Help! I'm a girl & don't know what to buy!

[Orangenz]

I am wanting to buy a Macbook - I will be editing YouTube videos, photo editing, I have adobe premier elements most recent which I use for these - But the main reason I am investing in a Mac is for music production - I want to be able to record my guitar & vocals - But also buy beats off the net and make music like Peaches, Nine Inch Nails etc...With my vocals on top - I am not a computer person and have no idea what specs laptop I need, I'm not sure about the retina as I don't think I need all that flash graphic stuff!

This is an investment to me, and I want it to last as much as possible - I need the music to be as good quality a possible, without any problems creating it!

I'm in New Zealand, being to many stores and people in the store don't seem to know! Also called apple but they weren't very helpful.

Please help!

 

[northernmunky]

It all starts with budget.. what can you afford, what exactly do you need it to do? How long are you hoping for it to last before its too obsolete?

If you're working with video and audio then you're talking big files so I'd say Macbook Air is automatically out, although specs are good, they don't give you much drive space.

Aside from that even the lowest spec Macbook Pro (non-retina) is very powerful and should last you many many years plus you have the benefit of a 500Gb HDD. The great thing about Macs is they will work just as good 5 years from now as they did when you first bought it.

By the way, I'm not sure what being a girl has to do with anything! You can just as easily be a boy and have no idea about computers! You are just as capable of being as knowledgeable about this stuff as anyone else!!

 

[GoCubsGo]

You need to answer a couple more questions before anyone can help you spend your money. How much are you able to spend on your new laptop? Are you certain you want a laptop? Will you hook your laptop up to an external monitor?


If you don't really intend to hook your laptop up to an external display then off hand, without knowing the above, I would recommend the base model 15" MBP retina. I would bump up the RAM as well. I think the laptop is a better choice for you to record with because you can do it anywhere. I'm not sure what your setup is like at home, but if you don't have silence in any room you choose then you may be moving back and forth. Even still, a laptop is always nice for portability. Later you can get a display to use as a second monitor or use the laptop in clamshell mode.

BTW, your gender has nothing to do with not knowing. I bet you spoke to some men in the stores and they too did not know, as you said.

 

[cr2]

Nz

Last time I visited NZ, they did not have Apple stores but really terrible third party vendors and they really did not care about the customers. I had to guide my Kiwi Brother from the US.

The prices in the US are far better, I usually get Mac / iPad / iPhone when I visit him or when he comes over. Can you find someone to get the right hardware from US?

BTW, NZ is still a great country, nice fish, meat and golden kiwis.

 

[northernmunky]

The prices in the US are far better, I usually get Mac / iPad / iPhone when I visit him or when he comes over. Can you find someone to get the right hardware from US?

Or even better if you're in New Zealand, just take a short flight to Taiwan/Japan/HongKong, where prices for Apple kit are the cheapest in the world.. last year I flew from London to Tokyo to buy a MacBook Pro £700 cheaper than UK stores and still saved money.

 

[Latt]

As the others mentioned, it's hard to advice without a budget.

Anyway - Retina isn't flash graphics stuff. It's a superior display to anything else and if you're serious about your photo editing, you'll love it. It's also very convenient to be able to increase the screen resolution so you can fit more stuff onto your screen when you're doing video editing.

So I'd definitely recommend a Macbook Pro 13". Pick the base model and increase the ram to as much as possible. The smalles CPU is enough for your needs and you're going to want to add an external harddrive to store your finished productions anyway. The 128gb internal drive should be sufficient to store your work-in-progress stuff unless you're tossing around very long movies in 4k. The internal SSD is super fast so you're going to love that as well.

That's my suggestion.

 

[nightlong]

Music production needs substantial hard disk and plenty of RAM, not necessarily a retina screen, but for video work the retina screen would really help. So if you need portability, the 15" MBPr with 16 GB RAM and the biggest SSD you can afford would be best, and if possible an external screen too. If you don't need portability, consider an iMac.

 

[jjhoekstra]

My advice: get a 15inch retina pro. The retina screen is great for all the reasons mentioned above, and in addition I find it much easier on my eyes than say the screen of an Air. Especially reading text is great on a retina screen. I would get at least 256 Gb ssd and 8 Gb ram. 16 Gb ram slows the wake-up from sleep down quit a bit, but makes the computer more future-proof. My pro with 16 Gb NEVER actually uses more than 8 Gb.
With such a machine you would own what is pretty much a standard in the music world. I personally would not get the 13 inch, as working with music is much easier on a large screen.
Just my thoughts...

 

[cr2]

Or even better if you're in New Zealand, just take a short flight to Taiwan/Japan/HongKong, where prices for Apple kit are the cheapest in the world.. last year I flew from London to Tokyo to buy a MacBook Pro £700 cheaper than UK stores and still saved money.

Thanks for letting everyone know. I am sure a few folks will use your valuable tip and send you a virtual beer. BTW, Why the prices in London are so much higher?

Also, there is a catch in the US prices. You need to buy at a place where there is no sales tax or from out of state retailer like B&H, Amazon (which charges sales tax in many states).

 

[tevion5]

I bought the lowest spec MacBook Pro 13" in 2011 and it's served me incredibly well for years. It drives ProTools 9 and Logic X flawlessly. I've recorded nearly 100 projects by now from ambient electronica to heavy rock.

It powers my 23" Apple Cinema Display, my Avid C400 Interface, my Yamaha CVP-501, and my entire PA system for live gigs.

Invest in a MacBook Pro and you won't regret it. Mine is my greatest studio friend.

 

[northernmunky]

Thanks for letting everyone know. I am sure a few folks will use your valuable tip and send you a virtual beer. BTW, Why the prices in London are so much higher?

Also, there is a catch in the US prices. You need to buy at a place where there is no sales tax or from out of state retailer like B&H, Amazon (which charges sales tax in many states).

Actually that just reminded me to mention, if you do the Japan apple store like I did, take your passport and they'll discount the government tax.

 

[26139]

Huh?

What does any of your computing needs have to do with you being a girl?

 

[Apple_Robert]

What does any of your computing needs have to do with you being a girl?

Normally, nothing. However, if she is single, smart, sexy, of good character and within the age range of some of us singles, it could be pertinent.

 

[JAT]

What does any of your computing needs have to do with you being a girl?

That's right, tell her the way she feels about herself is wrong. That'll help.

 

[tillsbury]

Or even better if you're in New Zealand, just take a short flight to Taiwan/Japan/HongKong, where prices for Apple kit are the cheapest in the world.. last year I flew from London to Tokyo to buy a MacBook Pro £700 cheaper than UK stores and still saved money.

That's still a 10-hour flight. And you'll be stung for GST when you arrive.

Buying overseas is bad advice from NZ, as within NZ you are covered by the Consumer Guarantees Act, which covers your machine for its expected lifetime, certainly longer than the three years you would get if you paid for AppleCare on a machine sourced overseas.

Buy from Apple NZ and get it delivered to you, or buy from a store such as Dick Smith who often have 10% off sales.

 

[tevion5]

Normally, nothing. However, if she is single, smart, sexy, of good character and within the age range of some of us singles, it could be pertinent.

Perhaps, but she might be 12 for all you know

 

[SlCKB0Y]

Or even better if you're in New Zealand, just take a short flight to Taiwan/Japan/HongKong,

That "short" flight would probably take her 9 - 10 hours each way and cost $1200NZ.

where prices for Apple kit are the cheapest in the world.. last year I flew from London to Tokyo to buy a MacBook Pro £700 cheaper than UK stores and still saved money.

Yes but Asian prices are not $1400NZ (£700) cheaper than Apple gear in NZ or Aus.

I've been to Asia many times and never seen anything even remotely as cheap as you are talking about.

Congratulations on pretty much the most ridiculous buying advice I have ever read....

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That's right, tell her the way she feels about herself is wrong. That'll help.

Its exactly the first thing I read when I saw this post. Her gender has nothing to do with her inability to decide what computer to get.