Mac or PC?

[Sage]

PC's can be bit of a gamble, but less expensive in the long run because of the sheer amount of free VST's. Live I use a Macbook purely because I did used to have a laptop running XP and it was a nightmare and the Mac is much more stable, but at home I use a PC because I can do more with it than a Mac.

[Adam Nicholas]

I use a $3000.00 MacBookPro and a refurbished HP laptop that can be picked up at PC Mall for $700. They are both 17" hi-res with the same processor. The differences.

MacBookPro:

Pros: Mine has FW800 with was a big reason for me to buy it. I use FW800 drives for audio and FW400 audio cards. Decent internal audio. Stable as long as Apple does not kill my 3rd party AU's again with update to the specs that sends software developers into a mad scramble to fix their instruments. Can boot off of a firewire drive and it is easy to set up a 2GB external FW800 drive as the boot drive.

Cons: Have to remove 30 screws and void my warranty if I want to upgrade my HD myself. No ability to install software on a secondary drive. Programs want to install on the primary drive. Some new MBP's have 3rd party firewire chips that interfaces do not like. New models only come with the shiny, reflective screens.

HP Windows Machine:

Pros: Much easier to upgrade HD's myself. Numeric keypad. More control when installing software. Microsoft does not usually break music software or VSTi's with Windows updates. For the price of my MacBookPro I can buy three of these HP refurbished units, or two laptops and a good audio interface.

Cons: Have to be careful not to let it get bogged down with software junk from the Internet. Newer models have devices which don't have XP drivers.

I still run Live from my MacBookPro, but when that computer dies I will not replace it with another Mac. The value is not there and Mac keeps making it harder for users to upgrade their hardware in a laptop. If I had my $3000 back I would use it to buy two Windows computers and a high end audio interface.

Thanks Rabid for your feedback. You have some good points, that I will look at.

Thanks again for your help

[dysanfel]

I believe you pay more in the end for a PC than a Mac, but with a Mac your expense is up front.

[ethios4]

I am constantly going back and forth on this myself. I have never owned a Mac, so I can't say much about it. I've been running windows machines for music-making for 10 years because I can never bring myself to pay 2x to 3x the price just for an operating system. I have never once had my windows machines crash during a live performance, out of more than 100 performances.

Of course, there are lots of annoying aspects to windows machines (being careful about viruses, not as good at multi-tasking, interface not as good/fun) but there are plenty of drawbacks to a Mac as well (more difficult to find small free apps like the software editor for my FCB1010 and the sonogram plugin I use, no flac or ape support in iTunes, quicktime plays back DV-encoded movies like shit, expensive and not upgradeable).

So maybe I would really like a Mac but when I think about paying at least $1000 more and losing lots of apps and functionality, plus having to relearn an OS, when I'm not having any problems that a hardware upgrade wouldn't fix.....

[ethios4]

I believe you pay more in the end for a PC than a Mac, but with a Mac your expense is up front.

How so?

[Da hand]

I believe you pay more in the end for a PC than a Mac, but with a Mac your expense is up front.

How so?

Yes, I am curious as well. As it stands, I think it is a bs statement.

[gjm]

I believe you pay more in the end for a PC than a Mac, but with a Mac your expense is up front.

How so?

Yes, I am curious as well. As it stands, I think it is a bs statement.

It might be different with different levels of competency, but for me I would say, so far, that this statement is true with respect to the processes and the product together.I was/am a beginner with audio stuff.

Essentially, the cost of the do it yourself upgrades I did with Ram, and hard drive on my PC laptop in the beginning, including time, never achieved a decent and capable platform to use. I then bought a quad core desk top.

The cost of these two exercises alone was 1.5 times the cost of my white macbook. On top of that, I estimte I spent about 120 hours, researching, downloading apps, trolling forums, finding paid help, and significant pm'ing on this forum, teaching myself, and problem solving. If I paid myself my hourly rate for this time then there is no contest.

So far my macbook has frozen once, I broke Garage band once with an update, and I plugged my guitar cable into the wrong socket on my ext sound card.

Looking back, I wish I had just got a mac, It would have cost less money, for sure, and I could have used the time to do something musical.

I know there will be some 'yeah, but.....' with my comments, but so far, taking the whole processes into consideration with my PC vs Mac experience, the Mac has cost me far less money, time and frustration. Its been a breeze so far. If I had got a mac in the beginning I would be streets ahead.

[SubFunk]

I believe you pay more in the end for a PC than a Mac, but with a Mac your expense is up front.

How so?

over the paid time you loose making / keeping your system running, that is if you earn money using your computer.

a windows based system takes far more time learning and keeping it running, you need to become nearly an IT nerd to do that, and it costs valuable time.

i just have to look at our company, we have shit windows suckers there... yes they run, but there is a guy who spends stupid 4-8 hours a week maintenance... solving all sorts of problems, we talk 5 office and 3 audio computers, not much.

i spend 1/2 hour maximum every 6 - 8 month just deleting crap files i accumulate and running disk utility.

and plugging nearly any USB / Firewire controller or soundcard into it, and it works without driver install.

that is what is bugging me most about windows, every time some friend with a PC wants to try a controller or keyboard or card we / i have he needs the internet for driver download, install, blah so i already freak out how much time you need for simple shit like that. PCs do suck.

for me time is money, and there a PC is shite, i know you can get them smoothly to work, but the hours you need to invest to make that happen to run a PC for years and years... smoothly... are in no relation ship.

in german we say buying a PC in the hope of saving money is a 'Milchmaedchen Rechnung`

[adventurepants_]

Essentially, the cost of the do it yourself upgrades I did with Ram, and hard drive on my PC laptop in the beginning, including time, never achieved a decent and capable platform to use. I then bought a quad core desk top.

The cost of these two exercises alone was 1.5 times the cost of my white macbook. On top of that, I estimte I spent about 120 hours, researching, downloading apps, trolling forums, finding paid help, and significant pm'ing on this forum, teaching myself, and problem solving. If I paid myself my hourly rate for this time then there is no contest.

So far my macbook has frozen once, I broke Garage band once with an update, and I plugged my guitar cable into the wrong socket on my ext sound card.

Looking back, I wish I had just got a mac, It would have cost less money, for sure, and I could have used the time to do something musical.

I know there will be some 'yeah, but.....' with my comments, but so far, taking the whole processes into consideration with my PC vs Mac experience, the Mac has cost me far less money, time and frustration. Its been a breeze so far. If I had got a mac in the beginning I would be streets ahead.

i think this is a bit misleading gjm. You did your own upgrades, and then built your own desktop machine with no experience. Its like building a house from scratch if you dont know how to put a table together. Youre then comparing all the time spent it took you to acquire the knowledge to set a pc up, to using a Mac. On a Mac, you pay a premium because someone has already done the hard work. They have a tiny hardware base, so no room for incompatibilities there, and they control the OS, so no grief there.

You could have bought your PC bits and taken it to an experienced PC tech, who would have built your box, and setup your music software to your specifications, and you still would have saved a lot of money compared to buying a mac. Im glad youve found your computing home, but to blame that experience on the windows platform is just misguided. You chose to be a PC tech and build your own box, and youve probably learned a lot about the workings of all computers from the experience. Yes it is pretty easy to build a PC, but to do the troubleshooting is where the experience comes in.

The windows platform is simply a billion times more open and complicated than Mac, due to the open hardware and software. All the hardware innovations come from PC hardware makers, Apple hasnt advanced the PC hardware platform at all, apart from bringing EFI to the mainstream. Conversely Mac is more elegant and streamlined than Win, thats its strength.

Im not even sure why people argue over Mac v PC, its horses for courses. Theyre both great, they both suck.

[adventurepants_]

that is what is bugging me most about windows, every time some friend with a PC wants to try a controller or keyboard or card we / i have he needs the internet for driver download, install, blah so i already freak out how much time you need for simple shit like that. PCs do suck.

PCs suck because you dont know how to work the internet and download a driver? If that freaks you out, you should reduce your stimulus input.

for me time is money, and there a PC is shite, i know you can get them smoothly to work, but the hours you need to invest to make that happen to run a PC for years and years... smoothly... are in no relation ship.

thats just incorrect. set it up right, once, the first time, and it ticks over for years.

[SubFunk]

that is what is bugging me most about windows, every time some friend with a PC wants to try a controller or keyboard or card we / i have he needs the internet for driver download, install, blah so i already freak out how much time you need for simple shit like that. PCs do suck.

PCs suck because you dont know how to work the internet and download a driver? If that freaks you out, you should reduce your stimulus input.

for me time is money, and there a PC is shite, i know you can get them smoothly to work, but the hours you need to invest to make that happen to run a PC for years and years... smoothly... are in no relation ship.

thats just incorrect. set it up right, once, the first time, and it ticks over for years.

i would be convinced not just reading it. but once seeing it for real, unfortunately never happened in my live... so far.

but hey everyone to his own... and have fun next time on the net downloading and installing a driver. cause i am to stupid to share the fun. damn.

[mooncaine]

Mac. I've used both.

You could probably guess, from the sarcasm in some these thread posts, whether a post is helpful in answering this question, or is just... time-wasting crap.

[gjm]

blah, blah.

i think this is a bit misleading gjm...

Yeah. Its not meant to be though. Its just a bitter after taste thing really. It relates only to me and the hoops I had jumped through. I still have the quad, but I gave it to the wife coz her old P4 died and she needed something better anyway for her imaging and web building. I am happy that I can pretty well look after it for her now, and this forum was great with helping me get there.

[djsynchro]

PC!!!!

[djsynchro]

MAC!!!!