05-26-2009, 06:56 AM

I'm very much a newbie here. I had a month or so's experience with Macs at the Red Bull Music Academy last year and found that the apps were very musician friendly. I also noticed that everybody was using Macs.
My step daughter is very much into singing/songwriting and getting to the stage where a portable Mac becomes a requirement.
So, my question is; Should we be looking at a New Macbook or something higher specked that is almost new or do we go for something quite a lot older but is top spec?
We have about 1000 Euros. Is a Pro worth the extra cash? and if so, is an older pro worth getting? Weight is less of a potential problem than useability/apps etc as carrying it around will only be occasional.
We also have a Roland keyboard, will it be possible to hook this up to the Mac.
Any advice gratefully received.

05-26-2009, 07:14 AM

I would say a minimum requirement would be a top spec Powerbook G4, but given that your budget is higher than the cost of one of those, I would go for the best spec machine you can afford. I wouldn't personally say that a Pro is better for your needs than a high spec Macbook to be honest though.
Connecting the keyboard will depend on it's outputs but you should have no problem, as there are many ways (midi, line-in, etc)
If she is serious about the music though, she's going to need some good software, so bear in mind the costs involved there too. Logic and Cubase, as examples, aren't cheap.

05-26-2009, 07:15 AM

in my opinion, the pro is well worth the extra cash and its resonably better than the macbook. i bought my powerbook g4 off of ebay for 900 dollars when it was still never and the guy was a dj, it included a lot of music editing software like reason and garageband. im just saying that a high end powerbook g4 will meet your requirements as well.try to get something like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-PowerBook-G4-A1013-17-Leopard-1GHz-1-GB-60GB-HDD_W0QQitemZ250428051811QQcmdZViewItemQQptZApple_ Laptops?hash=item3a4eacd163&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_ trkparms=72%3A1240|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A131 8|301%3A0|293%3A1|294%3A50
of course, try to aim for higher specs as it will help you in the future, many programs require more proccesor speeds

05-26-2009, 07:16 AM

That's what I reckoned. I'm pretty sure that it has a MIDI out.

05-26-2009, 07:18 AM

USB to MIDI cable then, like this one:

M-AUDIO - Uno - 1-In/1-Out USB Bus-Powered MIDI Interface

It's a good basic cable, but works well (I use one for Drums).

05-26-2009, 07:21 AM

This seems to be a fairly high spec. Opinions?
MacBook Pro 2,4Ghz 4Gb RAM 250 Hd GeForce 8600M GT en Barcelona - Segundamano.es

05-26-2009, 07:23 AM

And this seems to be too good to be true!
15 MacBook Pro 2.53Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo Nuevo en Barcelona - Segundamano.es

05-26-2009, 07:26 AM

That does seem to be too good to be true. I paid more for my G4 Powerbook!
Good spec on the first machine for sure.

05-26-2009, 08:19 AM

Originally Posted by Kevriano

I would say a minimum requirement would be a top spec Powerbook G4, but given that your budget is higher than the cost of one of those, I would go for the best spec machine you can afford. I wouldn't personally say that a Pro is better for your needs than a high spec Macbook to be honest though.
Connecting the keyboard will depend on it's outputs but you should have no problem, as there are many ways (midi, line-in, etc)
If she is serious about the music though, she's going to need some good software, so bear in mind the costs involved there too. Logic and Cubase, as examples, aren't cheap.

I may well be able to get some of this software from muso friends that had a Mac that went pop. I need to talk to them this pm.