Looking for a Decent PC????

  • Thread starter Thread starter WesP1106
  • Start date Start date
WesP1106 said:
Well, i went to the MAC store at our local mall, and i started to ask a bunch of questions alot of the information i got was from the website thanks again.
From what they told me i Should Get the MacPro Laptop with 2gigs of ram
the price is like 2300 bucks with taxes its a 15 inch, how good are these things for what i want to do? do they work well with cubase sx3 and Reason3.0.
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Yikes! It sounds to me like he is taking advantage of you unless you told him something significantly different than what you said earlier in this thread.

Cubase SX3 is not currently available for Mac Intel systems according to their web site.
 
I really think you should steer back towards PCs. You 1) don't have a large budget, and 2) want to use Reason + Cubase SX.

You can get a cheap PC that will work for what you want to do right NOW. But you may need to upgrade a cheapy if you expand on what you want to do in the future. So keep in mind the upgradability of whatever system you go with. Oh, and I would avoid the cheaper knockoff-type processors (Celeron, etc), even though they will work.
 
Well for the Price of one Loaded Mac system you can Buy 4 or 5 Loaded PC systems so if you are on a budget I would stay clear of the Macs at least till you have more Money.....

They will actually perform pretty simular for recording audio and with the $1500 you say in buying a PC you can get some Nice Studio monitors and a few Microphones or what have you....



Cheers
 
you see i really would like something portable, that why i started lookin into macsbook pros. Im most likely gonna have to go to a big brand store due do the fact that im going to finance it threw the store. not tryin to be hard headed but i have no other choice. My plans are to use Reason 3.0 , Cubase Sx3 a Midi Controller, Mic, Mixer, 2 monitors. Of course when traveling i wont be bringing all that with lolol I need some help fellas.

Thanks,


Wes
 
Farview said:
Most likely due to the fact that the audigy is a gaming card and never meant for serious recording. The fact that the converters only sample at 48k/16 bit is enough to shy away. Especially once you realize that if you set your DAW for any other sample rate, the damn thing does sample rate conversion on the fly...BADLY.
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Yup, all Audigy cards are like that, the new X-Fi's however, actually do 24/96 BUT I wouldn't recommend them for recording either way...

Mac's Vs PC's. hmmm...

I would go with mac, because EVEN for the "price" of what you get seems "expensive", it simply isn't. For the performance, it's still VERY fast. It all depends on preferences though. PC's can do stuff Mac's can't, and Mac's can do stuff PC's can't. I prefer Mac's though, because they don't skimp on any of their components. A PC, depending on where you buy it or whatever, you'll get various different qualities of components, which in turn, equals stability. How many layers do these PC boards got, etc. If you go with High quality PC parts, your going to be up there with the Mac prices. Even the LOWEST priced mac, is still using high quality parts.

Anyways. If you have a low budget, don't get a Mac, unless you can afford it. If your on a low budget, don't even bother "upgrading" your PC, because it would be half ass.

As for Laptops, and being able to be brought along with you, I do suggest the Mac
 
Yeah pretty much any computer will do. If you have a choice, upgrade the memory to 1 gig.

I would recommend buying an external hard drive for backup in case your main hard drive gets viruses. Matter of fact, read the thread in my signature before you hook a PC up to the internet.

Second, get yourself a little interface, firewire, USB, whatever so you can plug a mic into it and monitor out of it.

You can get a laptop for $500 brand new from Dell...$100 for the hard drive and $100 for an interface would get you going. I'd imagine you can find desktop/monitor/printer combos for about as much.

I worked at Best Buy for 5 years in computers, returns, and for the Geek Squad. The stores vary quite a bit, so to say they all suck is inaccurate. Some are much better than others. But if you need service or support, your best bet is to learn about antivirus and spyware and get a second hard drive. 99% of problems are software problems so you can always wipe the hard drive and reinstall everything.
 
Yah, if you don't plan on doing anything beyond what you say, get a Tascam US-122 for $150 to use as your interface, and get an AMD X2 machine from Dell Business for about $400, and you'll be set. The Dell Dimension E521 is pretty sweet for the price; I've been looking at that myself.

Hopefully you already have a microphone.
 
id really like a laptop any suggestions except for a Mac? im going to finance it so ill have a monthly payment....
 
WesP1106 said:
id really like a laptop any suggestions except for a Mac? im going to finance it so ill have a monthly payment....
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Dell's are my fave...pretty good prices too. Sony's are also great, and eMachines are suprisingly good as well. Toshiba has too many background processes (slows it down) and the HP's and Compaq's have a pretty bad track record with power and heat issues.

If I were to get a PC laptop, it'd be the 14" inch Dell with a Duo Core processor. When I priced it out, it was maybe $1300? But that was spec'd out pretty nice.
 
How about a sager laptop? More expensive, but you can get them with a 7200 RPM drive. On the other hand, it's not that big of a deal to have a computer store to ghost all your existing hdd over to a 7200 RPM drive when the factory laptop drive proves too slow...
 
DAFFYDRUNK said:
How about a sager laptop? More expensive, but you can get them with a 7200 RPM drive. On the other hand, it's not that big of a deal to have a computer store to ghost all your existing hdd over to a 7200 RPM drive when the factory laptop drive proves too slow...
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Sager's are nice, I had one for a bit then returned it. My buddy actually had one shipped to him in Iraq and it held up pretty well. Eventually, the screen crapped out and the hinges wore. Actually the thing fell apart within a couple years and the sound card died on it...but it could be a result of the climate in Iraq.

I wouldn't be up in arms over a 5400 versus 7200 main drive...you really should record to an external drive anyway. And yes, any laptop can have the hard drive swapped out...although on some it's REALLY REALLY difficult.
 
Yareek said:
Dell's are my fave...pretty good prices too. Sony's are also great, and eMachines are suprisingly good as well. Toshiba has too many background processes (slows it down) and the HP's and Compaq's have a pretty bad track record with power and heat issues.

If I were to get a PC laptop, it'd be the 14" inch Dell with a Duo Core processor. When I priced it out, it was maybe $1300? But that was spec'd out pretty nice.
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i couldnt find any 14 inch duo core processors on there website?????
 
WesP1106 said:
i couldnt find any 14 inch duo core processors on there website?????
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Sorry I guess it's 15.4"...

Inspiron E1505
* 15.4" Widescreen XGA
* 2.0 GHz Duo Core 2 (4 MB L2 cache)
* 1 GB Memory
* 80 GB 7200 SATA
* 8x DVD/CD Burner
* Windows XP
* Integrated Wireless G

All for $1050...that's a pretty nicely loaded computer. I'd say that competes really well against the MacBook I'm looking at 13" 2.0 GHz Duo Core 2 w/ 1 gig and 13" widescreen was over $1300.
 
Yareek said:
Sorry I guess it's 15.4"...

Inspiron E1505
* 15.4" Widescreen XGA
* 2.0 GHz Duo Core 2 (4 MB L2 cache)
* 1 GB Memory
* 80 GB 7200 SATA
* 8x DVD/CD Burner
* Windows XP
* Integrated Wireless G

All for $1050...that's a pretty nicely loaded computer. I'd say that competes really well against the MacBook I'm looking at 13" 2.0 GHz Duo Core 2 w/ 1 gig and 13" widescreen was over $1300.
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cool thats what i was looking at i was gonna go for a 120gb and 2 GB of memory for ruffly 1250.00 so ill be ok with this?
 
WesP1106 said:
cool thats what i was looking at i was gonna go for a 120gb and 2 GB of memory for ruffly 1250.00 so ill be ok with this?
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Yeah that would be pretty nice. I wouldn't go with 120 gigs as you really should have an external second hard drive for all your stuff. But that's just me.
 
cool man thank i appreciate all your help.... now im off to get a dell.....
 
Well my plans have changed once again i do not plan on using CubaseSX3 only reason and a midi controller. What kind of SoundCard Do i need? Im going to run Monitors also? Any help is Aprreciated..
 
What is this firebox i cant seem to find it???? Do u fellas think ill lhave a latency problem?
 
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