Which MacBook Pro for a DJ

[RoskoMac]

Hello all-I'm a noob to the forums here-but I do read Macrumors and Cult of Mac and AppleInsider and Engadget and visit the apple online store and dream of all things everyday I am a DJ in the market for a new powerful laptop with no windows security BS and DEP BS and all the other bolloxology associated with PC's. I will be doing Logic Express, iMovie and iphoto etc etc, syncing my iphone, using USB MIDI controllers with Ableton Live 8 and Traktor Pro with these minimum specs required for each respectively:

Ableton:
Any G4 or faster (Intel Mac recommended)
1 GB RAM (2 GB recommended)
Mac OS X 10.4.11 or higher
QuickTime 6.5 or higher
DVD-ROM drive

Traktor:
Mac OS® X 10.5 or 10.6 (latest update), Intel® Core™ Duo, 2 GB RAM

Keeping in mind that I would LIKE to install a partition to run Microsoft Flight Simulator on XP and have decent framerates and also that I need some good power(loading, cache, many MP3's and MIDI tracks playing at once/graphics for Flight Sim) and that I'm on a budget-would one of the April 2010 models be ok?? (I was thinking the 2.66 or 2.8 i7 in a 15 or 17" if i can find one) and what specs do you Mac Experts recommend?? I've looked at a bunch of different configs-def a 7200RPM drive would be great-but is it worth it for the RAM upgrade?? Help? I'm lost in a sea of Apple greatness and while I'd love to give every cent to Steve Jobs and Co. so they can wipe out Android(not that they haven't already IMHO) I can't go as crazy as I'd like to.
Looking forward to being a part of the community(and owning a mac soon)

Cheers,
DJ Rosko
www.soundcloud.com/djrosko
Free MP3 mixes for your listening and downloading pleasure!

 

[mehanika]

Hello fellow DJ!

As i have no idea at what level you play, it is not easy to tell if this answer goes for you..

I was in your sitiuation some time ago, and i went with the 13 inch.

Why? Size matters, i have a rather "lightweight" rack, i bring for most gigs, and just the idea to carry anything but a 13 inch was out the question. The new 2011 models are more than enough to drive any music program out there - so spec wise, i did not matter. But size and weight did.

 

[michael.lauden]

Any of them. Nothing you will be doing on them will be 'over the top' for the MBP. I can see why you would want a 'faster' MBP for the audio editing/sample making side - but IMO, I think you'd be fine with the base model.

 

[Alvi]

I'd go for the 15" most DJ apps need that extra screen space, most DJs I know have that one

 

[SpiderDude]

Audio In & Out

Hello friend, don't forget the 15 has audio in and audio out ports, while the 13 only has one. Yes, bullying nerds, I know the 13 port has in and out capabilities but sometimes, when you are a DJ for instance, one may need the two ports simultaneously.


Le macfan

 

[al2o3cr]

Hello friend, don't forget the 15 has audio in and audio out ports, while the 13 only has one. Yes, bullying nerds, I know the 13 port has in and out capabilities but sometimes, when you are a DJ for instance, one may need the two ports simultaneously.

Thanks for demonstrating your ignorance on the audio I/O requirements of a decent DJ rig. I've never seen anybody doing it seriously who *cared* what the built-in I/O could do, since it certainly *can't* do two stereo streams out. DJs invariably have an external I/O; sometimes to interface with turntables but always to provide a second cue channel so they can hear what's coming up while another track is playing.

 

[wesk702]

Any would be fine. Get a standard 13 inch which is portable and powerful enough for serato and anything else you throw at it.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Thanks for demonstrating your ignorance on the audio I/O requirements of a decent DJ rig. I've never seen anybody doing it seriously who *cared* what the built-in I/O could do, since it certainly *can't* do two stereo streams out. DJs invariably have an external I/O; sometimes to interface with turntables but always to provide a second cue channel so they can hear what's coming up while another track is playing.

So a simple adapter cannot provide simultaneous stereo output streams on the 13"? Better yet most gear like Traktor - which I believe is now part & parcel combined with Ableton Live (or the older M-Audio competiting DJ software; slips my mind) using an external hardware kit which uses USB to interface?? There is a tiny Traktor kit no bigger than the size of your palm (about 2yrs old minimum) that does exactly this, no?

I second the choice for a 15" MBP due to the screen real-estate during live performance. Considering Logic Express 9 seems like the op maybe leaning towards composition/production down the road.

 

[driveparty]

Not the MBP 2011 13 ones

They seem to become very hot on graphics greedy applications. Although music software doesn't demand as much graphics performance as 3D games or special 3D graphics apps, you'd like to play games under Windows.
For the 2011 models - at least the 15" with discrete graphics.

 

[mehanika]

They seem to become very hot on graphics greedy applications. Although music software doesn't demand as much graphics performance as 3D games or special 3D graphics apps, you'd like to play games under Windows.
For the 2011 models - at least the 15" with discrete graphics.

I guess you never ever touched real Deejay software?