Best place for new PC

thomasross20

thomasross20

I don't see a graphics card slot there, but then I'm not a PC tinkerer. Last time I fitted a graphics card was when I was 15.

Danny1969

No I only see 2 mini pci slots for wifi and bt and only one LVDS header so I don't think it's an option for you. 

thomasross20

TOTAL bummer. We only got this a few years ago, never realised at the time I'd need more power for graphics. 

Half tempted just to get a new one and chuck this

ToneControl

Danny1969 said:

ToneControl said:

Danny1969 said:

There isn't a PC laptop that's as well built as a Macbook Pro, or as well designed. They could make one but they wouldn't be able to sell it as there isn't a PC brand that has anything like the loyal customer base of Apple. So they wouldn't be able to charge enough for it. 

Sorry, that's fanboy talk, you need to do a bit more research

My Dell Laptop is 3 years old, same level of CPU as a 2015 MBP, and is better built, and better designed

Not as trendy perhaps. They've been selling loads of desktops and laptops beyond Apple specs for many years

The current top-spec Dell mobile workstation is much faster than a top-spec MBP -it has a mobile Xeon fitted, and a much higher res screen than a MBP can provide, (8M pixels, not 5M like the MBP)

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=xctop7510emea&model_id=precision-m7510-workstation&c=uk&l=en&s=bsd&cs=ukbsdt1

I'm a laptop engineer, have been for 15 years. I repair all makes of laptop from basic things like screen replacements to component level repair of laptop motherboards. It's the money I made in this area of I.T that enabled me to build 2020 studios. 

I'm very familiar with Dell laptops but no they are not as well designed or as well built as a Macpro. Spec and build quality are not the same thing. A Macbookpro palm rest is basically one large piece of alloy milled out for the keys, the actual metal is tapped to accept screws directly. It's expensive to build something like this .... the thought that goes into the routing of the cables, the 40 odd screws that hold the keyboard against the alloy palmrest so there's no give at all .... the DC socket that never breaks, it's great design. 

Your average Dell \ HP \ Acer or whatever laptop is build using molded plastic fitted with brass threaded inserts. The keyboard is held with clips and or a couple of screws. It will give in the middle because it's sat on a plastic palmrest. Over time the brass threaded inserts will pull out the plastic, especially around the hinge area .... Dell Inspiron 1545's, just about ever Acer I ever fixed. The DC socket is weak, Asus being the worse, Acer's are terrible. The Dell socket isn't bad but it wears internally leading to the smart inner pin not making contact so the laptop can't talk to eprom in the charger and the machine then won't charge. I have made many a happy £75 + VAT by changing a faulty DC socket on a Dell board

I have never fixed an Apple DC socket, I have never seen a broken one .... cos it's well designed!

Most Dell Precision's are basically  spec'ed up latitudes. I can flash a Latitude board as a Precision and sell it on a Precision part number, because it's the same part. In fact when you get a board from Dell it comes with a disc called "for service technicians   only" and it contains the option to  flash the board to what you want, ie an X1029 Dell board  can be flashed as a Precision M60, an Inspiron 8600 or a Latitude D800. You can get a Precision in a great spec but a great spec and build quality aren't the same thing. 

Also I think there's a danger in buying on spec alone as too much power in a laptop chassis will produce too much heat and that leads to throttling down and slower performance. Laptops with powerful discreet GPU's tend to have a shorted life than laptops with integral modest onboard video. The Macbook Pro is a good balance in this regard and although it doesn't have much in the way of ventilation it copes well because  the actual laptop body it's self is a heatsink ... because it's make of alloy , not plastic ...because it's well designed

that's interesting, nice to hear from someone who fixes these things

I don't doubt that cheaper wintel laptops are flimsy

I had a new high spec consumer Acer fail within a week

I know the T7400 very well inside, it's definitely as good as or beyond (Box) MacPro level for quality of engineering and design

I've had only 2 problems in 6 years: a mains drop to 130v in my house taking out the motherboard - but got an immediate replacement, and 2 second hand memory modules failing

and I have upgraded the inside of my M6800 - which was well made and very expandable. So far no problems with it

I like the ergonomics of the Macbook chassis, which is why I bought my Macbook 12 a couple of months ago

But, I have no long term measure of reliability for it, however 3 of my iPhones have had to be replaced within a year of purchase (one within 2 days), whereas I have had no problems with any other phone I ever bought.

My iPad 3 was apparently one of the few that was not replaced due to overheating.

Therefore I am not yet convinced that Apple make reliable hardware

I think that Apple have a lead on style, but I am not convinced they are near the front for performance

You may be right on the robustness of DC sockets, but I think we'd need to compare like with like - e.g. MBP against m6800, rather than the cheaper Argos stuff

PolarityMan

What are you trying to do? For simple cutting and syncing to soundtrack I found reaper was much more stable than lightworks was was a festering pile of bullshit.

I would hope the commericial offerings area bit better cos i certainly wouldnt drop cash on anything so shoddy. 

thomasross20

Just bought a macbook pro (with dedicated graphics card) from John Lewis. Missed the 3 year warranty but still get 2 year warranty.
Probably no point getting apple care until that ends, right?

Rocker

Slightly off track but I would not upgrade my PC just to play MP3s. I would upgrade the MP3s to FLAC first.

chrispy108

What?
His issue isn't playing mp3s. Anything can do that.
How are you upgrading mp3s to flac?

thomasross20

Exactly, my problem was with running basic videos in video editors, and also Tracktion sometimes being judder (RAM increase would have helped that). 

MacBook is cool so far. Loads of apps on the toolbar I might remove (FaceTime etc). Going to try and keep it empty other than music-related things. I did read that the magsafe 2 adapter is terrible and WILL break - hope they make a decent alternative soon. 

If I bought this yesterday would have had 3-year John Lewis Warranty. Total bummer. 

Applecare for this is £280 for 3 years from date of purchase of the MacBook, so likely not worth getting - expensive!

Been a joy to use so far - and completely intuitive. I've got Traction & jamstix installed and will check if my Toneport will work with it soon. Then need to get all the AV files from the Windows machine onto this. 

The speakers on this sound AMAZING!

thomasross20

Got all my programs installed though Gearbox stopped being supported by all platforms yonks ago. 

One annoying thing and I read it on the forums is that people hear crackling coming out of the Toneport when running with a Mac - likely because the product is no longer supported, but I didn't get this with the PC. Might have to buy a new interface and audio software after all but oh boy will this cost..

thomasross20

The noise is absolutely awful - gutted!

chrispy108

thomasross20;910553" said:

The speakers on this sound AMAZING!

What? You must have had some Christmas beer in you to think that, no laptop speakers sound AMAZING.

thomasross20

OK they're not amazing but they're bloody good! 

Danny1969

thomasross20 said:

Got all my programs installed though Gearbox stopped being supported by all platforms yonks ago. 

One annoying thing and I read it on the forums is that people hear crackling coming out of the Toneport when running with a Mac - likely because the product is no longer supported, but I didn't get this with the PC. Might have to buy a new interface and audio software after all but oh boy will this cost..

DAW wise just use Reaper, it's effectively free and very powerful, far better than the stuff you've used before. Interface wise your not tracking drum kits or whole bands so a simple 2 channel job will do you fine. Prob no need to spend more than £100, something like a Focusrite 2i2

thomasross20

Exactly. I was looking at the Focusrite solo.

I've already paid for Traction, know it and it seems to work so will likely stick with that.

Do you do a lot of guitar recording into your MacBook?

Danny1969

Not got one mate, use Mac Pro for studio and Dell Latitude XT's for mobile recording. I work with people who do massive projects on their Macbook Pro's though, 80 tracks of audio and Slate Trigger on every drum channel  is standard,  plus eq and comps on every channel. Then a few aux channels running verbs and delays. 

thomasross20

It must be the Toneport then. 

It'll cost but if I think I need a new interface. Possibly Focusrite solo. 

And new emulation software to go with it. 

ToneControl

I think I read that the focusrite cheaper ones are distorted with DI guitar? not enough headroom

I went for Komplete audio

better latency, DI good, 4 channels and lots of controls

thomasross20

Serious? I thought the Focusrite solo was built for guitar in?