Ableton Forum

I'm on the hunt for a new laptop, and would really like it to have a firewire 800 port, which as far as I'm aware only comes as standard on the Macbook Pro. This would be my main reason for switching to Mac from PC, so i need to know if its worth the hassle, ie: is it as simple as re-installing everything and putting the plugins in the right place and then just opening up the old PC live sets? I have a couple VST plugins such at the Pro 53 which I'm sure wont work, which is down side. Are there any more hurdles to switching? Maybe someone knows of a PC laptop with a built in firewire 800 port?

First there's the castration, then the estrogen pills, you'll need a new wardrobe to match the cover to your mac laptop, an emo haircut and you'll have to quit your job.

I'm a life long Windows user who recently bought a MacBook when I got a laptop. As I ultimately expected, there has been good and bad things about it. It's stable, not prone to viruses, and rather elegant. Yet the software selection (that works on MacIntel) is still very, very limited compared to the MS world. Also, the supposed ability to drag and drop an app into the trash as a complete uninstall is absolutely false....to the extent that I'd say it's false advertising! IF an app has an actual install/uninstall app, it should work much, much more reliably than Windows. But for apps that use drag and drop install, many of these also end up creating files in other folders on your HD when they are run, and these are NOT removed when you do a drag to trash uninstall.

First off, if you're buying MacIntel (and you'd almost be silly not to) make sure in advance that all the apps you want to use will run on it! Just because it's an OS X app doesn't mean it will work fine on MacIntel.

Live 5.2.2 and above run fine on MacIntel. You shouldn't have an issue with any data. You are correct that any plugins are not moveable.

What are your other essential apps you need to run on your music laptop? Have you already checked if these (or suitable replacements) will work?

Keep in mind, you also have the option of using Boot Camp to install WinXP. I did this, and especially with the newer Boot Camp, the performance is great, and there are zero compatability issues with WinXP apps.

Good luck!

you are switching to mac for a firewire 800 port?
that is ridiculous.
firewire sucks for audio. search the forums for "pcmcia firewire"

covered very well. most firewire people run at 6ms latency. most cardbus people can run 2ms. that is a HUGE difference if you play drums or guitar through the computer.

biggest mac intel disappointment: 1000x times less software.

hardware is disappointing. google "apple defects"

dont fall for the hype.

veggieryan wrote:you are switching to mac for a firewire 800 port?
that is ridiculous.
firewire sucks for audio. search the forums for "pcmcia firewire"

covered very well. most firewire people run at 6ms latency. most cardbus people can run 2ms. that is a HUGE difference if you play drums or guitar through the computer.

biggest mac intel disappointment: 1000x times less software.

hardware is disappointing. google "apple defects"

dont fall for the hype.

Firewire sucks for audio ? what do you base that on ?
1000x less software.. not true again... not Quality.. there are a ton of repeat crap software for Windows alot with some good quality software.. there was over 4000 UB's for the Macintels within 6 months and that figure is way higer now. how many pieces of software does a person need? probably aboput 20 - 20 tops if they are the right ones. I am a PC user for 20 years and now mostly use a Mac .. and exclusively for Audio i can can assure you the firewaire is awesome for audio I get 3ms latency on my firewire 400 with my Tascam on a Macintel system the difference between 2ms and 6ms no human can detect according to the experts.. actually 12ms down is near impossible to detect evidently I have a ton of audio software that is great plenty of plugin.. most manuafactures make a Mac version and some software like Logic 7 Pro is only available on the Mac and nothing touches it for bundled softsynths and efffects plugins

Dont listen to the guy who says firewire sucks he's the one full of hype and obviously has no interest in giving you an accurate answer
I have had no issues with any Mac yeah sure the first rev of some of the intel Macs had issues but thats well sorted out I just got a macbook Pro 17" core 2 duo and it is amazing. I run Windows on Bootcamp (dual boot) and OSX for my audio work.

I will say this if you just want a firewire 800 port and everything else in your windows system you are happy with I would suggest you dont switch. Macs are great but there is a learning curve and i have no idea what plugs etc you own/use and it would possibly take a bit of reserach on whats what.

hilarious reply...
not sure if they fixed all the issues with the first rev. ...
http://www.macbookrandomshutdown.com/20 ... /get-a-pc/
anyway a macbook can always come handy as personal defense weapon
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=macsaber

zappen wrote:hilarious reply...
not sure if they fixed all the issues with the first rev. ...
http://www.macbookrandomshutdown.com/20 ... /get-a-pc/
anyway a macbook can always come handy as personal defense weapon
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=macsaber

Well as a rule with anything in print/text, I won't trust it if they use more than one exclamation mark.

You can run apps like Photoshop CS2, Word etc. that are not IntelMac just fine. But it's not good to run non-intel apps as semi-pro software like us lot are (audio apps)... however Final Cut Pro works fine.

Luckily nearly all the software I want to run is now Universal.

It'll be a few days before you get used to the OSX way, so just plan accordingly. Don't get a new laptop before a big gig or something. I just switched too, and it was mostly a smooth process. First 2-3 days were a little bit bewildering, but OSX really is easy to use, and I'm very glad I made the switch.

Once you go mac, you never go back!!

I'm on my 8th day with a mac, and its just soooooooooooooooo much better.

I was a pc purist for 15 years, even defended it on occasion, but I wish I'd made the change earlier.

If you do change remember one thing.

"It just works" - even if it took extra programmes on a pc, in the mac, it just works.

I highly recommend one

Yeah recent switcher here, just thought I'd say that you won't be dissapointed.

Took a while for me to become used to OSX, but once you do, it's great. You'll never go back.

That said, I'm just about to duel boot, so I can have best of both worlds!

I love everything about my MacBook, it's by far the best computer I've owned.

Most necessary software now is UB, you can pretty much say once Native Instruments went UB, most other stuff had been for a good few months

Just double check what programs you used most in XP are UB and available for OSX.

For the record I've had a Rev1 MacBook and never suffered from the Random Shut down problem, I think it was over exaggerated. In anycase the Core2Duos are out now and I'd be quite certain the teething problems have been ironed out.

mac sux. trance beatzz r sooooooo much better on pc!!!!!!!!!!!

as soon as you'll get used to close your windows clicking on the left of your screen instead of the right is 10 times easyer, and looks absolutely better!!!

LOL, no kidding. I'm always going to the left side of the screen to close XP apps here at work. Or hitting Windows+M to try and minimize an app.

Or hitting Windows+N to try and open up a new Windows Explorer window. Grrr....

Well,
I know its not "cool"
But I stand behind what I said.
There absolutely is a difference between 6ms and 2ms.
there is a difference between 3ms and 2ms as well.
Why?

Well, all the "experts" you are talking about are not musicians.
If you play piano, 10ms is no big deal. because there is 25ms of mechanical delay from when you press the key to when the hammer hits the string.

BUT.. for drummers and guitar players.. not so.. you are used to hearing sound when you TOUCH the string or drum head. Thats more like 1ms or less when you are right next to the drum or guitar.
Why is 6ms unusable? because its 6ms in and 6ms out.. 12ms total.
UNUSABLE.
most idiots cant tell.. but a good musician will not be able to play with the delay.. especially with certain styles of music. I have experienced this many times and the only solution was to go cardbus with an rme multiface or a cardbus echo.
the sound of a soundcraft digital 328 hooked up via adat to cardbus is UNPARALLED. i have never heard anything sweeter. and with pci we are able to monitor thru effects and its USUABLE!

how about 3ms on firewire? 3ms in + 5ms out =8ms what? 5ms out? yes. because there is always 2ms extra with firewire that they are not telling you about. this is well documented. do a search. furthermore, it uses more cpu than pci-cardbus so you cant do much with it.
UNUSABLE..

And I tried to "switch" to Mac.. and was Hugely disappointed. Sorry, but it was all fluff to me.
I like the way vista looks and works much better.
Photoshop CS2 on intel mac is a JOKE!!!!!!!
you have to be kidding.
So is most of the software.
sorry.
PC has so much more to offer.
The vst's are so much better.

Thats the truth.
The rest of you watch too many apple commercials.

the buttons to close and resize windows are on the left

other than that its pretty straightforward if you have half a brain