What on earth should I buy?

Hi,

I used to own an ibook G4 about 8 years ago and primarily used the Garage Band feature on it to record my own music. Alas about 4 years back my Mac died due to a common fault and was sold for spares. I'm looking to get a new Apple product and start recording music again but I have no idea which would be the best option.

I basically want a Garage Band type programme again with some sort of feature which allows you to create and edit your own drum loops. Also the more portable the device the better.

I've seen ipads, iphones and ibooks which all seem to have some sort of recording capability but have no idea which would best suit my purpose. I don't necessarily require a brand new system and am open to buying second hand or refurbish tech.

Any recommendations would be greatly received.

Thanks

What is your current budget for a computer? that will make helping you a lot easier.

Hi,

I'm looking at spending as little as possible really around the $1000 mark...

bobeto555 said:

Hi,

I'm looking at spending as little as possible really around the $1000 mark...

Click to expand...

Laptop or desktop?

- Nick

He mentioned as portable as possible. That would be an Air but not sure I would want an Air to do GB on. It might work but really don't like the idea of fixed smallish SSD.

If the Mini is portable enough, that would work.

I've looked at both the mini, the air and the ipad... I just have no idea which is best for the job and comes with the correct software!? With the mini I guess you have to buy a monitor and all that jazz... As you may have guessed I have little to no idea about computers.

The iPad for music making would not be the best. All Macs come with Garage Band installed so you would be good to go.

bobeto555 said:

I've looked at both the mini, the air and the ipad... I just have no idea which is best for the job and comes with the correct software!? With the mini I guess you have to buy a monitor and all that jazz... As you may have guessed I have little to no idea about computers.

Click to expand...

If you're looking for something portable (and you don't want a Mac-Mini since you will also need a monitor, keyboard, and mouse)...then the obvious answer is you want/need a laptop computer.

Now when you factor in a $1000 budget (not sure how much higher you can go)...this really doesn't leave many options...since:

- the lowest cost MacBook Air is $999 (but only has an 11" display)
- the lowest cost MacBook Pro is $1199 (13" display)
- then you have the Apple refurbished section...which may give you some options @ $1000 or below
- then of course there is the option of buying a used computer

So if a laptop is what you really want/need...then:

- what size display do you want (11", 13", 15", or 17")?
- what purchasing options are you interested in (new, refurbished, used)?

- Nick

Thanks for both your help on this. With regaurd to screen size... I'd say the smaller the better... I've seen some Macbooks (2007) for about $550 refurbished. Not sure if its worth getting one second hand (seeing the last one died) or just getting a new air instead. Do you know if the Macbook (This one: http://bindapple.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/how-do-i-free-up-memory-on-my-macbook.png ) was a reliable machine??

bobeto555 said:

Thanks for both your help on this. With regaurd to screen size... I'd say the smaller the better... I've seen some Macbooks (2007) for about $550 refurbished. Not sure if its worth getting one second hand (seeing the last one died) or just getting a new air instead. Do you know if the Macbook (This one: http://bindapple.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/how-do-i-free-up-memory-on-my-macbook.png ) was a reliable machine??

Click to expand...

If the smaller the better, I'd really recommend the 11" MacBook Air. That way you're getting a brand new mac, Applecare, and will most likely be more reliable than any used Macbook.

bobeto555 said:

... I've seen some Macbooks (2007) for about $550 refurbished. Not sure if its worth getting one second hand ...

Click to expand...

FYI...this 2007 MacBook is used! Just because someone is claiming it's "refurbished"...it's a used computer. In 99% of the situations...a computer doesn't get to be 5 years old without being used.

- Nick

Thanks for your help... I think I'm going to go for the Air.

bobeto555 said:

Thanks for your help... I think I'm going to go for the Air.

Click to expand...

I think that is a smart choose. I just wouldn't go for one of the first gen versions from the refurb list. Pick one of the newer ones...they seem to have better solid state stick performance. I would also suggest getting one that has ThunderBolt, so that you can utilize external devices without hampering speeds.

The TB and processor speed is more important to than ssd space(since I could bring it home and connect into external drives for whatever size I needed), so I would go with this: MacBook Air 1.6GHz i5

If you don't need the TB, or processor speed, and want more ssd space, I would go for this: MacBook Air 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo

If the bottom line price is the most important factor, I would go with this: MacBook Air 1.4GHz Base

Now, there is more room in there for your total budget, but I wouldn't use all of it on the computer. I would save the difference for an external hdd, or any other accessory that you might need.

Good luck with your purchase!

Edit: I don't know why the hyperlinks are taking so long to work, but it will go it, just wait a sec for it.

Thanks a lot! Now all I need to do is wait for my pay cheque

I would go for the air as well. I am amazed by what apple has been able to turn that thing into. It is no longer a nice thing to look at it is faster then the MBP.

not sure that it's faster than a mbp, but depending on what you do, the ssd drive does make a huge difference. I just put a owc ssd and an optibay in my mbp and zoooom!

To me, though I love the airs, the real sweet spot is the 13 i7 mbp. pop an ssd in there later and you're laughing long term.