1. I am a musician who absolutely despises the mac hardware. It's just an over bloated pos that costs twice as much as a machine that you could build yourself. Macs are only for the incompetent computer user, any self respecting geek will build his or her own box to exact specifications and load whatever operating system that fits.

DIE MAC USER SNOBS I HATE YOU ALL

Posted at 7:58PM on Nov 29th 2006 by tendo

2. Pure Windows Fanboy ignorance! First of all, any computer that you buy yourself is going to be cheaper than anything you can buy in the store so what's your point.

As a Mac user I can give you a number of viable reasons why the Mac is sooooo much better than the PC but I don't want to turn this forum into another one of those boring MAC vs. PC argument like this jerk did...

Regardless... most musicians aren't "computer geeks" and they want what works without having to worry about incompatibility programs between software and hardware, virus on their computer and the like.

Like what you want... but don't try to put down a whole group of users for liking what they want.. whether it be a Mac or a PC!

Posted at 8:16AM on Nov 30th 2006 by Cartel

3. correction:
"First of all, any computer that you buy yourself is going to be cheaper than anything you can buy in the store so what's your point."

I meant to say:
"First of all, any computer that you build yourself is going to be cheaper than anything you can buy in the store so what's your point.

Posted at 8:19AM on Nov 30th 2006 by Cartel

4. some musicians *are* computer geeks and *still* prefer "what works without having to worry about incompatibility programs between software and hardware, virus on their computer and the like"

/raises hand

;)

Posted at 9:45AM on Nov 30th 2006 by barb dybwad

5. For the independent musician on a shoestring budget, Mac laptops are not a cost-effective choice, IMO.

My main recording rig is a PC running Windows 2000. I bought it used off a friend for ~$500. It's still going strong for almost five years. My purchased-new iBook has not proved to be nearly as durable. Heck, I've had a five-year-old Compaq Evo that held up better than my iBook.

Whether you prefer PC or Mac, paying retail for new equipment with a lousy repair record is a great way to start off your music career in the red.

Posted at 1:12PM on Nov 30th 2006 by scottandrew

6. I'm totally with you on used equipment Scott. It can be great if you know what you're doing.

Posted at 4:52PM on Nov 30th 2006 by Grant Robertson

7. "For the independent musician on a shoestring budget, Mac laptops are not a cost-effective choice, IMO."

imo it depends on how much you value your time. for me, the time i save not having to maintain the machine, and troubleshoot crashes, is priceless.

also, regarding machine longevity -- i've had the reverse experience from Scott. my 4-year-old Powerbook is still happily kicking, whereas my 2-year-old Windows gaming rig has needed multiple replacement parts and is clogged with *ware, a registry the size of Greenland, and is about as responsive as my 1991 Ford escort (which is to say, not at all). Could I take the time to reinstall and clean some of that crap up? Sure, but that's time I'll never get back and I'd rather spend it doing anything remotely more fun, like re-organizing my filing cabinets. ;)

Posted at 5:09PM on Nov 30th 2006 by barb dybwad

8. Scott, your point is that a new Mac is more expensive than a used PC. Most people can probably work that out on their own. Of course, the $500 second-hand Mac laptop also exists!

If you do have the cash for a new laptop, Macs are NOT more expensive than other laptops. If you want a desktop and are prepared to build it yourself, you can save a bit of money on the hardware but that's the only way you're going to beat Apple's prices feature for feature.

I've been using PC and Mac laptops side by side for the last 7 years. The Macs are much cheaper to run largely because you don't need fancy firewall hardware to protect a Mac from viruses and spyware but also because they are useful for much longer. After 3 years, you really need to upgrade a PC to be able to use the latest software on it. My 5 year old PowerBook was running the latest OS and apps no problem. And Macs retain their value. I sold my 5 year-old PowerBook for 50% of the price I paid for it. I pretty much had to give our 5 year-old PCs away.

Posted at 5:34AM on Dec 1st 2006 by Mandla