U&I

Originally posted by John B NYC Im pretty excited for the new powerfull mac laptops ...... Yeah they're long overdue. I'm half thniking this was one reason for the Intel switch. IBM just couldn't deliver on a G5 laptop due to design problems based around heat sync issues. I think both platforms will be on a far more even playing field in the mobile computing stakes within a year or two. The PC laptop has really evolved quite rapidly in the last 3 or so years in particular. Hell even 4 years ago I would have gone for a Powerbook over an Intel based craptop. That said I have not had one bluescreen of death or crash with XpPro (maybe I'm lucky) and these new systems are way more stable than anything 98 / SE / 2000 or ME could manage. I'll be watching closely to see just what develops on the Mac horizon as I've been hanging out for Metasynth for quite some time.

Sad reality is that a good quality Dothan/Centrino or Sonoma chipset based XP (Intel Mobile) will absolutely cream a Powerbook when running LIVE. Simple one of life's bitter pills to swallow. A 1.86ghz Dothan will easily run 20-30 tracks of audio + some 20 odd + VST effects for example. Mine can easily sequence up roughly 12-16 tracks of VSTi's (depending on the VSTi's used) + a good 20 VST effects plus some 12 odd stereo audio tracks and very rarely go over 60% totall CPU use. LIVE is NOT Altivec or Dual Core optimised so a top end Dothan / Sonoma on XP runs Live with about the same grunt as a G5 Dual 2.5 ghz Desktop. Infact the LIVE test carried out on the Abelton forum found the 2.0 ghz Dothan/Sonoma and the AMD based 3500+ laptop processor where pretty much the two fastest and high powered options for Live currently on the market. The Imac 2ghz 20" model runs alot closer spec wise to the slightly lower 1.6-1.7ghz Centrino's and will give you far more power than any on market Powerbook can. Until Mac unleash their first Intel based notebooks the only app's that will give you maximum power on their laptops will be Logic 7 and Digital Performer which both have dual core and full altivec optimisations. If you can wait that long get Live now and worked within it's limitations on your Powerbook. If not a good quality PM Centrino/Dothan/Sonoma based Intel laptop will give you the best power based perfiomance for Live in a portable , lightweight , long battery life package. I might add that live is very stable on XPPro infact I've never had the app crash in some 1.5 years myself.