Hi Forum,

Thanks to the piece of crap Dell I bought two years ago, I am now in the hunt for a new computer. (Luckily, all of my information was saved before my motherboard gave out...).

I've been wanting to go ";Mac"; for a while, but now I get the chance. Here are the things I will be doing and would like to do with a new computer:

Run Sibelius, VDL 2.5, Various Garritan Libraries. Of course, there's stuff like word processing and surfing the internet, but I'm not worried about specs for that.

I would eventually like to purchase some more serious sound libraries (serious, as far as memory/RAM is concerned).

Thoughts? Do I need anything real outstanding, or can I just pick up the standard issue iMac?

Thanks a bunch!
ER

If you are looking for a notebook then I wouldn't suggest anything below a MacBook Pro, especially if you are going to want to add more serious sound libraries in the future.

If you are not concerned with having a notebook then you best bet would probably be the high-end 20-inch iMac. Simply because of the more memory, hard drive and speed.

I have a MacBook Pro and its about a year old but it still handles Sibelius and VDL 2.5 just fine.

One thing to watch out for with the MacBook Pro is that the lower level models have a 5400rpm hard drive. If you're looking to do more serious work with samples in the future I'd probably look at upgrading to a 7200rpm drive.

I've got a Mac Book Pro (see specs below) and I use it just for Sibelius and VDL (no other libraries) and it works just fine for that. The recommendation to go mid to top end Mac Book Pro I think is right on for what you describe.

Also... I know Apple offers educational discounts, I got a couple hundred bucks off of mine so If you are affiliated with a school you should look into that too.

I should clarify that I am looking for a desktop. That is, until my Dell laptop bites the dust.

Eric,
I have one of the first iMac desktops to come out and I absolutely love it. I know it's not truly designed for high level audio and such, but it definitely takes all the abuse I throw at it like a champ.
If I remember right, the new iMacs can have 1TB hard drives and up to I think 4GB RAM. In the words of Peter Griffin, that's pretty frickin sweet.
I'll have my MacBook Pro with me next weekend, you can fiddle around with it.

So basically, yeah, go online and upgrade the RAM. Other than that a standard iMac should work pretty well for you and not completely bust your budget.

[quote author=erath link=topic=2753.msg14648#msg14648 date=1222963890]
Hi Forum,

Thanks to the piece of crap Dell I bought two years ago, I am now in the hunt for a new computer. (Luckily, all of my information was saved before my motherboard gave out...).

I've been wanting to go ";Mac"; for a while, but now I get the chance. Here are the things I will be doing and would like to do with a new computer:

Run Sibelius, VDL 2.5, Various Garritan Libraries. Of course, there's stuff like word processing and surfing the internet, but I'm not worried about specs for that.

I would eventually like to purchase some more serious sound libraries (serious, as far as memory/RAM is concerned).

Thoughts? Do I need anything real outstanding, or can I just pick up the standard issue iMac?

Thanks a bunch!
ER
[/quote]

Go with a Mac Pro with 4 GB of RAM (at the least).  The Mac Pro is a dream machine for audio and is what the pros are using for their sequencing and pro audio work.  The Mac Pro can also be upgraded to 16 GB of RAM and 2 TB of hard drive space.  The MP will b e a better long term investment, especially if you intend on doing heavy VI work.

Gabe

I usually buy from the refurbished section.  It's on the lower left of their online store.  You can save several hundred when you buy a previous model.  A MacBook Pro that was $2,500 is now $1,650, and the specs are still very close to a new one.  You get the same warranty too.