buying a mbp... advice?

[ogunslinger]

Hey guys I got a quick question,

so either tomorrow or on Wednesday I'm going to buy myself a new macbook pro
I'm going to get the basic 15 inch which is like 1,699 with my student discount, I think. Anyways getting to the point, I'm going to purchase logic 9 as well which is $450
So I'm at 2148 (roughly) and I have a budget of 2300 (whats on my apple card.)

My question is, what would be the better upgrade for me to do at the moment?
Should I upgrade from 4 to 8GB of ram? ($180)
or should I buy the hi res glossy screen ($90) (thinking of going with this) - because I could always add more ram on later?

I'm buying this computer for school, I'm basically just going to be using logic 9/live 8 not really doing any video editing or anything so I'm not even sure if I would ever even need 8GB of ram?

thanks :p and does anyone recommend buying applecare? I was just going to wait till later this year and then purchase it so I can fit everything in my price range

Thanks again

[CoreyGoesRawr]

Haven't got a clue about macs but 8gb ram sounds lovely...

[Trebek]

I have last years 13" MBP, and I upgraded the RAM to 8GB and its FUCKING AWESOME!!! I would get the RAM if I was you, or get a bigger HD, cause do you really need a nice shiny screen when your not working with anything but chunks of audio n what have you? Or use that money to buy a keyboard and mouse, thats one thing I hate about laptops is the keyboard and not having a mouse. Or hell even buy a decent laptop cooling pad.

Just my input.

[ogunslinger]

Yea thats true, I thought with the high res screen that I would be able to see more of logic/ bigger arrange window etc?

It comes with a 500GB hard drive so I think I'm good on that, maybe I'll go for the ram though how much did it boost your computers performance?

Yea I wanted to get a keyboard/mouse but It's just not in the budget atm :[
already going way overboard considering I forgot to include tax and "Logic STUDIO 9" not "express" :/

[dubmatters]

Good timing! New mbp was only updated last week. Buy the best cpu and gpu u can afford. Make sure the hd is 7200 rpm(its a no cost option).

I would definetaly go for the hi rez screen, have a look in store before you choose the glossy screen though.

Buy your ram or ssd(if you plan to buy one) etc from elsewhere, you will make a saving(and get a better ssd than the ones apple provide).

[steeze]

I'd go for the RAM, if you're not doing any video editing or anything the hi-res screen would be pretty unnecessary in my opinion, I've got last years 13" MBP and the screen resolution seems pretty spot on as it is. Also, if you're getting student discount Logic Studio shouldn't be as expensive as you think, not sure about US but in the UK it's only about £120 with the discount. The performance boost from the RAM should be noticeable, although I wouldn't buy it straight from Apple, have a look at third party modules on Amazon and you can always sell the stock ones, should save you a bit more money

[ogunslinger]

I think the ram upgrade to 8GB is 180 for students, also they offer logic "express" which I think is a gimped version? but thats about $175 for students :/

theres a student edition for logic studio but thats 449$ instead of 499 I think? Maybe I'm wrong though?

I unfortunately have to purchase everything straight through apple though, So I'm kinda out of luck there on the good deals haha

[steeze]

Haha, well that sucks. I'm sorry I couldn't be any more help, just checked on the US student prices and Logic Studio is definitely $450 which is a bit odd considering the much bigger price cut over here. Yeh, Logic Express is basically a stripped down version of Pro, I don't think there's too much of a difference but it'd be worth looking into just to be sure

[ogunslinger]

forsure thanks for the help though!

looks like I'm just gona have to shell out thee cash :[ lol

[vertx]

i have a mid 2009 15" mbp, dont get 8gbb ram, 4gb is overkill as it is, i never run out using logic, only comes close when cutting hd video in final cut.

my screen res is 1440x900 but in logic it gets crowded, i just bought the hdmi/dvi cables so i can used my lcd tv as an extra monitor.

and def get the fastest hd 7200rpm option.

[bigfootspartan]

forsure thanks for the help though!

looks like I'm just gona have to shell out thee cash :[ lol

Check your university book store. You can get Logic for super cheap. I grabbed it for $190 at the U of A bookstore in Canada. Weird thing is the U of C bookstore (a three hour drive away and my home university) was selling it for $450.

Logic Studio has Sculpture, which I would say is worth a decent amount as far as price goes. I'M not sure what the other differences are... But Sculpture is pretty sweet.

[Trebek]

Having 8GB of RAM really improved the speed and running flow of.....Everything.

But the only differences between Express and Studio, is with Studio you get more synths included, maybe some plugs but I'm not sure on that. 99.9% positive that Express doesn't come with the ES2 though. (which is such a bad ass synth)

[GV1]

I have the new 13.5" MBP. I don't use it for music, but I do have 8GB ram in my iMac and it runs super smooth.

If you don't have a plastic case on you list, get one! I fell down the stairs today and my laptop went sliding down. Because of the plastic case it survived without any battle wounds. I've dropped so much stuff on it that without the case it would be battered. They are about £30 from the apple store.

And if Logic is your first DAW, try Ableton. I use both, but Logic imho don't offer much more than Ableton for Dubstep/Dance producers. I grew up on Logic from version 4 that's why I still use it today.

[GV1]

ES2 though. (which is such a bad ass synth)

^^ He knowz! It's a shame more people don't utilize the power of ES2. You could use that synth alone along with ESX24 for the drums, and create some killer tracks!

[ogunslinger]

yup ableton is dope. been using it for awhile now.

I was looking at the neoprene ( I think thats how you spell it? ) case, but now that I think of it, plastic is probably a better choice

I can really only get one upgrade and I'm still inbetween the ram or the hi-res screen...
I'm thinking hi res for better view when in logic ( I know weird but I have a hard time zooming out and using the playhead [still post-logic noob.] lol
but then again the ram would be dope...

[bigfootspartan]

yup ableton is dope. been using it for awhile now.

I was looking at the neoprene ( I think thats how you spell it? ) case, but now that I think of it, plastic is probably a better choice

I can really only get one upgrade and I'm still inbetween the ram or the hi-res screen...
I'm thinking hi res for better view when in logic ( I know weird but I have a hard time zooming out and using the playhead [still post-logic noob.] lol
but then again the ram would be dope...

In my opinion you can always upgrade the ram later. At least with my MBP I could (from 07 or 08 I believe, one of the first core 2 duo's) it was ridiculously easy, a couple of screws and it's in. Plus getting aftermarket RAM is quite a bit cheaper from what I've seen. The screen, you're stuck with that, might as well get that upgraded and change later.

Also (someones probably more knowledgable than me on this) but from what I understood RAM really only effects samplers and samples, not the synths themselves that you use. I always gathered that CPU was the most limiting factor in music production.

[filthy_]

ram dude, fuck the screen unless you do more graphic design than producing.

[GV1]

Also (someones probably more knowledgable than me on this) but from what I understood RAM really only effects samplers and samples, not the synths themselves that you use. I always gathered that CPU was the most limiting factor in music production.

Everything that is opened on your computer is stored in the RAM. So the more RAM you have the more things you can have open, and in music production that would mean more VSTs. The CPU is used to process what's in the RAM. The CPU can store data in it's registers but only for that split nano/milli second whilst the data is being processed.

Both are important.

That's all I can say without going onto detail and confusing people with geekery

[bigfootspartan]

Everything that is opened on your computer is stored in the RAM. So the more RAM you have the more things you can have open, and in music production that would mean more VSTs. The CPU is used to process what's in the RAM. The CPU can store data in it's registers but only for that split nano/milli second whilst the data is being processed.

Both are important.

That's all I can say without going onto detail and confusing people with geekery

Ahh that makes sense. Thanks for clearing that up

[lyons238]

def get the highest res screen. the gloss doesnt matter, i personally like the anti-glare anyway. but you can get cheap ram from owc.com or newegg and just do it yourself, it takes 5-10 mins. so easy. def get the hi res screen and 7200 rpm hd, then on your own time upgrade the ram if need be.