<p>There is probably another thread with this same question. . .
S will be entering Eastman/URoch. He has a windows desktop he will not be taking. He has heard Macs are "better" for music majors. I am pretty low tech, but know he uses Sibelius for composing. Any opinions on mac or pc laptop?</p>
<p>Yup, there are multiple threads. Search function is an amazing tool that too few utilize...</p>
<p>One</a> Thread</p>
<p>Another</a> Thread</p>
<p>Really comes down to personal choice since both Sibelius and Finale come in both "flavors." If S is comfortable w/ a PC, then I'd stick with that, especially since you've already made the software investment...</p>
<p>I am a PC fan and not a MAC person. I finally gave in to my D after visiting many schools. MAC is all that music majors use.</p>
<p>Those threads are pretty good. We are in the same boat, sort of. My son is interested in composition, and is currently using Sibelius and Sonar on a desktop PC. My inclination is to get him a PC laptop, so he can migrate those programs over, and also use other PC software he already knows.
I wonder if anybody has any experience with computers especially configured for music recording, like Rain Computers?</p>
<p>Although I am firmly in the PC world, both my kids use Macs. One is in a conservatory and the other is headed to business school. From what I have seen, there are solutions on both platforms that are fine for just about any task that either might have. I think the decision comes down to two main considerations: personal preference and the amount of institutional support for that particular platform that will be available at the school. I would not advise someone to take a Mac to a school that was almost entirely PC users or vice versa unless they are able to provide their own technical support for network and hardware issues.</p>
<p>I have never used Rain Computers in particular, but have done a lot of computer-based recording. Most computers sold these days are more than adequate for stereo recording as long as you do not load them down with a lot of background tasks. very low-end notebooks are a possible exception to this because they often use the slowest processors and disk drives available. Unfortunately, a lot of computers come pre-configured with a bunch of software that you do not need or want running when you are recording. The main reason to buy a computer specifically configured for music recording is to do multi-track recording with a lot of tracks at once, or if you are not comfortable either uninstalling or temporarily turning off the stuff that will slow you down. If you do buy a specially-configured music computer, you have to have the discipline not to load a lot of new stuff on it or to radically change the configuration.</p>
<p>We have been a PC only household, but I had thought of going with a Mac for D at college. I'm thinking that switching over now though may not make sense. The price of the Mac through the school is a good one, but the price for the PCs, which have gone down so much, is not so good. I hesitate not to buy through the school though because it will be so much easier to have them do the maintenance.</p>
<p>One other thing you may wish to consider. I routinely decline almost all extra-cost service contracts on electronics, appliances and autos. Not so for laptops that are going to be away at school. In that case, I find the service contract worth the money for the peace of mind and also because I am not there to handle the small stuff.</p>
<p>Get a Mac. They are so great... I have a Macbook and am a music major - It is great because it comes with so many useful programs, updates the programs automatically, and runs Sibelius really well. </p>
<p>Apple is just ahead of the game technology right now.</p>
<p>S uses a PC laptop and Sibelius for theory assignments as needed (composing). He's a performance major, so may have fewer needs than theory or composition students. </p>
<p>Some of the schools have computer labs with the software the profs like. I called S's conservatory the summer before he started (he was out of the country) to check on their recommendations - saved me a bunch of $$$ on what I might have felt was necessary...</p>
<p>My older son (not the violinist) is a conservatory-trained recording engineer and composer. He wouldn't dream of using any computer other than Mac. I'm still on a PC and he thinks I'm a dinosaur!</p>
<p>I use a PC and I love it, especially with the added protection of VISTA, albeit being slower, but there is an advantage to a MAC that I wish PCs had. In the MAC Book Pro, not sure if this goes for all MACs, it comes equipped with a recording device so you can record you lessons, lectures, etc. on your computer. It's pretty sweet and definitely could come in handy. Just so you know.</p>
<p>Son graduated from Eastman in '06. He used a PC all 4 years with no problems. He used Sibelius. He purchased a new computer at the end of his junior year and got a PC at that time as well. He is currently doing a performance masters and still quite happy with his PC. Pick which format you like best. It won't matter as far as school goes or what you will be doing for school.</p>
<p>It's a Coke vs. Pepsi kind of dilemma. Just bought PC laptop for S and got more power for the money. Also, Mom's the technie and I told him he was on his own if he got a Mac. It's 1) personal preference and 2) quality of support at the school.</p>
<p>That doesn't help. I recently switched from Coke to Pepsi and wondered where Pepsi had been all my life. Will I feel the same way about a Mac?</p>
<p>Thanks everyone!! I will pass all the info on to my S who is way more technologically advanced than I am.<br>
Baritonevoce, thanks for the info on the recording possibilites with Mac Pro. S has been talking about getting an Edirol to record master classes, etc. (Couple of guys had them at Brubeck camp last summer).<br>
The decisions just keep on coming, don't they???! Now that we have finally decided on a college. . .</p>
<p>We just learned last night that my son's summer composition program suggests that they bring a laptop with Sibelius, so this just moved up to the top of the list for us. I think that means I won't have time to really look at the Rain computers after all.</p>
<p>Hartt is requiring a Mac laptop for my daughter, and when we visited Northwestern all the students we saw were using Macs.</p>
<p>Berklee also requires students to have a Mac--and loads them with recording/mixing software</p>
<p>cjm,</p>
<p>If you are in the market for a portable recorder, I suggest that in addition to the Edirol R-09 that you also look at the Zoom H2 and the M-Audio MicroTrackII. They are similar units with varying plusses and minuses at three different price points.</p>
<p>I strongly recommend getting a Mac over a PC.</p>
<p>I make my living with music and use both a Mac and a PC. I only use the PC to run GIGA Studio, but have imported most of the best GIGA sounds into the EXS-24 for Logic (Mac) to avoid the PC as much as possible. I find the PC much more cumbersome and more likely to crash than the Mac. I have 2 kids in music. They each use Macs. (One of them is at Oberlin where it must be 10 to 1 in favor of Macs.) Almost every professional musician, composer, engineer, etc. I work with uses Macs. They are much more reliable than PCs and are not as susceptible to viruses. Even programs that have both PC and Mac versions run better on the Mac, especially Pro Tools, which is the industry standard for recording and editing music. The great majority of music schools use Macs.</p>
<p>That being said, although almost every music professional I know uses Macs, I work with an extremely successful, world-class musician who has always used a PC. Several young (25-35) musicians use PCs because Macs used to be so much more expensive, so when they went to college they bought PCs. It's just, having used both for music, my humble opinion that the Mac is the better choice, and very competitive price-wise, especially with iLife, iSight, and all the other programs and features standard with the Mac operating system. Also, don't forget that ever since the Mac switched to Intel processors, it can run Windows and all of the PC programs. So, you can have your cake and eat it, too.</p>
<p>One last comment. No matter which system you choose, for college you should get a laptop. Here is a good explanation of why Mac laptops have become so popular lately:</p>