Mac user thinking of getting a PC...please advise

G-man NYC 8:58 PM - 16 September, 2004

Anyone who is running SSL's buffer at 2 or less and has had NO CRASHES, AUDIO DROPOUTS or problems please tell me exactly what you got, where you got it and how much it cost. I'm tired of having inconsistent results and I'm convinced it has to do with my Powerbook's specs not quite cutting it for heavy use ( 1ghz G4, 1gb ram).

I don't need a cd or dvd burner/drive or anything else. Just a notebook that runs SSL and that's it. I don't want to pay for things I won't need.

I feel weird even thinking about getting a PC but I recently decided I wanted to get a new laptop that's only used for SSL. I have an older PC already and I am not a fan of the OS but if I'm running SSL exclusively I won't have to deal with it very much. I wish there was a faster Mac but there isn't so what are my options? I've read all the threads and BAD COMPANY seems to be very happy with the ATHLON processor. I know very little about this and am confused about the whole clock speed thing when it comes to PC's so could someone please direct me to what I should get.

Those Acer pc's seem to popular for SSL but I'm so confused which one to get.. obviously I'd like to spend as little as possible without compromising functionality.

JD 9:15 PM - 16 September, 2004

Its not your Powerbooks specs. Stick to a Mac... I know your frustrated. I am also but going out and switching platforms isnt the answer. There are a few here that run SSL on a Mac flawlessly as well ( i dont know how)... In another words, just wait it out till SSL fixes its flaws... They seem to get crackin on a problem once people complain.

OT- youre at Crobar right, which night? Where else do you spin in NYC? I dj at Coda on Saturdays. Im on FS though.. I tried SSL at Fez (my old Friday spot) ...It hard crashed during the gig... so I havent ventured out with SSL since.

Your mac is powerful- You can do so much with it- Pro tools, Reason, Photoshop, etc.. all these programs work great and they tax your processor as well. Its not your Powerbooks specs.

Hex 9:22 PM - 16 September, 2004

Folk on here are probably sick of me harping on about it but I f*cking love my Acer Aspire 1511LCe. I'm yet to have a single problem using it with a buffer of 1ms plus it's fast enough to be able to record my sets in the background using Sound Forge. Best of all it was really cheap (currently £759 GBP from www.acernotebooks.co.uk). It should be even cheaper over there too.

It uses an Athlon64 3000+ processor (64 bit so it's going to be as future-proof as you can get at the moment) at a clockspeed of 1.8GHz (roughly equivalent to a P4 3GHz, but that's debatable).

The only slight critisism I have is that the fan isn't particularly quiet when running at full speed, but having said that the machine's never overheated so it must be doing it's job. Even then it's not really loud enough to annoy, I'm just comparing it to my old near silent Powerbook.

G-man NYC 9:40 PM - 16 September, 2004

JD- I work Sat @Crobar in the Prop Room, Mon & Fri @ the Dark Light, Wed @ One and various other places depending on promoters.

Who's running SSL on a Mac without one audio dropout over a 6 hour set? I have had nights where there were no problems but I'd like to hear from a MAC user who hasn't had dropouts EVER. The only people I've seen on this board without problems are PC athlon users. I want to be able to say "I never have problems with SSL".

Macs are powerful and I love them. A hangup in photoshop or ProTools is undectable for the most part. A hang up or hiccup in SSL is for all the world to see.

I need to get another laptop anyway since I want to use one for making music and graphics, internet, etc and the other one exclusively for SSL. So, since I need to buy a new laptop anyway the Mac's are much more expensive and from what I can surmise, not as good as the top of the line PC's. I really don't like PC's... I wish Apple would make a bare bones G4 to bring the cost down but they don't.

Hex - I'm in the states and most of the Acer's seem to be in the UK... could you help me find a link to the same set up you have that's here in the States? Athlon 64, XP, XP-M ... huh?

thanks all.

G-man NYC 9:42 PM - 16 September, 2004

Hex.. when I do a search for Acer Aspire 1511LCe all I get is UK stores... are there different model numbers depending on country of purchase?

Josh 9:42 PM - 16 September, 2004

froogle.google.com does a good job of finding decent prices anywhere IME...

AJ 12:04 AM - 17 September, 2004

Hey G-Man, being hard-core Mac users here at Serato, I wouldn't normally recommend buying a PC, but I do have to say that if you are going to buy a laptop that will be dedicated to SSL, you might as well get a PC.

Any computer that I am going to use for a variety of applications is going to be a Mac without question. But when we buy a laptop specifically for demonstrating SSL at trade shows, we buy a PC for two very simple reasons:
1. They are cheap as dirt
2. They are fast

I use a 1.5GHz Powerbook for everything I do including scratch live, and I love it, but there is no question in my mind about how cheap a PC laptop is. You get a lot of bang for your buck, and if you are going to do nothing else with it, why waste money on a Mac? Scratch LIVE looks almost exactly the same on both platforms, so you won't even know you are using Windows.

Stuart Ramdeen 12:10 AM - 17 September, 2004

well, I can honestly say that using my powerbook (1GHz, 768MB, 10.3.5 and the latest build of SSL (1113)) I haven't had a single drop out yet with a buffer setting of 6ms. I haven't done any 6 hour sets lately :-) but I had no problems doing a couple of 2 hour ones.

Keep the faith

stu
:)

Hex 12:19 AM - 17 September, 2004

G-Man: Yeah you're right, they don't seem to sell that model or anything like it in the US for some reason. The only Athlon64 model they do is the Ferrari 3200 which uses a different mainboard chipset so there's no way of telling whether it would work as well. You could maybe look for a notebook by a different manufacturer that uses the same chipset as mine: NVidia nForce3 Go150

KFunk 12:43 AM - 17 September, 2004

G-Man, I use my SSL on a 500mhz Tibook with no dropouts at all. I have only been using SSL for gigs within the last 3 months, and they are usually 4 to 5 hours depending on the night. My buffer setting is usually between 5 and 10. The only issue I have is when assigning a track to a tt it sometimes pops or clicks, but its very seldom and usually only noticed by me.

G-man NYC 1:24 AM - 17 September, 2004

I'd really like to have the 1ms buffer so I want to upgrade anyway but not drop 3g's. Thanks for the feedback ... although Mac's can work flawlessly, mine certainly doesn't. This is what I do for a living so my Mac pride has to take a back seat to my professional pride.

I'm still a little confused about what to get ... chipset's, motherboards, processors... these are things us Mac users never had to consider.

AJ, which PC do you guys buy for demoing purposes? If it's good enough for your demo's then
I'm sure it will be good enough for me.

JD 3:41 AM - 17 September, 2004

Powerbooks are powerful and SSL should be made to work with them. You say you havent heard a Powerbook user say it works flawless but I havent heard a PC user say it does either... i say wait till they perfect their product. So what if a pc laptop is used for demo's. SSL works fine on my powerbook 'for demo purposes" at home..its not until you take it outside of the home that it acts up in different environements. Shit- SSL works flawless at home (besides the fussy mp3 loading problem)... In a hot, dj booth/club- its a whole different story. Im not hating on SSL..im just PATIENTLY waiting for them to get it straight so i can finally start taking it out..until then, im not gonna make my rep look bad cause of their product... we've all put years into our careers...

Once again, im not hating... im patiently waiting

Josh 3:52 AM - 17 September, 2004

Quote:

You say you havent heard a Powerbook user say it works flawless but I havent heard a PC user say it does either...

really? I've heard both, on this very forum.

But we hear ya JD, and are working on the issues at play.

JD 4:21 AM - 17 September, 2004

and for that very reason I havent abandoned SSL... I have faith and am waiting it out...

(if it takes TOO long then ya, i will excercise my right of free speech...;)

Sam 4:56 AM - 17 September, 2004

JD, I'm waiting to hear from you about the build 1113 crashing. Have you made a post describing the problems of SSL working at home but not in the club? If so, can you please post a link. If not can you please post a summary of the problem in this thread: www.scratchlive.net so that we can get it sorted. Thanks.

JD 5:06 AM - 17 September, 2004

Sam, I just came across your fix last night...I'll do what you wrote over the weekend and post my findings.

G-man NYC 7:57 AM - 17 September, 2004

Oy...

my last 2 nights spinning.. no dropouts. However, when a track loads rather slow and my display starts to stutter, I quickly change it in the hopes it won't dropout or freeze up.

Compromising song selection because of fear does not help my artistic expression. As much as we use technology and perhaps are geeks by definition doesn't mean we can't still be ARTISTS.

SSL is a tool which enables us to enhance our vision and sometimes there are bumps in the road, granted. The choice is tough though... use a medium that is unstable but creatively uncharted or choose a medium that is safe and predictable?

I've had a mac since the Apple IIc and have never skipped a generation so I know these computers very well. I know buying the best PB G4 would be just as good as buying the best PC but the difference in price is substantial and I've yet to hear an argument that justifies the difference in price.

So, could someone who uses this program at least 2-4 times a week, in a loud ass sub-woofer laden club, for a minimum of 4 hours at a time without problems PLEASE tell me exactly what set up they have so I could go out and get it. My set up is not cutting it.

Detroitbootybass 7:02 PM - 17 September, 2004

Quote:

AJ, which PC do you guys buy for demoing purposes? If it's good enough for your demo's then
I'm sure it will be good enough for me.

All the videos I have watched about Scratch Live were using Toshiba laptops. I, myself, have a Toshiba A45-S151 with a Pentium 4 processor clocked at 2.8 Ghz w/ 752 megs of Ram. Works beautifully! Buffer is set at 1 and I have never had a single problem with the software. Comparable Toshiba laptops retail for around $1,000 now... Like the Serato guys said, "cheap and fast". Good luck in whatever you decide to do!

P.S. - My laptop is dedicated to Scratch Live, with the noteable exception of one game, 'Age of Mythology', loaded on it...

Detroitbootybass 7:06 PM - 17 September, 2004

G-man, here is a link to my laptop...

www.fotoconnection.com

Evolved 7:42 PM - 17 September, 2004

I've been using SSL on a Powerbook G4 / 1.33 12" for several months now. I play house, so I've kept my buffer at the modest setting of 10 - I sometimes hear a bit of crackling when I cue things but since I'm not a 'scratch' dj it doesn't affect my set at all - just cueing in the headphones. I've been been taking it to all my gigs including international ones- and have not really had any signifigant glitches... I'll play anywhere from 3 hours to 6 continuously.... I noticed one time when I was trying to avoid drift on a long track, I switched to 'internal' for the clock source and it gave a tiny audible hiccup. Other than that I have to say its really outshined Final Scratch by a wide margin. I'm in LIma tonight...and looking forward to testing the drift compensation - I've gotten used to the drift somewhat....but if it makes my job easier, I can't wait!

G-man NYC 8:41 PM - 17 September, 2004

Thanks Detroit! That is cheap as hell.

bartaug 9:30 PM - 17 September, 2004

If you are not used to a PC, try to borrow one first for a while to see if you like it. Windows can be quite a shock for a Mac user :-) But as long as you are not using any network/Internet (IE/Outlook) on it a PC can be a cost effective solution.

Detroitbootybass 11:32 PM - 17 September, 2004

Quote:

Thanks Detroit! That is cheap as hell.

You are very welcome, sir.

:-)

G-man NYC 11:50 PM - 18 September, 2004

From what I've learned on this forum this seems like it would be the ultimate SSL machine:

Pavilion zv5260us Notebook
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Processor, 512MB RAM, 80GB Hard Drive, 15.4-inch WXGA TFT Display, DVD+RW Drive, Windows XP Home Edition

www.compusa.com

Anyone agree / disagree? It's $500 more than Detroit's Toshiba ... am I getting more things I don't need and paying for them or is the Athlon worth the price difference ( which isn't that much for something I make my living with ).

G-man NYC 11:51 PM - 18 September, 2004

edit:

Quote:

From what I've learned on this forum this seems like the following PC would be the ultimate SSL machine:

Detroitbootybass 6:09 PM - 19 September, 2004

Quote:

From what I've learned on this forum this seems like it would be the ultimate SSL machine:

Pavilion zv5260us Notebook
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Processor, 512MB RAM, 80GB Hard Drive, 15.4-inch WXGA TFT Display, DVD+RW Drive, Windows XP Home Edition

www.compusa.com

Anyone agree / disagree? It's $500 more than Detroit's Toshiba ... am I getting more things I don't need and paying for them or is the Athlon worth the price difference ( which isn't that much for something I make my living with ).

That is still a great machine, but do you need a 64 bit processor and a DVD writing drive? If you are going to use the laptop for other functions, then this would be a good idea. If not, do you have a spare $500 to drop on a laptop? Either way, you are going to get a great machine that will perform it's duties very well... you just have to decide what is best for you. It is in your hands, G.

Josh 11:49 PM - 19 September, 2004

I would lose the dvd writer, get XP Pro and make sure it has firewire!

G-man NYC 9:28 AM - 25 September, 2004

ok... had a few drinks tonight but here goes:

bought a compag w/amd ahtlon 64 3400+ ... ugly computer, big and bulky but the specs seemed perfect. everything worked well 99% of the time.

Up until about 30 seconds ago, there was a yellow vertical line on my monitor... now it's gone. I had a couple of dropouts tonight but the waveform's never seemed to stutter or hang.

There were several mp3's that showed in the browser but when I went to load them the icon turned red and they wouldn't load.

I'm not a Pc expert... are these specs good and i'm just setting things up wrong?

Anyone have a link or tutorial on how to strip a pc to work with only the programs you need?

ok... I'm exhausted and slighty inebriated so i should check back later. sorry yo.

G-man NYC 9:30 AM - 25 September, 2004

"slightly inebriated", in all honesty, is a bit of an understatement. sorry. peace.

SpinThis! 8:49 PM - 25 September, 2004

you can type pretty well for being smashed. ;)

Detroitbootybass 11:17 PM - 25 September, 2004

G - what are the specs on your new Compaq?

Lord Kaseem 12:48 AM - 26 September, 2004

Man listen...I paid $500 for a Compaq 1.2 ghz amd laptop...I practice 3hrs at least a day...I dj at clubs and parties at least 2 a week...I'm a turntabist,so you know I practice just for the sake of practicing...I leave the laptop on all night...and no problems,as long as the laptop doesnt overheat. I use the same control vinyls on the same 10 minute side because I am experitmenting with how long I can use the records,practicing everday,before the wear out. It's been since I got it...I thing maybe four months.The left hand record(my dominant scratch hand)is starting to show some wear,because it stays red now in the begining. Now it sounds a lil muffled. Mind you, I practice alot, tricks and everything. I am totally satisfied with the control vinyl. I could probably get another 3 months out of just one side of the record.

Lord Kaseem 12:52 AM - 26 September, 2004

Excuse me I've been drinking..watching the Maryland vs Duke game, I mispelled a couple words. It's not ebonics...Lmao

G-man NYC 1:09 AM - 26 September, 2004

AMD Athlon 64 3400+ / 80gb / 512 mb ram ( model R3260US )
Win XP pro and nVidia geforce 440 go 64mb

(This was the most powerful athlon processor I could find for a 15" laptop. I considered buying the same Toshiba that Detroit has but I'm quite apprehensive about buying refurbished technology.)

I had just got it yesterday and didn't sepnd much time configuring it but I've spent today taking off all sorts of weird things like automatic updating, virus protection, etc... hopefully that will help.

I followed these instructions :

scratchlive.net

I'm hoping the problems I had last night had to do with the fact that I know nothing about configuring pc's ( until today ).

I also just found the source of the Mp3 not loading problem ( which I will post elsewhere )...

Any and all MP3's that have the bracket characters " [ " or " ] " will not play in my SSL.

Could someone please let me know if they get the same result with the brackets?

unfiltered 8:33 AM - 27 September, 2004

Quote:

...and make sure it has firewire!

And why is that, Josh?

Josh 9:58 AM - 27 September, 2004

Because I happen to think firewire is absolutely essential. Kind of obvious from my statement isn't it?

SpinThis! 12:53 PM - 27 September, 2004

- firewire hard drives (ipod, etc)
- dv and some digital cameras use firewire (if that matters to you)

J-BRAVO 2:27 PM - 27 September, 2004

dont know if its because of my inherent apple bias but i would trust firewire over usb2 any day.

DJ 3pm 2:46 PM - 27 September, 2004

Quote:

dont know if its because of my inherent apple bias but i would trust firewire over usb2 any day.

yes. i know in theory that usb2 is supposed to be faster than firewire, but something bothers me about a protocall that uses the same cable as its younger (slower) sibling.

pgroves 2:57 PM - 27 September, 2004

Quote:

dont know if its because of my inherent apple bias but i would trust firewire over usb2 any day.

yes. i know in theory that usb2 is supposed to be faster than firewire,
.

USB2 is only just faster than Firewire 400, but the newer Firewire 800 protocol (which has a different connector - the newer Macs have this) is almost twice as fast as USB 2.0

Paul

lancota 3:43 PM - 27 September, 2004

Quote:

dont know if its because of my inherent apple bias but i would trust firewire over usb2 any day.

yes. i know in theory that usb2 is supposed to be faster than firewire,
.

USB2 is only just faster than Firewire 400, but the newer Firewire 800 protocol (which has a different connector - the newer Macs have this) is almost twice as fast as USB 2.0

Paul

From what I've been reading about USB2, it's technically not really faster than firewire. I've heard that the burst of info usb2 can send exceeds that of firewire, but that firewire can sustain it's data transfer longer. Can anyone confirm this?

I only know this cause I work with DV all the time and get various magazines related to DV stuff. No one has ever recommended USB2 over Firewire for video stuff...you get massive frame drops when you try using a USB2 HD for video capture

DJ White Lightning 9:38 PM - 27 September, 2004

Quote:

I've been using SSL on a Powerbook G4 / 1.33 12" for several months now. I play house, so I've kept my buffer at the modest setting of 10 - I sometimes hear a bit of crackling

Thats odd I use the same MAC 1.33ghz 12" and I have the audio buffer set at 2ms with auto fill on and I have no drop outs or stutters.

chubbsta 10:47 PM - 27 September, 2004

Quote:

Thats odd I use the same MAC 1.33ghz 12" and I have the audio buffer set at 2ms with auto fill on and I have no drop outs or stutters.

Same with me on a 1.25 GHz Mac.

SpinThis! 1:51 AM - 28 September, 2004

who cares about transfer rate? firewire is already established itself as the high-speed transfer protocol that it is. you think sony, apple, canon etc are going to stop putting out firewire stuff and move over to unestablished usb for their digital cameras? doubt it. for a DV stream, a firewire 400 port has more than enough bandwidth. i've heard more horrible reports about usb2 than the old firewire 400.

radish 4:03 AM - 28 September, 2004

No, but more computers overall have USB2 than firewire, so it's relavent.

tashafa 11:53 AM - 28 September, 2004

Quote:

No, but more computers overall have USB2 than firewire, so it's relavent.

nope USB1 not usb2

tashafa 11:53 AM - 28 September, 2004

to be more exact usb1.1

lancota 3:59 PM - 28 September, 2004

Quote:

No, but more computers overall have USB2 than firewire, so it's relavent.

You do have a point actually. I've been lookin at PC laptop's trying for the life of me to find a 6 pin port rather than that friggen iLink crap (my Lacie mobile HD gets it's power through the firewire drive) And actually every laptop I've looked at lately (toshiba, dell, gateway, compaq ect..) all have usb 2.0 ports.

radish 4:06 PM - 28 September, 2004

Tashafa - sure, more have 1.1 than 2.0. But still, more have 2.0 than firewire. In simple terms:

USB1.1 > USB2.0 > IEEE1394

radish 4:07 PM - 28 September, 2004

And the reason is that Intel support USB2 over firewire, and seeing as Intel make the majority of laptop chipsets (Centrino) that's what you get. My laptop has a firewire port as well (which I don't use) but it's in the minority.

Joey23665 2:30 AM - 14 March, 2007

Have a question hopefully someone can help.

I'm using the denon cd players model dn 5000 with serato. Every time I cue a song and hit play there is a glitch. The song doesn't start off clean. I have to cue it up past that point and still a glitch is often heard when I hit play. I have a pc laptop with a western digital extrnal hard drive. All my files were converted to wav. Is there a way to fix this?

DJMark 2:45 AM - 14 March, 2007

Quote:

Have a question hopefully someone can help.

I'll help: post your question as a new topic in the "Help" forum. Adding a completely unrelated question on the end of a two-and-a-half year old thread hardly seems like a productive way to get answers.

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