unfortunately, Dell 'acquired' Alienware. Yeah I checked it out, looks like my kind of site, all I see is Nvidia for graphics

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I also have a few laptops and desktops. First off, if you go PC, Windows 7 works well. Vista was horrible. My 17" HP laptop with a i7 processor runs Windows 7 and works great. Very stable too. It runs with 8 gig of ram. I have an older Dell Inspiron that's a total POS. I have a really old Power Spec that served me well. But hands down for performance, versatility, and speed it's my Imac. For graphic arts, photography, and music it's all I need. That one runs with 16 gig of ram. Great machine, really nice display, everything like the keyboard, mouse etc works great. Try some machines out and see what you think.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

Yep., The Nutter has some good points for me to look into. As far as budget, I guess I can spend whatever I want....... but lets say I want to spend under a grand.

I think I need to get ideas on a great interface for recording. Like you posted above.... sound card doesn't become such an issue after that.

Abelton requires firewire from what I read, in order to get no latency. So thats why I mentioned that.

I will record guitar, bass, and keys and vocals.

So maybe I shoulda asked ...... what interface do you use with your computers and how good is it?

I'm an Apple guy. They cost more then other laptops, although I strongly believe it is worth it! A big reason that I am a fan of Apple computers is because of Garageband. I've tried loads of other recording programs, including Pro Tools, and Garageband is by far my favourite. It's very easy to use, and you can make some great sounding music! For this program alone, I would recommend a Mac to any musician I know.

[quote="FatNWeak"]I'm an Apple guy. They cost more then other laptops, although I strongly believe it is worth it!

+100

I'm a Apple guy too , before I was Microsoft , I never never return.
IMO It' s like guitar, many play with Squier and they are happy.

I've been a Dell guy for about a dozen years or more. My current laptop is a 17" Precision M6400 with a pair of S/S drives and 8Gb of RAM running Vista-64bit-Business. I have never had the problems with Vista that others complain of but I do find that Windows in general is a weak operating system and gets weaker with each new version as they keep hanging more and more crap all over it. Windows 2000 was the last time I remember thinking a new version was an improvement over the last. I use Windows 7 at work and it's alright but it's still not an improvement. The reason I want to move to Apple is for the Linux based O/S. The problem I have with that is that Apple uses the same basic hardware as Windows but it costs at least twice as much. I'd much rather see them port a version of OS/X (soon to be Mountain Lion) to run on non-Apple machines. I know that will never happen but a man can dream. I've used Garage Band and it has all the features the average newbie could want for recording and it generates quality files. You'll need a mastering program to get everything sounding beautiful afterward but that's another story. The only problem with me migrating to Apple and OS/X is the very limited package of Microsoft Office that's available for it and the problems and quirks of running Windows software under OS/X

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

It's a bit simplistic as reasoning, but I understand you , I said the same thing before using a Mac. I was a convinced anti Mac. But now I would never go back over at Microsoft.

If you have one you will see that it's worth the price and why.

I would like to suggest a refurb macbook pro. lots less than a new one, you get the full warranty etc and they just work. You typically never have to deal with driver / library issues. I certainly never have with Pro Tools at least. I also use an Alienware M14 and it works ok but I still prefer the Mac.

my $.02

So where does one go to buy a refurbished MacBookPro? Until this moment I had no idea anyone would sell such a thing.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

Latency can be fixed by changing the buffer size...for "under a grand" I'd suggest a Tascam Interface and Asus computer maxed out with RAM and a good soundcard.

For a few hundred more, go with Apple refurbed iMac or MB Pro and Apogee interface.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

www.apple.com or any apple store.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Like I said before I'd love to be able to justify a complete change to the Apple universe but two things are in my way. The first one is cost but even that is not truly a dealbreaker. If I wanted it bad enough I'd spend the money. The real issue is Microsoft Office. In my line of work I absolutely have to be able to run Word, Excel, Outlook, Powerpoint, Publisher and Project. It's not an option to use alternate software packages or even limited versions because those files types are industry standard and there are a ton of files being exchanged every day and many of the files are too complex to be trying to mess around with a kiddy version of the application(s). The light duty version available for OS/X is too light duty and it is also incomplete; there are missing programs. I already know that there are work-around solutions available that let you run Windows software on a Mac but there are two problems holding me back on that issue as well. One is that every solution I've heard of so far has limitations, glitches or other issues. Then of course there is the logical side of my brain telling me, "What? You spend double (or more) on the Mac over a Windows machine and then pay extra money for some application that allows you to run Windows and even then doesn't run it very well. And you do all this just so you can run Windows on a Mac. What was the point of buying the Mac again?"

I remember back not so long ago that almost all software packages were available for both platforms. Now it seems the two universes have divided the spoils and specialised in niches to the exclusion of the other. The broad range of Office apps goes to Windows. Image, video and media creation and manipulation goes to Apple.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

Right here
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac

My iMac, ipod and ipad are all refurbished. I've never had a single problem with any of my Apple refurb stuff. Epson is another story. They come with a full factory warranty and you can even get the extended Apple warranty for not a lot of money.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

I went with the HP i7 17.3 inch screen, 8gig of ram 750 hdd, beats-audio, hd web cam.
A local recording studio owner and serious musician,
(see SEPTEMBER at Peoples Court Des MOines Iowa August 23rd with Static-X and others)
recommended AVID Pro Tools MP plus Fast Track Plus so I have ordered that too. Can't wait to get back into recording.

The finger print reader is pretty cool... set up three websites per FINGER and just swipe across the fingerprint reader and the site open. If you opt to, the passwords auto fill into the selected site. I have grown to like that process.

@BMW-KTM: If you sell your current pc - will you get any money for it ? I mean - couldn't you just keep it for doing job-related things , buy a refurbished mac for music etc..? During the time having both perhaps you find some solutions that fits you ? I think using a Mac will make things easier if you plan to make music. After started using mac , I make more music. When I was using PC I had to solve computer problems all the time. Learned a lot from it !
@CHIPSHOT0701: Congrats! and I hope this is gonna be a trouble free solution

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A-man