Rob182 Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 Thanks @blandy that’s all really insightful. I currently don’t have a laptop or PC that I use any music production software on, as I haven’t actually self-recorded since about 3 laptops ago, so the compatability shouldn’t be an issue. I’ll be starting from scratch. I honestly had no idea that a 9 year old MacBook could still work that well. I guess I’ve listened to too many anti-Apple people saying that it’ll stop working in 3-5 updates. If you say that advertised one looks overpriced then I’ll go with your better judgement, and I’m sure there will be plenty of bargains around in the coming months anyway. I’m almost certain I’ll go for a MacBook Pro or iMac, for the same reasons you mention. Plus I’ve found that a lot of musicians that I’ve wirked with have used Apple, so I’m guessing/hoping that collaboration will be fairly seamless too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted March 7, 2018 Moderator Share Posted March 7, 2018 No worries, @Rob182. People anti this or anti that - it's daft in terms of "tribalism" - TBF, modern computers do what they do. There's not a massive clear reason not to go with one or the other OS or provider. It's just personal preference/cost etc. the "I hate windows or Microsoft or Apple or Chrome or whatever.." it's not "real" it's posturing, in terms of the machines. All the manufacturers are iffy on something or other - human rights, environment, privacy, dominant positions, data abuse./misuse.. So anyway, I wouldn't take too much attention on my skinflint views on price - look around and see how it compares. It just seemed slightly stingy on SSD capacity, and age for the price, for me. Maybe you'd get a reduction, or the 256GB would suit. Good machine, from the specs. The mac will come with Garageband music software already on it, included, but if that's not the thing for you, then logic pro is the thing, I guess - you pay and download it from the App store and people like @Xann could maybe advise better on that line of work. A really capable, long lasting, fast, well built, beautiful to use Mac is out there. I've had many. But a bog standard PC could also maybe meet your wishes. Just for proof of no bull, here's the screen grab of mine's age and state 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob182 Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 Alright @blandy, me again, after a bit more Apple advice. Through my employer I get a whopping 6% discount on the Apple site. Does this make shopping there worthwhile, do you reckon? Or would I still be better going somewhere cheaper, or getting a pricematch with John Lewis? I'm looking on there now, and I'm still in-between an iMac or a MacBook Pro. Tbh, my judgement of a computer will just be 'which one has the highest numbers in the spec description', without any real reason or knowledge. The highest spec 21.5-inch iMac is the Retina 4K Display 3.4GHz Processer with 1TB Storage, for £1,362. (£1,280 after discount). Then the highest spec 27-inch iMac is the Retina 5K Display 3.8GHz Processor with 2TB Storage, for £2,114. (£1,987 after discount). The highest spec 13-inch MacBook Pro is the Touch Bar and Touch ID 3.15Hz Processor with 512GB Storage, for £1,832. (£1,722 after discount). Lastly, the highest spec 15-inch MacBook Pro is the 2.2GHz Processor 256GB Storage model, for £1,785. (£1,677 after discount). I'd be happy to buy any of the above, so would the highest spec iMac be the best one of the lot? (There is an iMac Pro, starting at £4k+, which is a bit expensive for me, considering I might end up recording music for a few months and then moving on to something else) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 20, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted March 20, 2018 @Rob182 if you know any students or teachers then you can get a pretty good discount on macbooks through "UniDays" I got about £300 off mine and it also came with some brand new Beats. I intended to sell them and put the money towards the laptop, but ended up just using them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob182 Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 Cheers @Stevo985, I've heard that before, but didn't realise the discount was that much. My sister-in-law is a teacher, so I think that'll be the way I go. Now I just need to decide which one to go for! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddywhack Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 My wife's a teacher and I didn't know that.. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted March 20, 2018 Moderator Share Posted March 20, 2018 1 hour ago, Rob182 said: Alright @blandy, me again, after a bit more Apple advice. ..I'm still in-between an iMac or a MacBook Pro. Tbh, my judgement of a computer will just be 'which one has the highest numbers in the spec description', without any real reason or knowledge. I'd be happy to buy any of the above, so would the highest spec iMac be the best one of the lot? (There is an iMac Pro, starting at £4k+, which is a bit expensive for me, considering I might end up recording music for a few months and then moving on to something else) If it were me in your position, I'd go and look at and try the various ones you're considering. I'd think about what you want to connect to it and what the I/O is like on each of them - the iMac will have the most different connections - whether you want to move it occasionally, frequently, what else do you want it for, other than music. Are you fussed about screen size etc. Price is also an issue for me. Going on 'which one has the highest numbers in the spec description' isn't the way I'd approach it. It would be "what are all the things I want to use it for, which machines best enable that and then how much. I'd get an iMac for the bigger screen, more interfaces, lower price etc. And I'd get one with a fusion drive or SSD, and I'd get a trackpad rather than a mouse. And if you can do as @Stevo985 suggests, then great. Go to an apple shop or a John Lewis and try them out - talk to the people in the shop, see what they say, too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob182 Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 @blandy Me again! A guy at my work is selling an iMac (2012 model, 21.5 inch, core i5) for '£400 negotiable', so I reckon I could get it for £350 off him. My question to you, is that one of the sites I've been on says that this model has 8GB of RAM, which is 'not intended to be upgraded after purchase'. Does this mean that the 8GB or RAM is all I could possible have? Or are there ways round this? And what does this amount of memory actually equate to, in layman's terms? I'm honestly clueless when it comes to knowing what all this bumf actually means. I just want to be able to record songs and master them. I'm not intending to use the Mac for anything else. No photos, no videos, no games, just music music music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted July 2, 2018 Moderator Share Posted July 2, 2018 2 hours ago, Rob182 said: @blandy Me again! A guy at my work is selling an iMac (2012 model, 21.5 inch, core i5) for '£400 negotiable', so I reckon I could get it for £350 off him. My question to you, is that one of the sites I've been on says that this model has 8GB of RAM, which is 'not intended to be upgraded after purchase'. Does this mean that the 8GB or RAM is all I could possible have? Or are there ways round this? And what does this amount of memory actually equate to, in layman's terms? I'm honestly clueless when it comes to knowing what all this bumf actually means. I just want to be able to record songs and master them. I'm not intending to use the Mac for anything else. No photos, no videos, no games, just music music music. 'not intended to be upgraded after purchase' means "soldered in" rather than just mounted in a slot(s). Without knowing precisely which version it is, it's difficult to be definitive, but basically it sounds like upgrading the RAM is very tricky (ungluing screen, de-soldering etc.) everymac.com gives all the details and specs for each model - get the model number off the seller (To locate the model identifier in software, select "About This Mac" under the Apple Menu on the computer, click the "More Info..." button, and finally click the "System Report" button, or it's given on the packaging) and check it. You would probably be fine, with 8GB anyway, unless you want something blistering - why do you think you need more - If you're OK with a relatively old computer, then.... ? The biggest speed improvement would be via a Mac with an SSD, I'd have thought - Or look at geekbench scores as an indicator of relative speed and then you can sort of pitch for what you're after. the 2012 iMac seems to be equally hard to change the HD/SSD on for the 21.5" version. Could you try the Mac, and assess how fast it is doing relatively complex stuff? e.g. moving or saving a large file(s). For 350 quid, you're going to get something that's not as fast as newer machines, but it's not going to be unuseable. Asd I said previously, I'm still using a 2009 one fine. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest av1 Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 (edited) Afternoon all, I'd like to pick the brains of you tech savvy folk if i could. We got my stepfather a Chromebook for xmas which he absolutely loves. He has recently asked me about a specific app that he uses heavily on his phone that isn't compatible with cromebooks. He emailed the designer of the app and received the reply below. I'm useless with this sort of stuff, so i was wondering if anyone could advise, either about ARC welder, or indeed any other way i can get this specific app onto his cromebook? Quote Hi David, Chrome notebooks run the Chrome OS - which is not Android. So i don't think it would be possible. Google it and see. I just did. There is something called ARC Welder. You might try that, but as I don't have Chrome I can't vouch for anything. Edited September 25, 2018 by av1 Messed up the quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted September 25, 2018 Administrator Share Posted September 25, 2018 34 minutes ago, av1 said: Afternoon all, I'd like to pick the brains of you tech savvy folk if i could. We got my stepfather a Chromebook for xmas which he absolutely loves. He has recently asked me about a specific app that he uses heavily on his phone that isn't compatible with cromebooks. He emailed the designer of the app and received the reply below. I'm useless with this sort of stuff, so i was wondering if anyone could advise, either about ARC welder, or indeed any other way i can get this specific app onto his cromebook? My chromebooks run Android apps without needing extra software. Most from the last year or two do. How old is this one? You should be able to Google whether it supports Android apps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest av1 Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 1 minute ago, limpid said: My chromebooks run Android apps without needing extra software. Most from the last year or two do. How old is this one? You should be able to Google whether it supports Android apps. Thanks for reply. I speak with my stepfather to establish the age, i only got it Xmas but thats not to say it isn't an old model. From memory it was also only about £230 so at the lower end of the scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted September 25, 2018 Administrator Share Posted September 25, 2018 5 minutes ago, av1 said: Thanks for reply. I speak with my stepfather to establish the age, i only got it Xmas but thats not to say it isn't an old model. From memory it was also only about £230 so at the lower end of the scale. My Asus C101 was £199 - price doesn't really come into it. It's how old the chipset / motherboard is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest av1 Posted November 24, 2019 Share Posted November 24, 2019 (edited) Hi all. Looking for some recommendations for a Chromebook for 13yr, which will primarily be used for school work. I'm not too tech savvy myself, I was thinking of a budget of about £300. Edited November 24, 2019 by av1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted November 24, 2019 Administrator Share Posted November 24, 2019 37 minutes ago, av1 said: Hi all. Looking for some recommendations for a Chromebook for 13yr, which will primarily be used for school work. I'm not too tech savvy myself, I was thinking of a budget of about £300. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest av1 Posted November 24, 2019 Share Posted November 24, 2019 @limpid thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenjiOgiwara Posted December 5, 2019 Share Posted December 5, 2019 Can speak up for Asus C434. Lovely machine. Not sure if I can pick on anything except that the Facebook Messenger app is bugged, but that's probably a Chrome thing and not the model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Silvers Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 If anyone can advise it would be appreciated, sorry I cant post a link as tech stuff is beyond me sorry. The following windows updates are showing to install on my Dell laptop and silly me thinks its virus/hack but its probably nothing but thought would ask..... SAMSUNG Electronics Co., Ltd. - Modem - 2.16.14.0 SAMSUNG Electronics Co., Ltd. - USB - 2.16.14.0 SAMSUNG Electronics Co., Ltd. - AndroidUsbDeviceClass - 2.16.14.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted May 8, 2020 Administrator Share Posted May 8, 2020 39 minutes ago, Phil Silvers said: If anyone can advise it would be appreciated, sorry I cant post a link as tech stuff is beyond me sorry. The following windows updates are showing to install on my Dell laptop and silly me thinks its virus/hack but its probably nothing but thought would ask..... SAMSUNG Electronics Co., Ltd. - Modem - 2.16.14.0 SAMSUNG Electronics Co., Ltd. - USB - 2.16.14.0 SAMSUNG Electronics Co., Ltd. - AndroidUsbDeviceClass - 2.16.14.0 I googled for "samsung windows updates scam". You should probably to the same. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted June 10, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted June 10, 2020 Looking for some recommendations. My sister is after a new laptop. Casual use, mostly web browsing, some office work, watching movies, that sort of thing. Budget of £300 but could stretch to £400 if necessary Obviously my first recommendation was a Chromebook. However she's insistent that she wants the ability to play games (mainly The Sims), so it needs to be Windows (her words) This is the best one I've come up with so far. Anyone else know of any good deals going at the moment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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