Is It Worth Switching To Mac?, Will a 1GHz iBook G4 handle it? Options

[Skylit]

Hello everyone,

I've been using Emagic Logic on PC for years, and now am absolutely used to it. However, as it is now owned by Apple and future support has been limited to Mac only, I find myself at a really stupid situation (and I guess many Windows Logic users are)...

I need to get myself a laptop (moving abroad for a while), but can't decide which way should I go. I'm on a really limited budget, and I have only two options available:

1. Get a 14" iBook G4 1 GHz (or 1.2 GHz at most) with 256 MB RAM, and continue working with Logic.
2. Get a Portable 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 or Athlon XP 2400+ with 512 MB RAM and switch to a different sequencer (Cubase SX perhaps).

I can't decide on this, and this dilemma has been killing me for the last couple of months. I've thought of many variants. These two choices are all I can afford at the moment. I would like to save for a better Mac, but I simply can't.

Keep in mind that I mostly use soft-synths and plug-ins. Only vocals are audio tracks. I don't mind "freezing" tracks time to time, but I wonder if a 1 GHz G4 iBook would be a wise choice in my case?

I want to stay with Logic, I need power, and I need it to be portable. And I'm on a budget.

What would you suggest?
I thank you all in advance!

[torsion]

Get the Mac, you know it makes sense!

I run Logic 6 quite easily on a five year old Power Mac G4/400mhz. I too use mostly soft synths and plug-ins. I have to use the Freeze function quite a lot, which can be a little annoying, but I would think a new 1ghz machine is likely to be far more capable, even a consumer model like the iBook.

However, 256mb is not a lot of RAM these days and you would benefit from adding more. I currently have 896mb which makes a big difference. RAM is very cheap these days (if you avoid the Apple Store!), so I recommend that you hunt around for the best price and get yourself at least an additional 256mb.

[Skylit]

Thank you, Torsion, for your quick reply!

The reason I'm doubting is because I simply can't test Logic on the iBook before buying it. I am used to PCs and I know their abilities and that a desktop equivalent of a 2.4 GHz laptop simply does everything (and much more than) I need. And I'm affraid that iBook may not even do the "everything", no talking about the "much more". Am I wrong? You know, I am going to invest my money into a replacement for my current desktop PC, and it will be my ONLY computer, so I wonder if it will be able to be a serious tool, not a beautiful toy.
In case I get a Mac, I will probably add extra RAM a little bit later, because my budget is really limited at the moment.

Thanks a lot.

[sethjacquay]

This is a mac music site, so I am doubting that
many of the forum contributers (myself included)
are going to tell you to buy the freakin' Windows Based Box!

With that in mind, if you do consider an iBook consider
the following while on your budget:

-the 12" and 14" have the same screen resolution which
means you don't gain any working space with the 14" over the 12"

-RAM is something you will want AT LEAST 512MB of ( RAM
requirements are only going up on all the new audio apps)

-the only reason I would buy the 14" iBook is if I needed the
build to order superdrive.

14" iBook
40GB
256 RAM
1 Ghz G4
Combo Drive
$1299


12" iBook
60GB
512 RAM
1 Ghz G4
Combo Drive
$1274

The prices could be lower if you go to MacMall or MacWarehouse.
They always throw in lots of cheap RAM for just the $40 installation fee.

Just consider what you are actually gaining with those price differences...

This post has been edited by sethjacquay: Wed 21 Apr 2004, 16:16

[torsion]

Skylit, tell me what you mean by "everything and much more"?

I'm sure there are plenty of Mac users on here who will be willing to jump into a Mac vs. PC debate. They'll probably be keen to explain how a Mac can do everything you want it to do, and much more...

They'll tell you that referring to the Mac as a "toy" is a common misconception among PC users who are blinded by all the anti-Mac propaganda. They'll tell you that the Mac is the choice of the creative professional, and that Mac OS X is built on a rock solid UNIX foundation and has none of the problems with instability, viruses and spyware that Windows has.

And they'll point out that OS X is simply the most beautiful OS ever, will make you more productive, and is a pleasure to use.

But in the end I think it comes down to personal choice and what best suits your needs. You have to decide what you want more; the familiar PC platform that you are happy with, or Emagic Logic that you are also happy with.

Only you can make that decision, but keep an open mind and don't let anyone tell you the Mac is just a beautiful toy. It is so much more than that.

This post has been edited by torsion: Wed 21 Apr 2004, 16:38

[dixiechicken]

If Logic is your personal favourite tool it MIGHT be wise to continue using the workflow you feel comfortable with and thus switch platform to from PC to Mac.

I dont think you'll REGRET the os/platform switch per se but...
I have two observations (there might conceivably be more)

1) 256Mb ram is skimpy working with OS-X and audio and/or video.

2) On the Unicornation BBS (when it was up) there was fair number of posts from people (proffessional/powerusers) that had performance troubles running Motus:s DP-4 on G4-PowerBooks. (not iBooks)

This may not be TOO serious (the issue is complex but...) consensus seems to be that DP-4 is rather more processor & resource hungry - than Logic is - on the Mac OS-X platform.

Part of the performance bottleneck is probably in the internal 4200/5400 rpm
harddrives that Apple insist on using - in the "books".

If you have the opportunity/possibility to actually - test out/borrow an iBook to testdrive Logic on it - it might be wise to do so.
Nothing lika hands on experience to help you make a more informed decision.

Cheers: Dixiechicken

[Skylit]

Thank you all very much, indeed!

I don't want to start this PC vs Mac debate, not really. I really like Macs, but at the same time I've been a long time PC user so I'm really comfortable with this OS. And in this case, you are right, it is only me who can make the final decision which way to go.

In fact, I was just wondering if a 1 GHz or 1.2 GHz (that's why I said 14 inch) iBook can handle at least 8 tracks of softsynths and quite many effects. Cause that's all I can afford at the moment. If it's not powerful enough, I might need to wait some more until prices go down / speed increases / I earn more.

I now understand that RAM really plays an important role and 256 MB would be insufficient for serious audio work.

Thanks again, and I will be happy to hear if you have anything else to add on this subject! It's amazing how quickly I got so great replies. MacMusic.org is a nice website - I mean it.

[Skylit]

Oh, this "everything and much more"...

I meant that right now even on my Athlon 1600+ desktop PC with 512 MB RAM I can run quite as many softsynths as I wish and use as many effects as I need. I've just worked on a song with 12 softsynths and 40 effect plugins running in real time, and the CPU reached around 95%, but Logic didn't stop playing or crash. So, if a 1 GHz iBook would provide me this power, I would definitely invest into it. Sadly, I can't get my hands on one before I buy it, so I'm posting here with a hope that experienced Mac users would tell their opinion on what I can expect from a 1 GHz G4 iBook.

[torsion]

Skylit - I've never used Logic on a 1ghz Mac, so I can't really tell you what to expect. All I can tell you is that on my G4/400mhz I can easily use the number of tracks and effects you mention - that's IF I make use of the Freeze function.

Without Freeze, it will sometimes max out even if I only use half that number of tracks/effects. The point at which the system stops playing varies according to the complexity of the effects and instruments I'm using.

But using Freeze is no big deal, just a minor inconvenience. It makes the difference between me being able to use Logic and not being able to use it, so I'm not complaining.

(Of course, on my G5 at work, it runs like a dream! )

Perhaps someone with a 1ghz iBook or similar can enlighten us as to how this performs with Logic 6?

[MrDee]

Hey dude - the iBook might be alright, but i'm not too sure. What you should consider (I switched about 9 months ago and this was my major concern) - if it's going to be ur 'only' computer then do u need the other things like word and so on (sorry but appleworks is beyond shite) and other things that you use the pc for. If you're keeping the PC and u are going to use the mac as music only, then just ignore what i said and take a leap of faith! I did and i didn't look back.

'One major influence of composing is composing withing boundaries - the more limits, the better the music may become because u are focussed on what u have, not what u can do'.