unitcoed said:
which would be better in a home studio envirnoment?
a used:
Mac G3 350mhz 256ram
or
a new:
PC; athlon 1800XP 256ram
not good with computers.. please help me decide!
UNIT
PS: the computers above are the same price
If you buy the G3 Mac, you'll be severely limited as far as future upgradeability. I have a G3 700mhz Mac and running OSX can be a little sluggish. With a 350mhz G3, you'll be relegated to running OS9.
You'll get ALOT more bang for your buck if you pick up the Athlon. I have two older Athlon systems, and it's nice to be able to upgrade the system incrementally. If you're not much into mucking around with the guts of a pc, a Mac might be more suitable for you.
It also depends on what you plan on recording. If you're just gonna be recording some guitar or your garage rock band. The Mac you're looking at would/should be able to handle that fine.
If you're into softsynths and lots of effects...definitely look into an Athlon. Or a newer Mac.
Might want to let the sequencer you plan to use decide which pc platform to use. If you plan on using Sonor, you're relegated to getting a PC, if you plan on using Logic: you're gonna have to get a Mac eventually (since the pc version is soon to be dead), if you're looking at Cubase...it's cross platform. Find out what sequencer or audio software you will be using and tailor your system to it.
256MBs is pretty slim for either platform to run either XP or OSX along with a sequencer. You'll have a better recording and overall computer experience if you upgrade to a minimum of 512MBs.
