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Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 10:06 am
by robin
kenn michael wrote: Shared graphics on the Macbook is not a problem for audio apps.
In my pre-coffee state I'd forgotten we'd been through all this with the mini. I must admit I'm tempted by the new MB. I'll stick with my powerbook until the merom (core2) based mbp comes out though.

Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 10:13 am
by hacktheplanet
OH GOD OH GOD

PLEASE someone hold me back!
Please? I REALLY want the 13 inch for $1000, but there's no way in HELL I can afford and rent at the same time!

Oh man..
Fuck.

No, I must keep control of my credit card until June, when the price of Intel processors will drop.

Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 12:26 pm
by divi
4onthfloor wrote:
draff wrote:Can anyone really list out the differences in the macbook and macbook pro? I know the following:

screen size
pro has a built in mic (whoopee)

but what else? I can get the macbook with a 2 ghz duo, I can get the 120gb HD, I can get the 2gb of RAM, it has optical audio in/out, so what is the difference that causes the price gap? Is it just the technical things like front side bus, cache, etc? You know, stuff that I don't know a whole heck of alot about anyway? And does this stuff make that big of a difference?

I can deal with the smaller screen for all of the other benefits and low cost if performance is on par...

Anyone?

You can add integrated graphics and non-illuminated keys to the list, but depending on your usage, those might not make a whole lot of difference either. Also, it doesn't look like you can opt for the 7200 RPM HD on the 13. Also, I read a lot of people bitching about the "glossy" display, but I have no experience with that, so i'm not sure if that would affect your judgement. Just something else to consider.
another difference is the lack of ExpressCard/34 slot, so no way to expand it with for example a firewire card. problem: i'm using a FW400 motu828mk2 and a FW800 lacie HD with my current powerbook G4...

Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 1:00 pm
by tomperson
So, I won't be able to use my echo indigo DJ on one of these babies?

:(

Oh, and by the way, I have a laptop with 5400 60gb HD and integrated graphics (intel 915) and it runs just fine, so I think that you shouldn't be worried by the integrated graphics unless you want to squeeze the lappie to the maximum on studio production (not my case, I prefer my main PC for that).

Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 1:08 pm
by nobbystylus
You can't use the Echo Indigo with any of the new Macintel laptops, cos its not using PCMCIA... just sold mine for £80 on ebay...

Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 1:15 pm
by tomperson
I just found out by reading about ExpressCard. Too bad, it's such an elegant, portable soundcard. And i just got it in March :cry:

What options are there for really portable sound cards that will work with FW or ExpressCard???

Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 1:21 pm
by frahnque
4onthfloor wrote:
richardl wrote:Early reports indicate that the hard drive in the new MacBook can be easily upgraded by end users. As easy as upgrading RAM.

That would be the f*ckin' cat's pajamas. Thanks for the info guys!
For some early "take-apart"-pictures go here:
http://www.kodawarisan.com/k2006/archiv ... aaa_1.html

Note how easy it seems to remove the HD (seems to be pulled out from the battery-compartment).

EDIT: Sorry for repeating what has already been said. I notcied so after writing these sentences and pushing the 'submit'-button. Im just a bit over-excited at the new of this ;)

ooooh.. I _really really_ feel like getting one. The only thing that I'm a bit wondering about is that danged Intel Media Accelerator 950 with _SHARED_ (shrug) memory... Does anyone have any idea how it'd affect overall system performance? I'm used to haveing a Radeon X700 mobility card...

Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 1:40 pm
by tomperson
I repeat:
I have a lappie with integrated graphics (intel 915) and to me it runs just fine. I've managed to run it for live gigs with a 2.5 Gb set with like 20 channels (10 running at the same time at any given moment i'd say) really comfortably with live 4. For live usage I think it's quite a reasonable number, bearing in mind that it is a 1.6Ghz centrino with 768mb ram.

With live 5 I had to tune that very same set (which was a good thing anyway) so as not to get the occasional cpu hiccup. Overall my experience has been as good as my main PC box.

Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 1:52 pm
by noisetonepause
I'm making music on a 1.33 GHz G4 iBook. Before that I used a 900 MHz G3 iBook. Both have 32 MB crappy ATI video cards.

THIS THING WILL BE FINE!

(fark's ache!!)

Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 1:55 pm
by tomperson
Yeah man, exactly. And before that we were using even crappier hardware (if at all). :D

One thing that dissapoints me is that the new macbook's keyboard isn't illuminated. One of the things i liked the most about mac laptops...

Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 2:01 pm
by snowtires
kabuki wrote:BTW, External drives (Including FW400) have poor performance in Live. BAD Bottleneck. OK For the Studio, not good for live use.

Unless you load clips into RAM...
that's funny, because i noticed the exact oppposite. my external fw400 hd is the only reason i can use live in a live setting, period.

Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 2:51 pm
by divi
tomperson wrote:I just found out by reading about ExpressCard. Too bad, it's such an elegant, portable soundcard. And i just got it in March :cry:

What options are there for really portable sound cards that will work with FW or ExpressCard???
motu ultralite? probably a bit overkill if what you need is an echo replacement.
who knows, echo might come with an expresscard version.

Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 2:55 pm
by divi
divi wrote:
tomperson wrote:I just found out by reading about ExpressCard. Too bad, it's such an elegant, portable soundcard. And i just got it in March :cry:

What options are there for really portable sound cards that will work with FW or ExpressCard???
motu ultralite? probably a bit overkill if what you need is an echo replacement.
who knows, echo might come with an expresscard version.
or you get lucky and "Adaptor - ExpressCard to PCMCIA" works fast enough for audio. look for it here: http://www.duel-systems.com/products/expresscard.aspx

Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 2:58 pm
by robin
divi wrote:
tomperson wrote:I just found out by reading about ExpressCard. Too bad, it's such an elegant, portable soundcard. And i just got it in March :cry:

What options are there for really portable sound cards that will work with FW or ExpressCard???
motu ultralite? probably a bit overkill if what you need is an echo replacement.
who knows, echo might come with an expresscard version.
i got in touch with them about this when the MBP came out, they replied by saying they're working on a firewire solution.

Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 3:04 pm
by glu
I wonder how this will compare to my AMD 3400 w/1.25 GB ram. I guess it doesn't really mean shit until Live 6 is out. Damn! Have to wait it out and see.
Excited!