IMAC or macbook pro - advise from Mac users please!

I'm not sure if you can order from the Apple store online, but to the left down near the bottom they have great deals on refurbished Macs. They carry the same warranty as the new for the same year and model. My son has had two such refurbs and has had no issues what so ever.
 
if you get an imac i would go with the 27" because in my yearbook class we use all apple and have a mix of 21" and 27" and i like the 27" because you have all the room you need. its like working on a tv
 
1. 5400 seriously degrade audio track counts - and I mean really seriously. I don't know that I'd put this upgrade on a "future wish list" if at all possible.

Ok, it's likely that I'll get an Imac BUT if I were to get a macbook pro anything above 5400 seems far too pricey for me at this stage. Is it possible to upgrade this at a later date? I think someone mentioned you can do it but you'll lose you're warranty.

Also is it easy to upgrade RAM on macbook pro - like on an imac?
 
Ok, it's likely that I'll get an Imac BUT if I were to get a macbook pro anything above 5400 seems far too pricey for me at this stage. Is it possible to upgrade this at a later date? I think someone mentioned you can do it but you'll lose you're warranty.

Also is it easy to upgrade RAM on macbook pro - like on an imac?

It certainly is possible. The bus is just a standard bus and the HDDs are standard. It's even possible to buy conversion kits so that you can mount an SSD along with an HDD and lose the optical drive. I've been tempted by this more than once - last time I checked this would set me back 200 pounds or so but it would mean opening it up and invalidating the warranty.

The RAM is likewise upgradeable but the same would apply. You would have to get the screwdrivers out and that will invalidate the warranty. Last time I checked it was very easy to upgrade the RAM on an iMac and you wouldn't lose your warranty but that may have changed in the last year or so.
 
Ryan - lots of great advice already given here. To add my 2 cents -

First, every model mentioned would be more than capable of doing what you've described doing.

And in a nutshell, portability costs. The more portable the solution - the less power you get for its cost. But again, all of these solutions should work quite well.

A few other thoughts -

1. 5400 seriously degrade audio track counts - and I mean really seriously. I don't know that I'd put this upgrade on a "future wish list" if at all possible.

2. 13" screens are pretty much as cramped for music as they are for art. I can't imagine doing much lengthy work on either without tethering up a larger screen wherever possible. And I mean a 20-24" not just a 15".

3. RAM, RAM, RAM - that amount of RAM that Apple ships standard with its computers throws away 30% of that computers effective power - particular when doing the very things you are interested in - music, art, video, etc. If my only two choices were a slightly more powerful model with standard RAM or a lessor model with say, double standard RAM, I'd probably go with the lesser model every time. IMO unless you're just going to use your computer to write papers and surf the web,,, it needs more than the standard amount of RAM.

That said, shop around - as often the Apple RAM upgrades are over-priced (not always, but most of the time). RAM is incredibly easy to upgrade yourself - just be sure and buy it from an established Mac-based reseller, so you know you are getting the specifically right stuff. I use macsales.com a lot for my needs.

Also I'd have to give a thumbs up to the gentleman who recommended the MacMini earlier in the thread - as that is the solution I just went with in upgrading my studio set-up - basically replacing my 2007 MacBookPro with a 2011 MacMini Server - which I've been very happy with.

But again, of all the choices discussed, you should be well served regardless of the which one you choose.

David

That may have been me, I am looking at a Mac Mini now. According to Apple's web site:

"Both models configurable to 750GB (7200-rpm) hard drive; 2.5GHz model also configurable to 256GB solid-state drive or 256GB solid-state drive and 750GB (7200-rpm) hard drive, only at the Apple Online Store."

Do you have an opinion on the solid state drive? I wish this lap top had one, the hard drive is sputtering lately and I suspect its terminal. So if you don't hear from me anymor
 
I vote for an iMac, they're pretty nice computers. You can get a 27" refurbished for £1,199.00: http://store.apple.com/uk/product/FC813B/A

That's a 2011 model, so its fairly up to date (and you get Thunderbolt ports). Its a quad core 2.7GHz i5, which is a pretty quick processor, and the graphics card is also decent, its a 512MB HD 6770. It comes with a 7200 rpm 1TB hard drive, and 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM, which you could upgrade up to 16GB, if you felt like you needed it for some reason. Honestly though, the best part of this computer is undoubtedly the screen. Working on a 2560x1440 27" LED screen like that is a dream. It is the brightest, sharpest, most vibrant and crystal clear display I've ever used. If you have an Apple store nearby, go and look at one of the 27" iMacs. Those things cost around 1000USD by themselves, so I feel that the iMacs are definitely the best buy once you take that into consideration.

If you spec for spec'd that computer and built it yourself, then bought a comparable display, I think you'd actually come out just about even. Its a solid computer, and a fantastic display. I have a 2 year old one, and it has no trouble with any of the multi-track recording that I do, or any of the mixing and mastering, or any of the video processing. Everything is fast and easy, I don't even have to worry about my hardware resources most of the time.
 
I vote for an iMac, they're pretty nice computers. You can get a 27" refurbished for £1,199.00: http://store.apple.com/uk/product/FC813B/A

That's a 2011 model, so its fairly up to date (and you get Thunderbolt ports). Its a quad core 2.7GHz i5, which is a pretty quick processor, and the graphics card is also decent, its a 512MB HD 6770. It comes with a 7200 rpm 1TB hard drive, and 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM, which you could upgrade up to 16GB, if you felt like you needed it for some reason. Honestly though, the best part of this computer is undoubtedly the screen. Working on a 2560x1440 27" LED screen like that is a dream. It is the brightest, sharpest, most vibrant and crystal clear display I've ever used. If you have an Apple store nearby, go and look at one of the 27" iMacs. Those things cost around 1000USD by themselves, so I feel that the iMacs are definitely the best buy once you take that into consideration.

If you spec for spec'd that computer and built it yourself, then bought a comparable display, I think you'd actually come out just about even. Its a solid computer, and a fantastic display. I have a 2 year old one, and it has no trouble with any of the multi-track recording that I do, or any of the mixing and mastering, or any of the video processing. Everything is fast and easy, I don't even have to worry about my hardware resources most of the time.

I've just bought this!! I was going to go for the 21.5" screen but they had none in stock today. So i've taken the plunge into the world of mac's. Most expensive thing i've ever bought!!

Thanks for your help everyone. I've spent about 3 days umm-ing and ah-ing about this and finally been able to make what I think has been an informed decision!

I may be back on this thread asking for tips on maintaining the mac and using it efficently/wisely etc.This forum has been a lot more useful than the mac forum!
 
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You got the 27"? Great buy! That is one Hell of a computer. Even the base model has a fantastic display. I can't say enough good things about the displays on Apple computers.

Yeah just went for it in the end. Just felt right.

So now i'll have a semi-sound proofed room (parents's garage) to which I have ulimited access. An excellent drum kit with mic's and a 2011 Imac with 27 inch screen. Can't wait to get set up.

Going to sell some drum equipment to. Going to try and "steam line" and keep only what I need/use. I'll be selling some top quality paiste hi-hats (15" soundedge) and Orange County Piccollo Snare. And also a Sabian ride cymbal (for beginners really.)
 
some pictures of your recording gear would be nice to see
 
I've just bought this!! I was going to go for the 21.5" screen but they had none in stock today. So i've taken the plunge into the world of mac's. Most expensive thing i've ever bought!!

Thanks for your help everyone. I've spent about 3 days umm-ing and ah-ing about this and finally been able to make what I think has been an informed decision!

I may be back on this thread asking for tips on maintaining the mac and using it efficently/wisely etc.This forum has been a lot more useful than the mac forum!

You're going to be very happy :D When mine arrived, I nearly wet myself with happiness, haha. My whole life became a little bit more enjoyable, and working with music became about 10x easier. Here's my setup now:

424103_10150546345078346_322995898345_8753659_675805776_n.jpg
 
some pictures of your recording gear would be nice to see

I've got a big declutteing job to do first. Got to sort stuff into piles of: "Needs selling" "Needs dumping" "needs returning to owner" "needs fixing" "needs keeping"

The room is so clutterred right now it's in dyer need of some tlc!

Here's my setup now:
Cool speakers and desk - looks uncluttered too which is impressive!
 
Perhaps some more information that might help guide your purchase from http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/dail...-problem-16-hour-days-70-cents-172800495.html :

Apple’s Sweatshop Problem: 16 Hour Days, ~70 Cents An Hour
By Henry Blodget | Daily Ticker – Fri, Jan 20, 2012 12:28 PM EST

We love our iPhones and iPads.

We love the prices of our iPhones and iPads.

We love the super-high profit margins of Apple, Inc., the maker of our iPhones and iPads.

And that's why it's disconcerting to remember that the low prices of our iPhones and iPads — and the super-high profit margins of Apple — are only possible because our iPhones and iPads are made with labor practices that would be illegal in the United States.

And it's also disconcerting to realize that the folks who make our iPhones and iPads not only don't have iPhones and iPads (because they can't afford them), but, in some cases, have never even seen them.

This is a complex issue. But it's also an important one. And it's only going to get more important as the world's economies continue to become more intertwined.

(And the issue obviously concerns a lot more companies than Apple. Almost all of the major electronics manufacturers make their stuff in China and other countries that have labor practices that would be illegal here. One difference with Apple, though, is the magnitude of the company's profit margin and profits. Apple could afford to pay its manufacturers more or hold them to higher standards and still be extremely competitive and profitable.)

Last week, PRI's "This American Life" did a special on Apple's manufacturing. The show featured (among others) the reporting of Mike Daisey, the man who does the one-man stage show "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs," and The NYT's Nicholas Kristof, whose wife's family is from China.

You can read a transcript of the whole show here. Here are some details:

The Chinese city of Shenzhen is where most of our "crap" is made. 30 years ago, Shenzhen was a little village on a river. Now it's a city of 13 million people — bigger than New York.
Foxconn, one of the companies that builds iPhones and iPads (and products for many other electronics companies), has a factory in Shenzhen that employs 430,000 people.
There are 20 cafeterias at the Foxconn Shenzhen plant. They each serve 10,000 people.
One Foxconn worker Mike Daisey interviewed, outside factory gates manned by guards with guns, was a 13-year old girl. She polished the glass of thousands of new iPhones a day.
The 13-year old said Foxconn doesn't really check ages. There are on-site inspections, from time to time, but Foxconn always knows when they're happening. And before the inspectors arrive, Foxconn just replaces the young-looking workers with older ones.
In the first two hours outside the factory gates, Daisey meets workers who say they are 14, 13, and 12 years old (along with plenty of older ones). Daisey estimates that about 5% of the workers he talked to were underage.
Daisey assumes that Apple, obsessed as it is with details, must know this. Or, if they don't, it's because they don't want to know.
Daisey visits other Shenzhen factories, posing as a potential customer. He discovers that most of the factory floors are vast rooms filled with 20,000-30,000 workers apiece. The rooms are quiet: There's no machinery, and there's no talking allowed. When labor costs so little, there's no reason to build anything other than by hand.
A Chinese working "hour" is 60 minutes — unlike an American "hour," which generally includes breaks for Facebook, the bathroom, a phone call, and some conversation. The official work day in China is 8 hours long, but the standard shift is 12 hours. Generally, these shifts extend to 14-16 hours, especially when there's a hot new gadget to build. While Daisey is in Shenzhen, a Foxconn worker dies after working a 34-hour shift.
Assembly lines can only move as fast as their slowest worker, so all the workers are watched (with cameras). Most people stand.
The workers stay in dormitories. In a 12-by-12 cement cube of a room, Daisey counts 15 beds, stacked like drawers up to the ceiling. Normal-sized Americans would not fit in them.
Unions are illegal in China. Anyone found trying to unionize is sent to prison.
Daisey interviews dozens of (former) workers who are secretly supporting a union. One group talked about using "hexane," an iPhone screen cleaner. Hexane evaporates faster than other screen cleaners, which allows the production line to go faster. Hexane is also a neuro-toxin. The hands of the workers who tell him about it shake uncontrollably.
Some workers can no longer work because their hands have been destroyed by doing the same thing hundreds of thousands of times over many years (mega-carpal-tunnel). This could have been avoided if the workers had merely shifted jobs. Once the workers' hands no longer work, obviously, they're canned.
One former worker had asked her company to pay her overtime, and when her company refused, she went to the labor board. The labor board put her on a black list that was circulated to every company in the area. The workers on the black list are branded "troublemakers" and companies won't hire them.
One man got his hand crushed in a metal press at Foxconn. Foxconn did not give him medical attention. When the man's hand healed, it no longer worked. So they fired him. (Fortunately, the man was able to get a new job, at a wood-working plant. The hours are much better there, he says — only 70 hours a week).
The man, by the way, made the metal casings of iPads at Foxconn. Daisey showed him his iPad. The man had never seen one before. He held it and played with it. He said it was "magic."

Importantly, Shenzhen's factories, as hellish as they are, have been a boon to the people of China. Liberal economist Paul Krugman says so. NYT columnist Nicholas Kristof says so. Kristof's wife's ancestors are from a village near Shenzhen. So he knows of what he speaks. The "grimness" of the factories, Kristof says, is actually better than the "grimness" of the rice paddies.

So, looked at that way, Apple is helping funnel money from rich American and European consumers to poor workers in China. Without Foxconn and other assembly plants, Chinese workers might still be working in rice paddies, making $50 a month instead of $250 a month (Kristof's estimates. In 2010, Reuters says, Foxconn workers were given a raise to $298 per month, or $10 a day, or less than $1 an hour). With this money, they're doing considerably better than they once were. Especially women, who had few other alternatives.

But, of course, the reason Apple assembles iPhones and iPads in China instead of America, is that assembling them here or Europe would cost much, much more — even with shipping and transportation. And it would cost much, much more because, in the United States and Europe, we have established minimum acceptable standards for the treatment and pay of workers like those who build the iPhones and iPads.

Foxconn, needless to say, doesn't come anywhere near meeting these minimum standards.

If Apple decided to build iPhones and iPads for Americans using American labor rules, two things would likely happen:

The prices of iPhones and iPads would go up
Apple's profit margins would go down

Neither of those things would be good for American consumers or Apple shareholders. But they might not be all that awful, either. Unlike some electronics manufacturers, Apple's profit margins are so high that they could go down a lot and still be high. And some Americans would presumably feel better about loving their iPhones and iPads if they knew that the products had been built using American labor rules.

In other words, Apple could probably afford to use American labor rules when building iPhones and iPads without destroying its business.

So it seems reasonable to ask why Apple is choosing NOT to do that.

(Not that Apple is the only company choosing to avoid American labor rules and costs, of course — almost all manufacturing companies that want to survive, let alone thrive, have to reduce production costs and standards by making their products elsewhere.)

The bottom line is that iPhones and iPads cost what they do because they are built using labor practices that would be illegal in this country — because people in this country consider those practices grossly unfair.

That's not a value judgment. It's a fact.

So, next time you pick up your iPhone or iPad, ask yourself how you feel about that.
 
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