cheapest mac for pro tools

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daytoncantley

New member
hi, i am new to this forum and i want to get into pro tools. I hate to be this "guy" but i know nothing about pro tools yet. i am just starting to read up on it and stuff like that. my question is what mac to use for pro tools. i know you have to have alot of memory etc... what would be the cheapest mac that would do what i need. i want to record full bands. i looked at some of the laptops and they are cheaper but not sure which one i need. could someone stear me in the right direction? thanks for any help
 
i run 30-40 tracks in mix sessions with 1-4 plugs on each track on my Intel MacMini 1.6Ghz and its fine!

I don't record on it though..
 
i bought a 2002 powermac g4 (933mhz)... cost me $200aud and all i had to do to get it up n running with PT is up the ram to 1.5gb and get a bigger hd...
 
Just buy an intell mac mini 599. a little more but worth it! I use an Intell Imac but a good friend uses a mini and other than low ram it has worked like a charm!
 
I run Pro Tools 6.4cs6 LE with a Digi 001 and OS X 10.3 Panther on an OLD Powermac 7500 desktop. I got the computer for free but I see them on Ebay for $20 or so. I updated the computer with a Sonnet Crescendo PCI accelerator to 1.0 Ghz for $50 so that it had more power but before the upgrade I could run earlier Pro Tools LE versions on it with Mac OS 9. Because I got the Pro Tools and Digi 001 secondhand, I got into Pro Tools for maybe $250 for the total system and it works fine for me given my level of recording abilities.

If you do not need the absolute latest Pro Tools version, you can get by with a cheaper computer and an older version of Pro Tools for less money. If nothing else, it was a good way for me to get my feet wet on Pro Tools if I ever ultimately upgrade to the newest, top-of-the-line stuff.
 
I'd like a laptop for portability. You can get the macbook with up to 4 gb of ram with pretty good processors (2.4 core 2 duo!)

i'm buying the lowest end one with 2.1 processor and a gig of ram. I think that's all i will need for now...


i don't know about pro tools though:D
 
I have used protools on a old powerbook g4 (ppc)1.33ghz, 768mbs of ram. Had to tweak the settings of protools which is easily done and it ran just fine on it. I also run it on my original macbook (intel) which is core duo 1.83ghz 512mb ram and after tweaking the settings because of the low amounts of ram it runs fine on it, and I know once I upgrade my ram then I wouldn't have had 2 tweak the settings at all. So if u can find you any mac that is recent you can tweak it 2 run protools but you at least want 1.5gigs of ram and at least 1.8 gig processor
 
jarrydee said:
Do not use the same HD for PT as you are for your OS..get a seperate HD..it will save you a lot of trouble later!!
Click to expand...

Great point Jarry....always use an external drive for recording...Dont want the main hard drive to work to hard....

I personally use a Macbook with 2 gigs of ram and an external Rocstor Firewire harddrive to run my Pro Tools LE and Logic Setup.
 
mmendoza said:
Great point Jarry....always use an external drive for recording...Dont want the main hard drive to work to hard....

I personally use a Macbook with 2 gigs of ram and an external Rocstor Firewire harddrive to run my Pro Tools LE and Logic Setup.
Click to expand...

Im on a PC but want to switch to MAC..

DO you have any problems with the firewire HD?..I am so used to internal !!
 
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