Are you depressed ablout the new Macs?

David Polich · Post by **David Polich** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 10:02 am

In July 2005 I bought a dual 2.3Ghz G5. In October 2005 I bought a 1.5Ghz 15inch Powerbook. With memory upgrades and additional external drives and peripherals, it all came out to about 6500 bucks. I'm in no position now to even consider buying a new Mac anything for at least two more years, and frankly I'd like to get four years use out of these machines.

My powerbook does what I need it to do (run DP for live gigs) and I could continue to make music for the next ten years with my G5. And my three year old Sony Vaio still chugs along happily, running Windows XP and all of my softsynths. It's a blessing not to be concerned with constant OS and product changes, actually.

Anyone else feel this way? Anyone else keeping their "old, slow" G5's for awhile? Anyone else wondering how "fast" you really need a computer to be?

BaSSic · Post by **BaSSic** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 10:26 am

I'm running a PowerBook G4, and am not thinking about upgrade as long as this one works. In my oppinion it is about getting the job done, not about the style. And so far my setup is allowing me to do things...
But I'm aware that I'll have to switch someday...(in 2 years?).

methezer · Post by **methezer** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 10:31 am

But your current setup works fine the way it is so don't sweat it. I bought a 1.67PB last March and I plan to run it into the ground before I buy a new computer.

Just think about how fast computers will be when buying a new one is financially viable.

BTW, there are people that still run DP3 or even earlier. Point being that as long as the software you are running on your machine gets the job done who cares...

MIDI Life Crisis · Post by **MIDI Life Crisis** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 10:47 am

I got a Dual 2.0 a few months ago. I was considering retiring my G4.

Still have the G4 (upgraded to 1.4 GHz) in storage as a backup and it is a sweet machine. Hopefully I can find a way to push it into service, but I must say I do NOT miss the fan noise. Even with the Energy Saver panal set to HIGHEST, I have yet to hear the fans kick into medium or high gear.

As far as "how fast" do you need to get in a computer, sometimes that depends on your deadlines. In a slow paced enviornment, you can get away with a lot of slack, but if you are sometimes late for meetings or rehearsals because the machine is rendering a mix or outputting a Quicktime Movie, then the faster the better.

As you know from programming synths, most outboard stuff spoils us to instant results. Ultimately, I would love a "no wait state" for my composition work in my Mac, but the only place I have that now is with paper, pencil and my Yamaha grand.

May it always be that way

qo · Post by qo » Fri Jan 13, 2006 11:10 am

I think it's perfectly natural to feel blue over being leapfrogged. I bought a dual 2.7 about 6 months ago, knowing full well that much faster machines were due. I've been upgrading computers of one kind or another since the Commodore 64, including the C64, 2 Ataris, 7-8 PC's, 2 pre-G macs, 3 G4's and this current G5.

Several times, I've seen new/improved released a day or so after my purchase. I've resigned myself to the fact that this is just the way it is.

My thinking with the 2.7 was that it would take me over the rough spots between now and when DP on OSX on Intel is completely sussed out. I've historically been eager to live on the bleeding edge. It's exciting, and you stay ahead of the curve in terms of experience. The downsides are that it's expensive and you sometimes spend more time debugging than actually getting work done. I completely understand those that would jump on this upgrade, but decided I just didn't want to go through it this time. That said, I may buy an Intel iMac just to tinker with it

e.g. to see if the Apogee products (being native CoreAudio with no drivers) actually work on OSX/Intel (I'm guessing they should). But, even if I do, it won't be with an eye toward using it in production.

Resonant Alien · Post by **Resonant Alien** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 11:16 am

I hear you, and it can be depressing for those of us who have the "Gear Disease"....you know...we feel like we have to have the latest and greatest stuff....

But....it will never end - the constant march of new and faster computers. I actually love that Apple updates their stuff so frequently - compared to Microsoft who haven't done anything new with Windows in 6 years!! 6 years....that's literally a lifetime in computer years.

Anyway, I still have my 2003 PowerMac 1.42G Dualie and it works wonderfully. I really have no driving reason to upgrade, but nonetheless my plan is to wait for the Intel Mac Towers when they come out later this year and buy the top-of-the line machine they offer.

Sure, 6 months later they are gonna bump the MacIntelTowers again to something better, but the way I see it is this....if I'm happy and humming along just fine now on my Dualie G4, and if I buy the fastest MacIntel Tower this summer (which would be like basically doubling the power I have now), then I should be more than set for a really, really long time......or at least 4 years.

chrispick · Post by **chrispick** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 12:02 pm

MIDI Life Crisis wrote:I got lucky, David. I won a Dual 2.0 a few months ago. I was considering retiring my G4 anyway, but the universe made the decision for me. I would have waited for the Intel machines, but who is going to look a gift horse in the mouth?

Wow. Nice.

As far as "how fast" do you need to get in a computer, sometimes that depends on your deadlines. In a slow paced enviornment, you can get away with a lot of slack, but if you are sometimes late for meetings or rehearsals because the machine is rendering a mix or outputting a Quicktime Movie, then the faster the better.

Exactly. It's really a matter of what works for you today. And everyone has different work needs.

I will say that, if you use a computer-based DAW for professional use and you need to stay near the top of the performance ladder, it's wise to budget for a new system every two years, maybe three at the outset.

alphajerk · Post by **alphajerk** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 5:34 pm

Resonant Alien wrote:But....it will never end - the constant march of new and faster computers. I actually love that Apple updates their stuff so frequently - compared to Microsoft who haven't done anything new with Windows in 6 years!! 6 years....that's literally a lifetime in computer years..

yeah, i love the fact i cant upgrade to a new G5 right now because it doesnt have a PCI slot i can put my soundcard in. i love the fact i had to rebuy everything going to OSX and had to wait a few years for the bugs to get worked out in the system and then upon upgrading finding out it really isnt that great of an OS and things actually worked better previously. i love the fact that my beta driver for the MCU works better than the new driver in OSX. i love the fact it still doesnt support AU plugins for editing by DP.

id love some stability for 6 years [btw, they have been "updating" it over those 6 years, just not charging us $129 each irrelevant upgrade]

thesoundsmith · Post by **thesoundsmith** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 5:56 pm

I just bought the dual 2.7G machine. Did it deliberately, I want a reliable computer, this is a business, not a video game. The G5 is the last one to use the PCI-424 card, (which I also had to buy, as my 2408 runs on the 324 card, but I wanted more lightpipe inputs.

I don't WANT a new Mac. Once the hardware is on the second rev of the second motherboard, and the software is at least two solid updates in, then I will take the next step. ith my current rig, I should be good to go for the next 5 years at least before my needs catch up to my hardware limits...

davedempsey · Post by **davedempsey** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 5:56 pm

I need a new machine soon - my dual 1.25 is only just handling some of the tasks it's asked to do. I'm hoping to get a quad G5 later this year and that should see me through the change-over period. Considering this: "Computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and perhaps only weigh 1 1/2 tons." - Popular Mechanics, 1949 - I'm feeling fairly lucky and not at all depressed.

qo · Post by qo » Mon Jan 16, 2006 6:59 pm

davedempsey wrote:Considering this: "Computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and perhaps only weigh 1 1/2 tons."

Mmmm, but imagine the warm vintage bits they'd generate to take some of the edge off digital!

I want my ENIAC!

davedempsey · Post by **davedempsey** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 7:50 pm

qo wrote:

I want my ENIAC!

I'm busting at the seams as it is! Just enough room left for my abacus and a stack of replica punch cards - so I'm hoping someone comes up with an ENIAC plug-in or maybe a convolution sample that I can load in IR.

(I sure hope those long dresses aren't coming back in).

MIDI Life Crisis · Post by **MIDI Life Crisis** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 8:36 pm

davedempsey wrote:qo wrote:
I want my ENIAC!
I'm busting at the seams as it is! Just enough room left for my abacus and a stack of replica punch cards - so I'm hoping someone comes up with an ENIAC plug-in or maybe a convolution sample that I can load in IR.
(I sure hope those long dresses aren't coming back in).

And how about that grand piano!

davedempsey · Post by **davedempsey** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 8:51 pm

MIDI Life Crisis wrote:

And how about that grand piano!

Sure...always room for a good grand piano right next to my 1879 built Swhectern upright (Beckstein factory). I really appreciate the offer.. you don't want any money for that do you?

MIDI Life Crisis · Post by **MIDI Life Crisis** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 9:22 pm

davedempsey wrote:MIDI Life Crisis wrote:
And how about that grand piano!
Sure...always room for a good grand piano right next to my 1879 built Swhectern upright (Beckstein factory). I really appreciate the offer.. you don't want any money for that do you?

23G's and it's yours!

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Are you depressed ablout the new Macs?

Are you depressed ablout the new Macs?

Re: Are you depressed ablout the new Macs?

Re: Are you depressed ablout the new Macs?