Macbook spec requirements, need some advice

Greetings NI users! Its been almost 2 years since I chimed in here.... time goes fast when your not having any problems!

That being said, my dell inspiron is getting retired, failed firewire port. Im planning on moving into the mac universe. I can afford a pro but during my shopping I came across a new previous version white 13.3 inch macbook. The specs are as follows

-2.1 ghz core 2 duo
-4 gigs of ram
-320 gig 7400 rpm hard drive
-intel gma x3100 graphics processor with 144 mb of ddr2 sdram shared with main memory
-mac osx

I use a vci 100 and a MOTU ultralite soundcard.
typically use 4 decks and like to play with effects. Also will
be upgrading to traktor pro. I use flac and wav files, aprox 3500 tracks in my library.

I have been out of the loop for quite awhile, just been catching up with traktor pro details over the last month. Im really hoping some of you can comment on if you think this machine will be sufficient. Like I said, if I have to ill get a macbook pro with beefier specs, but this machine will save me about 1000 bucks over the cost of a pro.

I really dont want to be looking at buying another machine a year or two down the road. I need this to be stable, I make the better part of my living on gigs. If you have knowledgeable opinions on this, I thank you taking a few moments for some advice.

Peace

 

I've had the new spec MB white for a while now, and I've been extreamely happy with it. Only thing that has been a bit unsatifactory is the limited screen estate it has; with 1280x800 screen, it will be very troublesome to have 4 decks on the screen at once. I personally only have 2 most of the time, the "FX-row" and crossfader hidden, and this way I don't have to switch between "song browser" and "playback" screens. Of course, if you're willing to use the "compact deck view", or don't mind flipping over to the browser to pick next song, the MB white might suit you perfectly.

If this is a problem for you, I think you might be better off with either the 15" MBP (resolution 1440x900) or the 17" MBP (resolution 1920x1200) ... of course, with a bigger laptop, you'll have harder time fitting it in some places.

 

I've been using the 13" MacBook for well over 2 years now.
Never had any problem, not even a glitch.
However, like DiscoNova mentioned I don't think the 13" screen is convenient for 4 decks. I've only casually used 4 decks (some effects or voice-overs) but I think you'll have a hard time if you plan to use all 4 decks during a whole gig.
Go for a large screen if 4 decks is your game!

 

My specs are almost 100% identical, and I can get down to 2ms latency without breaking a sweat. You should be just fine.

 

If you set up macros for your views so, for example, the layout switches to browser mode when you are searching but then back to 4 deck view on track load then you can quite happily work on 4 decks on a 13" MB.

 

I have used the Black macbook for a year and never had a problem apart from the screen size. Once I managed to get my hands on a 17"MBP I get everything on the screen at one time. I would never be able to go back now! I have attached a screen shot in the following thread.
http://www.native-instruments.com/forum/showthread.php?t=78093&page=2
But on a mac you will never go back! Cliche I know but wow!
I too now have started to use 4 decks because I have them on view all the time, its easier and has changed my mixing certainly for the better!

 

i've a new 13" unibody macbook and i much prefer it to my old 17" macbook pro due to it portability. screen size isn't a problem for me as all i needed to do was assign a button on my midi controller to hide my 4 decks and show me a full screen of browser, works a treat

 

Thanks for all the feedback guys! After a couple weeks or research
I went out and purchased my first Mac!

 

What did you get then?

 

Yea, I'm curious myself. How is everything working out?

 

I got the re-release of the white macbook, came out about a week and a half ago.
2.13 ghz core 2 duo
4 gigs ram
320 gig 7200 rpm hard drive.

Haven't run traktor on it yet, spent last night doing all the osx tweaks,
Installed coolbook, traktor pro, and my motu ultralite drivers.
Will be importing my traktor 3 collection tonight and hopefully have time to
Take it for a spin. Ill give an update once I have a few days of testing under my belt.

 

Sweet! Now it is time to change your gear signature!

 

Good call!

 

Welcome to the world of Mac. I used to hate people like me!

 

I used to hate people like me too. Now I just hate people in general.

ps screw all of you.

pps Mac > PC

ppps vinyl > CD

pppps Blackberry > iPhone

 

Hey, any of you guys using coolbook? If so any recommendations on what settings to use?
Thanks

 

why the **** are you using this? You now have a mec so **** all the parafanalia (skuse the spelling)! you need **** all as you have a mac.....

 

Fleater, I perform regularily in front of large crowds and get paid good to do so.
I need to have a bullit proof rig that I can depend on.
When choosing this machine I contacted Thomas directly for advice
And this was his specific recommendation to deal with the aggressive speed stepping
Tendencies that are a known cause for audio issues on current Mac's.
There will be an official tutorial on the native instrument website in the near future to address this issue.
I played an outdoor festival 2 weekend's ago and witnessed 4 performers have serious audio issues, myself included..... Mine was the
Only pc out of the bunch, the rest were Mac's. Mac's may be great machines, arguably better than pc's but they are
Far from perfect. I'm trying my best to be proactive towards keeping the issues to a
Minimum

 

I'd like to see some of the problems people have had with Mac's ... my MacBook gets used for paid gigs every week and never misses a beat, it is also on the internet about 6 hours a day, gets used to download whatever day in day out and I even connect to my home server via wireless broadband while playing at my gigs if there is a track that I happen to not have with me (back to my mac is great).

The 2 things that I make sure of are to cycle your battery properly (I'm currently on 328 cycles and still have 100% health) and once every 2 weeks run Onyx to make sure that your permissions and scripts are up to date.

The only thing I've been thinking of doing is to upgrade the RAM in my machine to 6GB (1 x 4GB, 1 x 2GB) which has been shown to work quite well ... not that I need it, I just want it!

 

thanks for the input frankle, if i may ask, how does one "cycle the battery properly?"