I'm getting a MacBook, and I wanna use it mostly for recording. I'm considering the BlackBook because of the price and the HDD size. What are the main advantages of having a MBP for recording purposes? I don't care about screen size or back lit keyboard, and I doubt a graphics card is necessary for it. Is there anything else I'm missing? I have 4 gigs of ram for the BlackBook as well, so there's some more power right there. Thanks for any advice!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
There's no big difference between MB and MBP as far as recording goes, correct?
- Thread starter PhaserFuzz
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
MBP has faster processors than a blackbook.
But if you up the HDD and get 4gb of ram im sure you'll be just fine.
What kind of recording are you doing and with what software?
But if you up the HDD and get 4gb of ram im sure you'll be just fine.
What kind of recording are you doing and with what software?
Well the only MBP I'd be able to afford right now is the base model at $2,000.. which is the same 2.4 GHz as the BlackBook. Also, 250 gigs of HDD space would last a while, so I wouldn't need to worry about that any time soon. I'm planning on buying the Apogee Duet interface and using Logic for recording.
The advantages? Faster CPUs and more connections.
For serious audio recording you might want to use a external drive for all sound and video files. For maximum throughput the best connections for this are firewire 800 and eSATA. The MBP has firewire 800 built in. For eSATA you can get an expresscard adapter. Also, some high-end sound interfaces use firewire 800 or expresscard connections (RME and Apogee come to mind).
Dual-link DVI is also a major advantage. If you ever use recording software on multiple monitors, you'll realize just how much the extra screen real estate helps to spread out the mixer, plug-in windows, timeline, toolbars, etc. You could use a 30" ACD (requires dual-link) or with a Matrox TripleHead 2 Go, you can use two 23" ACDs.