Advice needed - PC vs Mac

robwright

I want to update my laptop (HP Elitebook 8640P) but don't know whether to go PC or Mac. 

There are lots of posts debating this, so I will keep my questions specific to my own needs

Some relevant info:

I currently use Cubase 5 but I'm as happy using Logic - would be handy to have both.

I am upgrading from a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 to an 18i20.

So my questions are:

- I only have £600 to spend so the Macbook would be s/h. Looking at current s/h prices, that would get me a basic 2011/2012 model. So is that going to be as powerful as £600 of more modern PC laptop?

- I do mainly audio recording (very little MIDI) and wouldn't need to run more than 24 audio tracks at once), however, I have got a bit 'plug-in happy' of late so would need something that could handle 24 tracks of audio with a range of eq, dynamics and FX plugins per channel.

- if I do stick with a PC laptop, any recommendations? I have been really happy with the HP Elitebook and could get a fairly high spec one (maybe 2/3 years old) for £600. Is there a better laptop for recording for that kind of money?

Thanks guys

TTony

robwright said:

- I only have £600 to spend so the Macbook would be s/h. Looking at current s/h prices, that would get me a basic 2011/2012 model. So is that going to be as powerful as £600 of more modern PC laptop?

Of course not.

In the last 5 years, specs have gone up, and prices have gone down.  You'll get a low more power & disc for your £600 in a modern laptop.

Does it have to be a laptop?

digitalscream

A good example of a PC laptop around your budget is this:

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-envy-13-d061sa-13-3-laptop-aluminium-10137769-pdt.html

Quad-HD resolution (3200x1800), decent i5 CPU, fast SSD, slim and light, 13.3" screen. You'd be hard-pushed to get a Macbook with those sorts of specs at the same price. Second hand, you can find similar-specced Lenovo Yoga 2s for about £300-£350 (albeit with a 1920x1080 screen resolution).

Personally, I find that a high screen resolution is absolutely critical for recording stuff.

TimmyO

Get a fancy Macbook Pro on the monthly direct from Apple?

(I'm just trying to make you do it cos I did and if someone else does it it'll be more ok :-) ) 

sweepy

2015 MacBook Pro's are pretty awesome I'd bite the bullet and go that route with Logic X . £600 does get you a pretty decent laptop too, I would, if possible have a go on someone's Mac with Logic to see if it suits your workflow

Nerine

I'd pay the premium to work under OSX. It's far nicer and better for audio than Windowns IMO.

thomasross20

PC. 

I got a £2k MacBook Pro only to find the USB didn't work with a lot of devices (google it on the Apple forums - USB audio still a big issue for a lot of people). 

Danny1969

robwright said:

I want to update my laptop (HP Elitebook 8640P) but don't know whether to go PC or Mac. 

There are lots of posts debating this, so I will keep my questions specific to my own needs

Some relevant info:

I currently use Cubase 5 but I'm as happy using Logic - would be handy to have both.

I am upgrading from a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 to an 18i20.

So my questions are:

- I only have £600 to spend so the Macbook would be s/h. Looking at current s/h prices, that would get me a basic 2011/2012 model. So is that going to be as powerful as £600 of more modern PC laptop?

- I do mainly audio recording (very little MIDI) and wouldn't need to run more than 24 audio tracks at once), however, I have got a bit 'plug-in happy' of late so would need something that could handle 24 tracks of audio with a range of eq, dynamics and FX plugins per channel.

- if I do stick with a PC laptop, any recommendations? I have been really happy with the HP Elitebook and could get a fairly high spec one (maybe 2/3 years old) for £600. Is there a better laptop for recording for that kind of money?

Thanks guys

24 channels of audio all running plugins won't stress any machine, if it's stressing yours then there's something wrong with the machine or the software. The ancient Dell Latitude E6400 I'm typing this on will run 40 tracks of audio all with comps and EQ's and some VI's. The actual machine we use in the studio is a 2005 Macpro and we do 90 odd track sessions with that

Without getting into a Mac \ PC debate I would go Mac if possible, simply because I can't think of any decent built PC laptops that will last more than 18 months or so. Most of the stuff in the High street including the HP Envy is a pretty porrly made and it's  just branded HP, it's not a real HP like an Elitebook or Probook which are designed for business use. If you do buy something like that get the warranty extended, it will go wrong

robwright

@TTony - I suspected as much - people always rave about Macs being so much more efficient than PC laptops! I need a laptop for mobility - recording with other people in a variety of spaces.

@Nerine and @Sweepy - if I could afford a new MacBook, that would definitely be the way I would go!

@Thomasros20 - worth knowing as I will be using various USB devices.

@digitalscream - will check that one out

@TimmyO - not with my credit history but you DEFINITELY did the right thing!

Thanks guys

digitalscream

Danny1969 said:

Without getting into a Mac \ PC debate I would go Mac if possible, simply because I can't think of any decent built PC laptops that will last more than 18 months or so. Most of the stuff in the High street including the HP Envy is a pretty porrly made and it's  just branded HP, it's not a real HP like an Elitebook or Probook which are designed for business use. If you do buy something like that get the warranty extended, it will go wrong

Heh...as opposed to the legendary Apple build and software quality?

robwright

So two in the running are @TonyR's 2011 MacBook and this:
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-Probook-i7-4540s-3-3-GHz-15-6-1080p-8Gb-240GB-SSD-Hackintosh-Mac-Macbook-Pro-/281927471083?nav=SEARCH

Both could go before I've got the cash but they look like the options available in my price range.

digitalscream

robwright said:

So two in the running are @TonyR's 2011 MacBook and this:
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-Probook-i7-4540s-3-3-GHz-15-6-1080p-8Gb-240GB-SSD-Hackintosh-Mac-Macbook-Pro-/281927471083?nav=SEARCH

Both could go before I've got the cash but they look like the options available in my price range.

The HP will be vastly better for basically everything than the Macbook; better screen, faster CPU, more ports etc. The only problem you have with high-powered CPUs in laptops is heat - when it gets really hot, they'll throttle down the CPU speed; that can often cause artefacts in audio streams. You can get round this by forcing the CPU to run at a specific speed (usually somewhere in the middle of its range).

In the case of the HP, though, the benefit you'll see is that it can run 8 threads simultaneously; when running VSTs on multiple tracks, this is a lot more important than having a high clock speed.

TTony

This is only *just* outside your £600 budget, but it's got a pretty impressive spec for £649, and a 2yr g'tee in the price

http://www.johnlewis.com/lenovo-ideapad-500-laptop-intel-core-i5-12gb-ram-2tb-15-6-/p2459655?colour=Black

core i5

12Gb RAM

2TB disc

15.6" screen with 1920*1080

2 x USB 3 sockets

CD/DVD drive

I'd veer well away from "seller refurbished" items on eBay.

[edit]

If budget really is your limiting factor, this is ridiculous VFM at £449.  Ridiculous!

http://www.johnlewis.com/lenovo-ideapad-500-laptop-amd-a10-12gb-ram-1tb-hdd-8gb-ssd-15-6-/p2507373?navAction=jump

You're swapping an Intel processor for an AMD unit, and losing 1tb of disc, but adding an 8Gb SSD (I'm assuming the OS will be loaded on there, so it'll boot as quickly as you can press the power/restart button).

Heartfeltdawn

Danny1969 said:

Without getting into a Mac \ PC debate I would go Mac if possible, simply because I can't think of any decent built PC laptops that will last more than 18 months or so. Most of the stuff in the High street including the HP Envy is a pretty porrly made and it's  just branded HP, it's not a real HP like an Elitebook or Probook which are designed for business use. If you do buy something like that get the warranty extended, it will go wrong

My Asus X55VD has been around for three years now, goes on weekly bus trips in a bag, went on a daily six mile walk and 15 minutes bus journey for 6 months, and survived several 20 mile cycle trips in a rucksack between Bristol and Bath. The only thing that's screwed up on it is that the silver ASUS lettering on the case has come off. £600 new, never let me down. The Asus laptop I had before that for a similar time period was equally reliable, much cheaper at £300, but is still going on and has been converted to Linux. 

Sporky

digitalscream said:

Second hand, you can find similar-specced Lenovo Yoga 2s for about £300-£350 (albeit with a 1920x1080 screen resolution).

I have a QHD Yoga Pro 2 - any idea what that's worth? I was thinking of upgrading to a Yoga 900, y'see.

digitalscream

Sporky said:

digitalscream said:

Second hand, you can find similar-specced Lenovo Yoga 2s for about £300-£350 (albeit with a 1920x1080 screen resolution).

I have a QHD Yoga Pro 2 - any idea what that's worth? I was thinking of upgrading to a Yoga 900, y'see.

Dunno, but I'm planning to get a Yoga in about a month's time. If you can send me the spec, I'll look at some prices and we can see if there's a deal to be done

Danny1969

Heartfeltdawn said:

Danny1969 said:

Without getting into a Mac \ PC debate I would go Mac if possible, simply because I can't think of any decent built PC laptops that will last more than 18 months or so. Most of the stuff in the High street including the HP Envy is a pretty porrly made and it's  just branded HP, it's not a real HP like an Elitebook or Probook which are designed for business use. If you do buy something like that get the warranty extended, it will go wrong

My Asus X55VD has been around for three years now, goes on weekly bus trips in a bag, went on a daily six mile walk and 15 minutes bus journey for 6 months, and survived several 20 mile cycle trips in a rucksack between Bristol and Bath. The only thing that's screwed up on it is that the silver ASUS lettering on the case has come off. £600 new, never let me down. The Asus laptop I had before that for a similar time period was equally reliable, much cheaper at £300, but is still going on and has been converted to Linux. 

Your lucky in the fact the X55VD has the DC socket on a harness so it doesn't break where the positive leg is soldered to the board like most Asus laptops. Most of the repairs I do to Asus's are DC sockets and very poor plastics. 

Look at this Asus X550 on my bench at the moment. Now they have tried to copy the Macbook Pro thing here by cutting out the shape of the keys in the palmrest and feeding through the keyboard from the other side. Now the Macbook Pro achieves this by using a one piece milled aluminium palmest and the keyboard is secured with no less than 42 screws ... so there's no give at all. The Asus has tried to achieve this by using a lot of plastic rivits, some tape and a prayer ...... the keyboards failed because there's no support for the membrane underneath .... pretty obvious it was going to happen really 

I'm not discounting you've had good luck with your Asus but on a whole they are very poorly built. 

Heartfeltdawn

The X550 was a budget model from memory so you'd expect corners to be cut. I wouldn't claim my X55VD is up to Macbook standards but I didn't want to pay Mac prices nor did I want to use an OS which I utterly hate. The bottom line for me is that it's lasted in everything from cycling in thunderstorms bagged up to being sat in a working kitchen regularly with no issues whatsoever. Definitely not been a coffee table lappie

robwright

Thanks guys - really appreciate the time you have put in. Looks like it's going to be non-Mac for me and I may well up the budget to get one of the higher spec machines. I read somewhere that i7 is double the speed of i5.

digitalscream

robwright said:

Thanks guys - really appreciate the time you have put in. Looks like it's going to be non-Mac for me and I may well up the budget to get one of the higher spec machines. I read somewhere that i7 is double the speed of i5.

Nah...they're not double the speed of i5s. A latest-generation i7 might be nearly double the speed of a first-gen i5, but that's as close to it as it gets. As it is, a second-gen i5 is about 15% faster than a first-gen i7.

sweepy

With any DAW, it's not the processor speed, it's the RAM, so an i5 with 16gb of RAM will outperform an 8gb i7