Speaking of Macs

[ruairioflaherty]

Mac Devotee here. On my 8th mac in 10 or so years, have always had several on the go at once. Currently I have an ageing dual 1.8GHz as my studio machine and a Macbook Air as my dayjob machine. The G5 is almost comically stable despite the abuse I've given it. I can record 12 tracks at 9624 while browsing and keeping Office, Mail and Photoshop open. I'm totally over tweaking my computers, my life is too busy and short. In 5 years on OSX I've never (that's right never) thrown away the Pro Tools preference file (supposedly a necessity everytime the wind changes direction). I've installed anything I wanted and frequently have scanners, drives, keys and all sorts of sh*t on every available port.

The Macbook Air is an incredible piece of lifestyle engineering. To read the myriad of BS threads on the internet one would believe it's a crippled designer piece of crap. In fact it's fundamentally changed how and where I work. It's so light I bring it everywhere without a thought. The battery life is a real 3.5 hours every time. The screen is clear and bright and finally the processor is more than fast enough for email, web, graphic design and general office monkey stuff. I got mine in from the States and if it broke I'd spend the same money again in the morning to replace it. The lack of a cd drive is a non issue. I bought the external and have used it three times since I got it. The lack of ports is another non issue. I print, surf and backup wirelessly.

I have a new PC laptop which they gave me for work. It's pathetic. Nothing else to say. I spent my own coin to avoid using it. I did install FPD on it...

Chris it sounds to me like you're judging the mac experience on the frankenstein machines you choose to put together. The beauty of mac is that you don't have to get under the hood to keep it running. Should've taken Marty up on his offer of a G4 Powerbook :green:

Cheers,
Ruairi
(pissed on good wine in Provence)

 

[Emperor-TK]

[quote author="AnalogPackrat"]we haven't heard much about what Chris will be doing with his new laptop.[/quote]

This one is going to by my "civilian computer", general home use, web, documents, spreadsheets, home movie editing, simple drawings/layouts/CAD, photo editing, itunes, and CD/DVD burning. I won't be doing any audio on this computer.

-Chris

 

[Svart]

The beauty of mac is that you don't have to get under the hood to keep it running.

True, but I have to point out that you can't get under the hood to keep it running if you had to..

Also interesting is the duality of Mac users to tell how many macs they have had over the years. I've read 8 in 10 years, 17 in (very conservative guessing) 20 years in this thread and more of the same in many other threads that I have read looking for clues to fix my ibooks. Yes you are proud you have had so many, but you are also telling us that you have bought a Mac almost every year that you have used them? That makes me ask: Why? Do they "wear out" or is it the fact that you couldn't really upgrade/tweak them sufficiently to keep using them?

 

[ruairioflaherty]

[quote author="Svart"]Yes you are proud you have had so many, but you are also telling us that you have bought a Mac almost every year that you have used them? That makes me ask: Why? Do they "wear out" or is it the fact that you couldn't really upgrade/tweak them sufficiently to keep using them?[/quote]

A very good question! I'll answer it the long way -

-My first two machines were a G3 imac 400MHz and a G3 400MHz desktop. The G3 Imac was the core machine for my record store and online business for 4 years. When I sold out my share of that business I took it home and used it as the accounts machine for my studio. Recently I installed 10.4 and gave the machine to my sister, she's just getting going on email and the web and will run her new holiday home website from that machine.

The G3 desktop (bought used!) was the core machine for my original studio running PT Digi 01. I sold out my share of that business about 5 years ago buy my brother continued using it in a commercial studio until last year!

-My next machine was a G4 laptop 500MHz, a great machine. Did all sorts of work on that but sold it to upgrade to a 1 GHz machine with DVD writer. I still have this machine, used it for years as a mobile rig with a Magma chassis and tehn gave it to my wife who stated her very succesful copywriting business on it. Took it back last year when I was given that godawful PC and used it for my dayjob. Then I bought me a Macbook Air.

-When I sold out my share in the studio to my brother I bought a G4 tower used for about 1000 euro. I used this machine with PT HD and OS9 for a few years and loved it, stable it was. Then one Christmas my wife bought me a trick new 20 inch Apple display with DVI connector. This was only compatible with OSX machines (a sneaky trick I'll give you that). Cashflow was good so I sold the G4 to a friend (who still uses it) and bought my G5 machine new which I use to this day.

-I've been a party to some other Mac purchases, my wife's Ibook, my business partner's Imac way back when. All good machines.


In terms of repairs I've replaced the firewire socket on the G4 laptop under warranty and paid for a repair to the PSU in the G5 tower.

Hope that answers your question and explains my loyalty to the brand somewhat. I believe every machine I've owned is still in use, even the 400 MHz G3 tower is running Digi 01 somewhere.

Cheers,
Ruairi

 

[Emperor-TK]

[quote author="ruairioflaherty"]The lack of a cd drive is a non issue. I bought the external and have used it three times since I got it. The lack of ports is another non issue. I print, surf and backup wirelessly. [/quote]

Is the external CD drive wireless or a USB one? I'm kind of scratching my head over the lack of a CD drive. I use mine all the time to rip and play CDs and burn DVD's. I move my laptop around my house a lot and don't want to have to unplug three wires every time I do that. I used to have to do that with my external DVD burner and storage drive. I don't want to go back to that hassle, with cables falling behind my desk, and the clutter of the external drives on the desk. I want sleek and streamlined, one box, one wire. I also don't like the idea of using another computer as a virtual drive. I would find that to be a hassle, especially since the only other computer I would do this with is on another floor of my house and belongs to my wife.

Can you get wireless external storage? I have about 300 gigs of multimedia that I want to live on my laptop. I don't want to have to plug in an external drive in order to find some old rarely used file. Even with wireless external storage, I wouldn't have those files with me when I traveled, unless I packed the storage drive too.

Then there is the issue about the small screen and slower processor. Even if both the CD and external HDD are wireless, it looks like I'm in for the Mac Book Pro if I go for OSX.

-Chris

 

[Svart]

A very good question! I'll answer it the long way -

:thumb:

 

[ruairioflaherty]

[quote author="Svart"]

A very good question! I'll answer it the long way -

:thumb:[/quote]

Do you have any idea how slowly I type? That took ages and all you do is a thumbs up emoticon? :green:

 

[ruairioflaherty]

[quote author="Emperor-TK"]

Is the external CD drive wireless or a USB one? [/quote]

I bought the Apple one. It's self powered on a 6 inch USB lead. Small enough to through into the laptop bag but I rarely if ever do.

If storage and speed are important to you then you should probably look at a Macbook Pro. The internal drive on the Air is only 80 gigs. I don't like listening to music on my computer so I don't have any music on it at all. To me music and computers = work. I like cds! I rarely listen to music when I'm working or on the move, the car being the only exception.

For wireless backup I use My G5 network via Wifi, 2TB or so hanging of of that. I intend buying an Apple Time Capsule shortly for my wife and I to backup the laptops daily, it seems like an elegant solution to the problem of backup discipline.

I don't have a great suggestion for carrying 300+ gigs of files on the road - anyone else?

Cheers,
Ruairi

 

[Emperor-TK]

Thanks Ruairi. The HP I'm looking at can hold 640 Gigs on two internal drives. I'd probably buy it with only one 320 Gig drive and upgrade later to save some cash. But then I'd be stuck with Vista. :green: I'm also considering a dual boot Vista/Linux computer, but that's a whole 'nuther can of worms too.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[CroatianSensation]

I've personally owned 4 macs in 20 or so years.
First one was an Apple IIc.
Remember the movie Explorers? It's the computer River Phoenix uses to run their spaceship/treehouse.
Still have it...still works...last time I booted it up I played some Castle Wolfenstein.
The other ones I've owned are still in use.
Power Mac 8600 upgraded to a G4 with a firewire card and a sata card...running os 10.4.
Not the fastest machine anymore but good for internet and other tasks.
G4 Ibook (late 2004) i use daily for teaching and general use...no longer as white as it once was but hey.
And finally a 2.3 dual g5 tower for my studio.

 

[Animatic]

[quote author="Svart"]

The beauty of mac is that you don't have to get under the hood to keep it running.

True, but I have to point out that you can't get under the hood to keep it running if you had to..

Also interesting is the duality of Mac users to tell how many macs they have had over the years. I've read 8 in 10 years, 17 in (very conservative guessing) 20 years in this thread and more of the same in many other threads that I have read looking for clues to fix my ibooks. Yes you are proud you have had so many, but you are also telling us that you have bought a Mac almost every year that you have used them? That makes me ask: Why? Do they "wear out" or is it the fact that you couldn't really upgrade/tweak them sufficiently to keep using them?[/quote]

I don't think I have had so many.
But if you assume I only used one at a time you are wrong.

I had 3 NeXT machines networked together and parallel processing
large video and animation files; one controler and 3 doing the job syncronously.
I had at that same time 3 macs doing different jobs including;
video editing and audio production on dedicated machines and
an office or art work machine.

I stradled the transisions Apple 1, 2 Apple IIc 1st Mac, Mac II,
8100 PPC's, G4's dual and single Proc , 1st generation Mac Laptop. etc.

So I sometimes had 3 generations at the same time,
doing some intensive stuff like 3D animation and video
I needed power upgrades, much like PC's did for the same job.
No duality here, just practicality.
Also I was doing HUGE Photoshop files for ads in NYC.
Applications often run ahead of mechanical ways to implement.
So faster and more RAM were plus's. Didn't invalidate the older
machines for most jobs.

You most definitely can get into Mac's and mod them,
the mags are filled with info on that. I generally don't.

You just use Berklee UNIX, C++ and not the API for Windows.
Yes XP and NT use UNIX in some implementation. There are plenty of
development API's and compilers etc. Apple just makes it harder
for the average snook to make a gross mistake.
You have to KNOW HOW, to make a gross mistake.
A plus for consumers IMHO.

I studied a bit of NeXTStep / OpenStep C++ languages.
Built a NeXT calculator from scratch etc. when I had my NeXT
machines, but was never into programming that much,
I am dyslexic a bit, and programing and dyslexia are very incompatible.

Mac's have a Unix console for complete access to the OS for
those with the skills.

I also built a Tyan Tiger dual CPU AMD PC for Maya 3D and After Affects running W2K.
So it's not like I don't understand both sides of the issue.

 

[Svart]

[quote author="ruairioflaherty"]Do you have any idea how slowly I type? That took ages and all you do is a thumbs up emoticon? :green: [/quote]

:thumb:

 

[Gus]

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/07/09/nvidia-g84-g86-bad

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/07/31/hp-pays-half-nvidia-problems

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/07/27/dell-models-defective-nvidia

http://www.eetimes.com/news/semi/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=208802249

I don't know how true this is but it might be something to keep in mind. Found the links at slashdot

 

[mitsos]

[quote author="Animatic"]Go with what ya know and work with what ya got. [/quote]
I think that kind of sums up your situation.

I wouldn't worry about the number pad. You'll miss it at first, but me, after years of strictly laptop usage, I hardly reach for it on my desktop anymore.

The only thing I'd miss on a PC is the 6-pin Firewire. OR 9-pin firewire 800 of the MBP.

If you are really hardcore, go visit http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

People have been installing(and dual and triple booting) OSX on their PCs. You can find lists of "compatible" laptops, as well as desktop components. YMMV, but for me, it is my next intended computer experience.

good luck.

 

[Emperor-TK]

Gus, this is very helpful. One of the HP models I was pricing uses the effected 8000 series GPUs. The other newer HP uses the newer 9000 series. The Mac uses the effected 8000 series.

Lately I've been leaning toward the HP with 500GB of storage.

-Chris

 

[Animatic]

Well it sure looks like Nvidia has screwed the pooch big time.

I suspect they have Microsoft disease :
Marketing riding herd on production testing.
We sold it already, get it out there, or we replace you.

 

[Svart]

I switched from ATI to Nvidia because of price/performance.. Seems that I made the wrong choice!

 

[Emperor-TK]

[quote author="Animatic"]I wouldn't worry about the number pad. You'll miss it at first, but me, after years of strictly laptop usage, I hardly reach for it on my desktop anymore.

And my one armed uncle rarely tries to scratch his ass with the hand he left on the shores of Normandy.... :wink:

Seriously though, I use a standard 15" lap top at work and miss the number pad a lot. At my last job, I had to buy a USB number pad, which I might do again. I work in a chemistry lab and have to do a lot of manual data entry still. I probably could get away without one at home, but I wouldn't be happy about it. I occasionally bring my work home with me and leave the work laptop at work.

Running OSX on my PC would be absolutely ideal. Thanks a bunch for that link. I'm going to start doing some research on that, because it is looking like the best route for me if I can pull it off. I've even thought about getting both the HP and a Mac mini. The two computers would still be $800 cheaper than the MBP that I want (but of course less convenient). The OSX-PC would solve everything.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[Emperor-TK]

Ok, I pulled the trigger on the HP today. Thanks again to all the Mac guys for the help and suggestions. Unfortunately Apple didn't have a laptop that met my needs this time. I still want to get into OSX though, so my plan is to buy a Mac mini or a used Mac desktop within the year. I will also try to see if I can get OSX on the HP when the dust settles. In all fairness to Apple, there didn't really seem to be many other PC manufacturers that could compete with the HP at the price I got either:

HP Pavilion dv7t
- Vista Home Premium (64-bit)
- Core 2 Duo (2.4 GHz, 1066FSB, 3GB L2)
- 17.0" display (1680 x 1050)
- 3GB DDR2
- 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
- HDMI and VGA video out (my TV has both, but no DVI)
- 320GB 7200RPM SATA HDD's (2 drives, will upgrade later to >1 TB :thumb: )
- eSATA port
- Microphone + Webcam
- A,G,N WiFi
- Bluetooth
- LightScribe Double layer DVD burner
- Integrated HDTV Hybrid Tuner with remote
- Excel, Word, Powerpoint
- Number pad
- Plays videos, audio, DVDs, and photos without booting Windows
- Stereo speakers with "subwoofer". (Don't laugh, my current HP 17" actually sounds pretty darned good considering).
- 2 headphone jacks

$1575 with free shipping and a free printer.

The only drawbacks with the HP that the Mac doesn't suffer from are:
Vista OS
Hp doesn't have a multitouch track pad
HP has a glossy screen

I found several manufacturers offering matte anti-glare adhesive films online, so the last one might not be as much of an issue as I originally feared.

$14 anti-glare:
Photodon

Thanks,
Chris

 

[ruairioflaherty]

- Plays videos, audio, DVDs, and photos without booting Windows
/quote]

This is a great start! Now if only you could run your DAW, simulators and pcb layout programs without booting Windows you'd have one hell of a machine :green:

Seriously though best of luck with your purchase. No matter which way you slice it Macs are seriously expensive for what they give you hardware wise. For most people (but not all) the value of the complete package becomes apparent once you live with one for a while, for first timers it's almost impossible to understand why they are so expensive.

Cheers,
Ruairi