Need recommendations for a new laptop!

[alantig]

I enjoy and have been happy with all of my Apple purchases. But that's not the point of what I am about to say.

You do NOT need to spend $2,500 on a MacBook Pro. Literally about 1/2 of that cost will get you a more than sufficient MacBook Pro that will last you 5-7 years (based on current sale prices). And, considering what you are coming from and your typical use case, even an $800 MacBook Air (the old model, currently on sale) would be a heck of a nice general purpose machine.

My wife's MacBook Air is a 2011 or 2012 model...going strong. My MacBook Pro is a 2013...again, going strong. The only negatives are that battery life is not what it used to be, but that's to be expected.

There are certainly nice Windows laptops out there, don't get me wrong. But you certainly don't need to break the bank if you want a Mac.

Spot on with this - $2500 MacBook Pro sounds like drastic overkill for what the OP wants.

My original MacBook is something like a 2009 - still running well, even though it can’t run the latest OS. My two iMacs are 2011 and 2012, and the only reason I’d upgrade them is because they won’t run the latest OS.

 

[andy474x]

Alright you Mac jerks, you win... sort of! Seriously though, I appreciate everyone's input.

As I looked at laptops, I got to thinking about what it is I really need in terms of the "guts." Running my old HP with an Intel i3 chip, processing power has oddly not been much of an issue. I don't run a ton of plugins, not using any amp/cab sims, and I direct monitor out of my interface, so I'm not going to have monitor latency problems from my DAW. The most labor intensive thing for my processor is rendering large projects to an audio file, and even that isn't too awful. I think my biggest issue is RAM, currently at 4gb and I can't do any kind of multitasking - my system monitor indicates I'm maxing out my RAM often, one Chrome tab and my DAW at the same time... forget it! And I think I would benefit from a solid state hard drive as well.

So, there she was - my wife's MacBook.

Spec wise, it's very similar to my old HP - i5 chip, 4gb ram, mechanical hard drive. But, it runs much better. She's never used it a ton, especially after we graduated, and last year I got her a tablet, so she's been offering it to me for a while, I just didn't want to go to the dark side. It can be upgraded to 8gb RAM for about $50, and a solid state drive for about $100. So I'm going to add those upgrades and switch over. I'm also going to grab Reaper - it's affordable enough that if I don't like the Mac system, or Reaper itself, I'm only out $60. Plus, some of the people I collaborate with are either poor or very cheap, so this will be a good way to get something we can all use to work on files from home.

This is a good way for me to try some new things. As I looked at Windows machines, I was just majorly turned off by a few things. First, as mentioned, my processing power is adequate right now. If I get a new machine, I want at least 16gb RAM and a SSD - things that are still "upgrades" to most base builds I looked at, and quite overpriced - more expensive than buying the aftermarket parts, especially when I consider there's no break for the base parts that are taken out. I also think a new version of Windows is on the way, which probably isn't a huge deal, but I just don't feel like messing with it, would rather have it installed from day one.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

And so it begins.

 

[Coop]

Alright you Mac jerks, you win... sort of! Seriously though, I appreciate everyone's input.

As I looked at laptops, I got to thinking about what it is I really need in terms of the "guts." Running my old HP with an Intel i3 chip, processing power has oddly not been much of an issue. I don't run a ton of plugins, not using any amp/cab sims, and I direct monitor out of my interface, so I'm not going to have monitor latency problems from my DAW. The most labor intensive thing for my processor is rendering large projects to an audio file, and even that isn't too awful. I think my biggest issue is RAM, currently at 4gb and I can't do any kind of multitasking - my system monitor indicates I'm maxing out my RAM often, one Chrome tab and my DAW at the same time... forget it! And I think I would benefit from a solid state hard drive as well.

So, there she was - my wife's MacBook.

Spec wise, it's very similar to my old HP - i5 chip, 4gb ram, mechanical hard drive. But, it runs much better. She's never used it a ton, especially after we graduated, and last year I got her a tablet, so she's been offering it to me for a while, I just didn't want to go to the dark side. It can be upgraded to 8gb RAM for about $50, and a solid state drive for about $100. So I'm going to add those upgrades and switch over. I'm also going to grab Reaper - it's affordable enough that if I don't like the Mac system, or Reaper itself, I'm only out $60. Plus, some of the people I collaborate with are either poor or very cheap, so this will be a good way to get something we can all use to work on files from home.

This is a good way for me to try some new things. As I looked at Windows machines, I was just majorly turned off by a few things. First, as mentioned, my processing power is adequate right now. If I get a new machine, I want at least 16gb RAM and a SSD - things that are still "upgrades" to most base builds I looked at, and quite overpriced - more expensive than buying the aftermarket parts, especially when I consider there's no break for the base parts that are taken out. I also think a new version of Windows is on the way, which probably isn't a huge deal, but I just don't feel like messing with it, would rather have it installed from day one.

Reaper is great. You can download for free and evaluate. Then you can decide that it's totally worth the $60.

 

[andy474x]

Well, I grabbed the RAM upgrade and a solid state drive today for about $175. Here we go!

 

[dmatthews]

Well, I grabbed the RAM upgrade and a solid state drive today for about $175. Here we go!

Best of luck with the change!

 

[toothace]

Welcome to the Light side!

 

[Deleted member 5962]

I just love it when a guy says "I'm not really tech savvy and I'm comfortable with Windows, so don't tell me to get a Mac." And 75% of the first responders say "get a Mac instead."

please excuse my lame attempt at humor for the Mac crowd. I read at least three threads like this last night... "I need a versatile tube amp to cover several tones. I DO NOT want a modeler so don't suggest that." 3 of the first 5 replies... you guessed it. "Get a modeler!" "I hate Tele's." "Get a Tele!" "I don't like any of the new Marshalls build quality and won't buy one." "Get a Marshall"

"I'm not going to pay a lot for this muffler!" "Oh yes, indeed, you are going to pay out the a$$ for this muffler!"

"I'm not falling for a banana in the tail pipe." .....

 

[HANGAR18]

Stay away from solid state hard drives if you can avoid it.

Because they don't last long, fail without warning and recovery of your data from a failed SSD is impossible. They way they are built is roughly this... data can only be written to the drive once. Even if you delete that data, you still cannot reuse that space to write new data. The manufacturers are essentially gambling that once you install the operating system and your software, that you will just keep using the parts of the drive which are already in use (have data written to them) and never wind up writing too much actual data to the drive, which in turn would make it seem like the SSD's will last a long time. Modern SSD's are a little chip smaller than my pinkie fingernail. I tried a solid state drive... once. Lasted about a year and had to reinstall EVERYTHING from scratch. Never doing that again.

[They're shooting at us! Requesting permission to return fire.]
{Copy that, permission to return fire granted.}
[Roger, out.]

The only good thing Apple ever did was to invent the WYSIWYG interface (which Microsoft sort of borrowed when they invented "Windows") and then later to use a Unix based kernel for their OS X operating system. Aside from that, its business as usual with them, building operating systems for people who don't know how to use a computer and then allowing their customers to believe that they know how to use a computer just because they know how to do some stuff with a MAC. But Windows 7 left MAC in the dust years ago and MAC is still sucking wind to this day. ...And, as a 19 year industry pro, that is just my opening remarks on that subject.

Was that harsh?
Am I going to get voted off the island now?

 

[Tim S]

I have 30+ years in IT, first used a PDP-11 running RSTS via 150 baud acoustic modem, first OS I dealt with professionally was MP/M, first DOS was 2.1, first Mac OS was System 6 and first UNIX was Kodak Interactive — so I’m a dinosaur. These days I’m a cyber security engineer

I recommend whatever laptop runs the Linux disto you’re most comfortable with. And if you don’t know (or want to learn) Linux, get a Mac. (At least a FreeBSD framework is better than a brain-dead half-breed DOS/VMS mashup)

FWIW, I refuse to support anyone silly enough to run Windows — but that’s just me. ;-P

 

[dmatthews]

I wish Amiga had won a place.

 

[jxe]

what masochist would run a linux tracker?

 

[HANGAR18]

FWIW, I refuse to support anyone silly enough to run Windows — but that’s just me. ;-P

Windows 7 was the first stable version of Microsoft's completely new, built from the ground up, operating system. The only resemblance it has to all other operating systems which came previously is the name "Windows". Aside from that, nothing else survived. It is a new day and time and Windows 7/10 are fantastic OS's for everyday computer users. I'm not saying that just because I hold a Microsoft certification either. If if Win7/10 sucked, I'd tell you they sucked. Not only that but I also happen to be in the process of migrating my recording efforts from iOS over to Windows 10 where (hindsight) I should have out it in the first place.

That being said though, I'm still hosting all my web sites on the latest flavor of Unix (in my case that's currently CentOS) because that's the best hosting platform for me.

 

[Tim S]

Windows 7 was the first stable version of Microsoft's completely new, built from the ground up, operating system. The only resemblance it has to all other operating systems which came previously is the name "Windows".

Except, of course, for the backwards compatibility with bad ideas like SMB, executing apps at Ring 0, autorun defaults that allow infections while inserting a USB thumbdrive -- all things that are required to support pre-Win7 apps. New code, same bad ideas.

Win10 -- OS as a SaaS??? No thanks.

If you're running CentOS, take a look at Devuan -- it's one of the few distros that's free of systemd (the service that provides all of the MS-os weaknesses to Linux).

Anyway, back to the OP -- Spend some time at an Apple Store and explain that you need to be convinced their solution is better than MS Windows for *your* needs.

FWIW, IBM found it could *save* money by switching to Apple:
https://www.cio.com/article/3001871...om-pcs-reportedly-saves-ibm-270-per-user.html
https://www.computerworld.com/artic...-are-even-cheaper-to-run-than-it-thought.html

I don't trust code I can't view, but that's my problem. ;-)

 

[HANGAR18]

Anyway, back to the OP -- Spend some time at an Apple Store and explain that you need to be convinced their solution is better than MS Windows for *your* needs.

And make sure you tell them that you have no interest in privacy or security as all of your personal data is required to be uploaded to an iCloud so that it can be sifted through by Apple Corporate and every hacker on the planet.

 

[Tim S]

And make sure you tell them that you have no interest in privacy or security as all of your personal data is required to be uploaded to an iCloud so that it can be sifted through by Apple Corporate and every hacker on the planet.

Actually, iCloud is an optional service that isn't required to use IOS or MacOS.

Android, ChromeOS, google.com searches, GooglePlay, GoogleApps --> Google gets your data
IOS, MacOS, Apple App Store, iCloud --> Apple gets your data
Windows, OneDrive, o365, Azure --> Microsoft gets your data
AWS, FireOS --> Amazon gets your data

DuckDuckGo searches --> no one gets your data
Linux OSes --> no one gets your data
LineageOS (phone OS) --> no one gets your data
F-Droid Android app repo --> all apps opensource, no one gets your data
ownCloud --> no one gets your data

Everything has its advantages and disadvantages. (Isn't that why PRS makes more than one guitar model?)

Back to the OP's issue (which he has since solved by using his wife's Mac -- this is for anyone else stumbling into this thread )....

If more durable hardware than HP is your biggest requirement for your laptop, here are some choices if you are okay with sacrificing privacy for convenience:
Apple MacBooks: solid hardware (but search re: butterfly keyboards)
Chromebooks: a great choice if you're okay with Google. These things are designed to hold-up to abuse by school kids
MS Surface: I know some folks that are very happy with the higher-end models

 

[andy474x]

And make sure you tell them that you have no interest in privacy or security as all of your personal data is required to be uploaded to an iCloud so that it can be sifted through by Apple Corporate and every hacker on the planet.

This is me getting side tracked, but I do have concerns that Apple, and/or social media platforms, are collecting a lot of very private info on us. A couple weekends ago I went into a small clothing store and bought a pair of pants. I mentioned the brand name verbally to my wife, but that was it - no mention of the specific item name, and did not search anything online. I bought the pants, left the store, within minutes had an ad pop up on Facebook for the specific pants I bought. CREEPY.

I don’t know how exactly they did it, but I don’t think it was a coincidence. Either a very sophisticated marketing algorithm, which took into account many factors about me as well as which store I was in and what brands they carry, or they somehow collected data via my debit card (meaning MasterCard is in cahoots as well), or the ol listening through the microphone conspiracy. Whatever, and whoever, the case, it confirmed the small voice inside me that has been saying for a while that mobile devices are intruding on privacy, to a degree that someone will have damning info (dirt) on a vast portion of the population, and use it unethically, anywhere from selling it to blackmail, influencing politics and commerce. I’m going full on conspiracy theorist.

The joke will be on them when I upload my music to their cloud.

 

[Tim S]

This is me getting side tracked, but I do have concerns that Apple, and/or social media platforms, are collecting a lot of very private info on us.

Not so much Apple -- they are the same as Microsoft. They collect metrics from your use of their OS and store any data you backup to iCloud (Apple) or OneDrive (Microsoft). They don't resell your data to others for profit.

Google and Facebook, on the other hand, make ALL of their money by selling your data to others. To them, YOU are the product and advertisers are the customers. That's why Google searches, Facebook access and Android OS updates are "cost-free".

If you want anonymity on the 'net, it is possible -- but it's a constant battle and one slip-up is all it takes. Thank the NSA & 5 Eyes (among other nations' govt intelligence agencies)

Edit/tl;dr -- If you want some data to be private, keep it encrypted and off any device that has Internet access. Otherwise... you have to assume that it won't stay private.

 

[alantig]

This is me getting side tracked, but I do have concerns that Apple, and/or social media platforms, are collecting a lot of very private info on us. A couple weekends ago I went into a small clothing store and bought a pair of pants. I mentioned the brand name verbally to my wife, but that was it - no mention of the specific item name, and did not search anything online. I bought the pants, left the store, within minutes had an ad pop up on Facebook for the specific pants I bought. CREEPY.

I don’t know how exactly they did it, but I don’t think it was a coincidence. Either a very sophisticated marketing algorithm, which took into account many factors about me as well as which store I was in and what brands they carry, or they somehow collected data via my debit card (meaning MasterCard is in cahoots as well), or the ol listening through the microphone conspiracy. Whatever, and whoever, the case, it confirmed the small voice inside me that has been saying for a while that mobile devices are intruding on privacy, to a degree that someone will have damning info (dirt) on a vast portion of the population, and use it unethically, anywhere from selling it to blackmail, influencing politics and commerce. I’m going full on conspiracy theorist.

The joke will be on them when I upload my music to their cloud.

Likely a beacon in the store - that's become a thing lately. They detect your phone, then target ads to you. Not surprised you got an ad from the store, but I'd guess the fact they were the same pants was probably more coincidental.