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Your opinion on the mac vs pc argument

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 4:12 pm
by hayze99
I know this is posted often, but it can always do with a refresh.

Anyway, my studio lappy has died on me completely. It was powerful as fuck, but it's dead as a doorknob. I'm thinking about getting a mac, but I just know that whatever hardware I get in a mac I could get half price in a dell. I've had an awesome experience with dell so far. My laptop before the last was a dell and it was nothing but fantastic. Well built, cheap and good support.

So, are macs really better with music making and DJing? I use Reason, and I usually just find macs to be slow and sluggish, but I know they're stable. I'd have to go for something like a macbook, or the lowest tier of macbook pro - would this lag out if I was running Reason, Adobe Photoshop, and 5 windows of hardcore horse porno? Can they play games?

Convince me mac people. Convince me.

Re: Your opinion on the mac vs pc argument

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 4:20 pm
by corpu5
either's good, there isnt one better than the other. The only reason i'd switch to macs is if i ever wanted to use logic, and quite frankly im so happy with using ableton i dont see the need to. there's no point blowing money on a mac when a pc can do the same job. The new ableton 8.1.3 update means that ableton works like a ruddy dream on my crappy dell 2.1ghz and 2gb of ddr2 ram. I say stick to what u know best and just work with it. The likes of skream got big way before they got a mac, dont even get me started on burial. Its not the tools its the talent. macs look sick but there's no point if you're doing fine with a pc, whether or not you own a mac or a pc, it's not gonna improve your production skills and make you big in the scene, it's the time you put in with the tools you're comfortable with.
peace.

Re: Your opinion on the mac vs pc argument

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 4:22 pm
by antics
I believe DJs tend towards Macs because they don't crash much, which is fairly useful for live performances...

Re: Your opinion on the mac vs pc argument

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 4:23 pm
by dubmatters
awaits flood of bs...

You won't really get an objective opinion I'm afraid.

If your considering a mac at least go and try a decent one out before you decide.

The new i5/i7 macbook pro's look nice.

Re: Your opinion on the mac vs pc argument

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 4:24 pm
by corpu5
oh and i actually bought a sick imac (2.66ghz dual core, 4gb ddr3 ram) for £500 off ebay but sold it straight away after realising i could probably have done somthing better with my money since my dell laptop is doing fine atm.

Re: Your opinion on the mac vs pc argument

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 4:29 pm
by Depone
YES X π

Re: Your opinion on the mac vs pc argument

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 4:33 pm
by Hellomadame
As I said in an earlier post, but no one cared about it :

There's also a thing you need to consider here. As far as I know a lot of good VST and AU out there takes a lot of place and CPU usage during your production. Mac uses only 10% of the power of the CPU to run the Mac program and PC uses nearly 30 to 40% of his CPU to run windows. So mac lets you use more power to do your demanding stuff.


I've bought a mac mini recently for ... 899$ don't know in english pound though. 4g of ram and 2,56Ghz which is pretty nice. Also 4g of ram on a Mac equals nearly the double of ram in a PC so 4g of ram on a mac = 6 to 8G of ram for pc.Plus you don't have to worry about virus which is a big up also. So I'm totally mac.

Also you can use LOGIC AND BOTH REASON 4 which is great that's what I do.

Re: Your opinion on the mac vs pc argument

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 4:43 pm
by Sharmaji
it's an oft-argued argument, for one.

Really in this day and age, it comes down to what you like to work on and how you like to work.

When i first started producing (01?), PC's really were not acceptable at working with audio. That changed quickly, but i'd already cast my lot w/ mac, so... that's what i do. I also really like logic and the mac os, which is stable as hell.

Re: Your opinion on the mac vs pc argument

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 4:48 pm
by mc wayne
heard a rumour, mac users take it up de bumhole?

Re: Your opinion on the mac vs pc argument

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 5:20 pm
by +3
Depone wrote:YES X π
LOL

Re: Your opinion on the mac vs pc argument

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 5:23 pm
by collige
Hellomadame wrote:As I said in an earlier post, but no one cared about it :

There's also a thing you need to consider here. As far as I know a lot of good VST and AU out there takes a lot of place and CPU usage during your production. Mac uses only 10% of the power of the CPU to run the Mac program and PC uses nearly 30 to 40% of his CPU to run windows. So mac lets you use more power to do your demanding stuff.


I've bought a mac mini recently for ... 899$ don't know in english pound though. 4g of ram and 2,56Ghz which is pretty nice. Also 4g of ram on a Mac equals nearly the double of ram in a PC so 4g of ram on a mac = 6 to 8G of ram for pc.Plus you don't have to worry about virus which is a big up also. So I'm totally mac.

Also you can use LOGIC AND BOTH REASON 4 which is great that's what I do.
No one cared because you're wrong. :roll:

I'm strictly on the Mac side, but this just isn't true.

Re: Your opinion on the mac vs pc argument

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 5:24 pm
by gnome
Whats a MAC and this Pc thing you talk about?

Re: Your opinion on the mac vs pc argument

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 5:33 pm
by Hurtdeer
well a mac is a computer that some people have used to make some fantastic music, and a pc is a computer that some people have used to make some fantastic music

Re: Your opinion on the mac vs pc argument

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 5:38 pm
by gravity
my opinion is who the fuck cares? if it works for you then it works.

Re: Your opinion on the mac vs pc argument

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 6:08 pm
by Hellomadame
collige wrote:
Hellomadame wrote:As I said in an earlier post, but no one cared about it :

There's also a thing you need to consider here. As far as I know a lot of good VST and AU out there takes a lot of place and CPU usage during your production. Mac uses only 10% of the power of the CPU to run the Mac program and PC uses nearly 30 to 40% of his CPU to run windows. So mac lets you use more power to do your demanding stuff.


I've bought a mac mini recently for ... 899$ don't know in english pound though. 4g of ram and 2,56Ghz which is pretty nice. Also 4g of ram on a Mac equals nearly the double of ram in a PC so 4g of ram on a mac = 6 to 8G of ram for pc.Plus you don't have to worry about virus which is a big up also. So I'm totally mac.

Also you can use LOGIC AND BOTH REASON 4 which is great that's what I do.
No one cared because you're wrong. :roll:

I'm strictly on the Mac side, but this just isn't true.

Well I might be wrong but when I bought my mac I spoke for nearly 1 hour with the guy and I aksed him what were the differences between that and a PC (since I was a pc before) and he told me that Mac uses less CPU than Windows to run the whole program. I also considered buying a PC and asked another seller if this was true and he confirmed. Maybe It's a selling technique ? I don't know what makes it that it's not true (or maybe it's about the Ram thing) ?

Re: Your opinion on the mac vs pc argument

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 6:34 pm
by SunkLo
The ram part is bullshit too :roll:
Maybe you were thinking of the ram limitations of 32 bit? X64 is the way to go anyway.
Or maybe hard drive space?
At idle, windows 7 uses 1% cpu on my i7 clocked at 2.66, and that's probably just because my cpu meter rounds up

Don't trust anything the guys in the Apple store tell you. They're sales agents, they make shit up. Like that poor chap that had a guy tell him Logic would work on his pc. I guess he expected him to get home, try it out and think "Damn this won't install, Pc's are such junk, I'm gonna go buy a Mac Pro!"

The stability thing is no longer an issue. I haven't seen a BSoD in so long, I almost miss it. The only time I'll see this pc crash is when I test stability after overclocking the processor to almost double its speed. (Ooh a bit of extra value he says?)
So how's this for a conversion: Mac with 2.66 Ghz cpu = Pc with 4.2 Ghz cpu (with the extra money you save you'll have more than enough to pay for adequate cooling)

To me buying a Mac is like getting your cheek stapled to the floor while an attractive woman empties out your wallet. Sure the lady's attractive but with a pc you're free to lay her out and still have enough cash for room service.

Re: Your opinion on the mac vs pc argument

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 6:43 pm
by jolly wailer
macs are really stable

Re: Your opinion on the mac vs pc argument

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 6:44 pm
by alex_l
hayze99 wrote: So, are macs really better with music making and DJing?
No, I think there is no difference between a well set up PC and a well set up mac for music. I am currently a mac user because of Logic, but that is the only reason I switched. I love the OS as well but the last Windows I used was XP so I can't compare to the newer ones
hayze99 wrote: I use Reason, and I usually just find macs to be slow and sluggish, but I know they're stable. I'd have to go for something like a macbook, or the lowest tier of macbook pro - would this lag out if I was running Reason, Adobe Photoshop, and 5 windows of hardcore horse porno?
I have a low end imac and a low end macbook (non-pro) and I can get them both to work pretty hard with no lag on audio. They are a bit slower at photoshop processing but my girlfriend does a lot of design work on an equivalent mac system and has never had much trouble. Obviously you wouldn't have all those windows open at once
hayze99 wrote: Can they play games?
Valve have just launched Steam for the mac so although they have always sucked for games this is likely to get much better over the coming years.

If you do decide to go mac, do a LOT of homework and make sure you buy at the right time - the macbook (white) is due for an imminent upgrade, the MBP is relatively recently upgraded, and the imac / pro I would probably hold off on getting if you can. Also check out the refurbished models on the store for discounts, or find a student to buy it for you at a discount. Never buy ram etc from apple cause you pay a premium.

Re: Your opinion on the mac vs pc argument

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 6:51 pm
by Hellomadame
SunkLo wrote:The ram part is bullshit too :roll:
Maybe you were thinking of the ram limitations of 32 bit? X64 is the way to go anyway.
Or maybe hard drive space?
At idle, windows 7 uses 1% cpu on my i7 clocked at 2.66, and that's probably just because my cpu meter rounds up

Don't trust anything the guys in the Apple store tell you. They're sales agents, they make shit up. Like that poor chap that had a guy tell him Logic would work on his pc. I guess he expected him to get home, try it out and think "Damn this won't install, Pc's are such junk, I'm gonna go buy a Mac Pro!"

The stability thing is no longer an issue. I haven't seen a BSoD in so long, I almost miss it. The only time I'll see this pc crash is when I test stability after overclocking the processor to almost double its speed. (Ooh a bit of extra value he says?)
So how's this for a conversion: Mac with 2.66 Ghz cpu = Pc with 4.2 Ghz cpu (with the extra money you save you'll have more than enough to pay for adequate cooling)

To me buying a Mac is like getting your cheek stapled to the floor while an attractive woman empties out your wallet. Sure the lady's attractive but with a pc you're free to lay her out and still have enough cash for room service.

Well ... thank you ! I guess I've made myself a really big noob here. I was being to naive, first time I was buying a mac and actually thought he was telling me the truth. Well ... next time I see him something must be done ... *reload gun*.

Re: Your opinion on the mac vs pc argument

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 7:17 pm
by Coppola
Take money out of the equation and regarding functionality, I find Macs so much easier and nicer to use than PCs. The desktop, dock, finder, window layout and applications makes much more sense to me that PC and as a laptop Macs look nicer too.

Money into the equation, it is purely personal and relies on how much money you wish to spend.