Macbook Air?

[wunderpit]

This has probably been hashed over. Does anyone use a Macbook Air for light DP work?

[mikehalloran]

This has probably been hashed over. Does anyone use a Macbook Air for light DP work?

Not really been hashed. No reason why you couldn't use one. I'd look at the latest 13" i7 (trust me on the i7) with the 512g flash drive, max out the RAM to 8G and, in the field, use USB 3 peripherals. If you are working with acoustic groups, minimal VIs..., no reason to think it couldn't do the job. Track limits? I don't know but if you are working with chamber music, bluegrass, folk, even with some overdubs and some effects, DP 8 should work well.

I would read lots of threads about what people are using for any kind of heavier lifting. Audio restoration using RX2, much VI use, lots of tracks, heavy use of effects... No, this isn't your machine.

A nice feature is that the new Air is the only Mac supporting the new wi-fi standard that is faster than Gigabyte Ethernet like the new Time Capsule that is also shipping. Makes it a no-brainier for Time Machine.

I am planning to get one as my new job requires me to get a better laptop for occasional use in the field. I will install DP to play with but don't know that I will actually use it - but then again, I might for some remote recording. This might not happen till November or so.

[wunderpit]

Great reply, and thank you!

I would be using it in a MIDI VI situation on the road, but nothing extremely heavy (maybe 2-3 instances of K5) and a few audio tracks. Not a lot of efx plugs at all. Thoughts on that? It runs great on my i7 Mini and on my current 17" MBPro.

Thing is, I lug around my 17" i7 (per my signature) on the road maybe 10 times per year for such use. I use an external drive for my libraries & DP Projects. I would much rather carry something light if it can handle the processing.

So, we're basically talking 2010 MBPro vs. 2013 MB Air performance, still using external drive for my libraries & DP Projects, of course.

Which one wins?