · Post by **djfm** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 12:49 pm

ive had my mac since september never had a problem. but like all computers macs are no exception to problems
maybe you could look on ebay for a spares repair macbook

ubermnd · Post by **ubermnd** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 1:19 pm

Well I've just managed to kill my old mac so they do indeed go very bad sometimes. However, I have used both platforms over the years and both are mighty fine indeed. I will always choose a Mac tho, ease of use, stability, no ground looping problems and pure shiny sexual magnetism really do it for me.

weeddigger · Post by **weeddigger** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 1:59 pm

I've had my MacBook Pro for a bit over a year, with no problems minus a power adaptor who's cord could use a replacement, and a battery that started dying on me with some good charge left on it. I called Apple about it, and they did send me a new battery, but get this:

They told me I used my laptop too much...

chazndave · Post by **chazndave** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 2:07 pm

lol that is funny. maybe that's why mine has broke. it gets used far too much

ollyb303 · Post by **ollyb303** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 2:37 pm

weeddigger wrote: They told me I used my laptop too much...

I'm sorry, that is fucking lame!

weeddigger · Post by **weeddigger** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 2:38 pm

Yeah, I agree. Did get me a new battery though, with free shipping!!

Hidden Driveways · Post by **Hidden Driveways** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 3:37 pm

If you used your Mac a lot, and you don't understand the ritualistic system maintaince that is a big part of PC ownership, I say get a Mac. Lemons exist on both platforms.

djfm · Post by **djfm** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 3:42 pm

weeddigger wrote:
They told me I used my laptop too much...

Well im screwed i use mine everyday

duluxdog · Post by **duluxdog** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 7:17 pm

Used Windows for ages. Got sick of its crap and bought a Mac. It's never frozen or crashed once in six months of ownership so far.

Saxer · Post by **Saxer** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 2:38 am

today you can use both, mac or pc.
but if you use the laptop for anything else than music, especially online stuff, i would stay away from windows because of its background work with lot of updates and antivirus-software.

Geezus · Post by **Geezus** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 3:07 am

If you know how to maintain your system, I'd go with windows (XP, NOT VISTA).

If you dont, use a mac.

windows machines are a lot less costly and offer a MUCH wider range of choice as far as hardware and software go, but the increase in choice and OS tweakability comes at a price of it being more susceptible to you fucking things up. With mac, you are paying a large premium to be locked into the hardware and "ease of use" software that apple decides for you, but with that comes less responsibility for managing your system.

I'll just say this: I know tons of people who fuck up their pcs and get spyware and viruses installed, etc all the time. But I have a PC too and it runs great. Its a dual core laptop and I haven't turned it off in several months with ableton running and its rare that I ever have problems. But that's because I know my shit and I maintain my system. Windows offers me a lot of control over the system and I can alter it to work the way I want it to.

My dad has a mac and he doesn't have to mess with anything. He paid twice as much for it, and generally its pretty stable. That does NOT mean that it doesnt have problems. I've been subject to some bad problems on it, like these weird system freezes that I can't escape even with hard resets, crashes, and other errors. Macs can and do fuck up pretty often, which was confirmed by my friend who works at a local mac store. Its just a little less often than a general PC.

So, again, this BS about pcs being unstable is only true of people who fuck up their own systems with viruses and spyware and dont know what they're doing. But it does require a little bit of knowledge and effort to really get it stable.

Macs offer more stability at a cost of more money and less flexibility. But I say that its probably worth it for most people.

leedsquietman · Post by **leedsquietman** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 4:48 am

I use both on a daily basis.

Geezus was pretty much spot on with what he said.

Live works equally well on both platforms if you have them set up properly (as stated before, the configuration on a PC system is key and also trying to avoid dodgy low cost components in the cheaper products).

Mac laptops aren't exactly top of the range components either, but the closed in hardware options means most audio and midi devices are configured with a minimum of hassle. Mac OSX is a much better o/s than Vista (XP is still the best choice for windows at present). Also CoreMIDI is a better MIDI standard than windows MME and direct MIDI but we are talking a differential which is not noticeable in some cases and is dependent on the MIDI drivers too.

If I had the budget, I would go Mac at present, mostly due to the o/s, most laptops only come with Vista and buying and installing XP becomes expensive and a pain in terms of time messing around.