Need Advice On Buying My First Mac!, help a newbie out..... Options

[astralweeks]

hello all,

i'm about to dive into the wonderful world of apple computers for 2 things: audio and video. I have used (and built) PC's for years, but i'm ready to get semi-professional with my productions and there is really no way to do that without using a mac. BUT: i know little about Mac's in general, let alone the specific things i need for audio applications.

i've been checking out different power mac systems, and as of right now a g5 is out of the question, so i'm looking at g4. should i get a dual processor? or a faster single processor? exactly what speed CPU should i be looking at when i go to buy a system? my friend has a dual 1 ghz g4 he wants to sell me: how solid would this system be for my needs?

i've messed around with recording on PC's before, so i know more ram = better, faster HDD = better, etc....i'm just wondering if the transition to mac will be an easy and productive one.

if anyone could help me out i'd really appreciate it!

[astralweeks]

as for the audio you say multiple tracks of audio.
do you mean you want to record mulitple tracks at once?
maybe say 8 audio tracks or midi tracks in at the same time? or do you mean you want to simply playback lots of tracks?

thanks again for the long and informative response

what i want to do is record at least 4 audio tracks at once, and be able to play back 24-ish. basically just a good demo situation for a rock band.