Unsatisfied with my new Mac

[Triple_B]

inb4 PC vs. Mac thread

I bought this brand new, i7 intel dual core iMac, 27" display, with 4gb of RAM and a 1TB harddrive, to make music on. And maybe a little Minecraft. And that's it.

I spent $1050 of my college savings on this fucker, for Christ's sake.

It cost me a grand total of $2100 USD, after my student discount (-$100)

It is literally, one of the most unsatisfactory machines I have ever ran, as far as brand new computers go. I'm actually considering getting my money back, spending $1000 on a new PC box, and actually having enough money for software to use, but I'm skeptic, of course; like I was of buying the fucker in the first place.

I'm not even sure if I can get my money back, or even if I Craigslist/ebay the damn thing, I better be able to at least get $1900 out of it; IT'S NOT EVEN A MONTH OLD.

I just.... Ugh. I am so, so disappointed. Or am I going about this the complete wrong way? To put it shortly, nothing works the way it should, and I have no idea what I'm doing. I have no money to even start making music, so I've been using freeware and a demo of Ableton Live to dick around here-and-there whenever the need arose. Tried using a virtual machine that was running Windows 7; it won't run anymore, after it ran perfect for days and then crashed out of nowhere for seemingly no reason. Ableton apparently encounters issues with OS X 10.8.1, and the Dev team of the software is still trying to patch it. It has an extremely delayed reaction time when you click with the mouse or strike a key. (As in, more than 5 seconds) Like watching a really slow slideshow.

Not to mention, this thing runs hotter than hell; the upper right corner of the screen must be the processor or the harddrive or the power supply or something, because the rest of this brushed aluminum box of fruit is ice cold, and that thing HURTS to touch, sometimes. And no, I don't leave it on all the time; I turn it off when I go to bed and while I'm at school. Most of the time it's just rather overly warm to the touch, and keep in mind, human body temperature is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, so your hands are an average 90ish, depending on the temperature of the room, so things have to be hotter than that to feel warm; IE, my computer may or may not be running at 100+ degrees sometimes, and I'm not really a tech person, but I'm pretty sure that's not good.

What do, MLR? .__. I just wanna make music... I am so lost as to what to do, ugh ;_;

[Warbalist]

Well this is quite the situation you have here, and I hope you find the best solution, but the only things I can say about it is what I'm doing with my own computer, if you'll indulge me.

I'm about to buy a new laptop that'll run Sonar, because that's my program of choice. Thankfully, Cakewalk's site has suggested laptops (because, apparently, some motherboards don't like it, how weird is that?), so I'm just gonna get one of those.

4GB of RAM? You'll definitely want more if you want to go for more serious audio production; plugins (at least the amount that I use) consume RAM like it's nothing. Is the hard drive at least 7200RPM? That's something to consider once you get into sample libraries.

What I'm saying is, any direction you go (Mac or PC), make sure to take a look at the software you'd most like to use and check their forums for guidelines on what kind of computer you should use for that program.

Now, as far as what program to use, ask around and see if anyone you know has a few for you to try out; see which one you like.

Hope at least a bit of that helps.

[Freewave]

Wow sounds awful. Part of the biggest reason i think its not easy to just use mac is how its a completely different OS. I thought switching from Windows XP to 7 was bad enough. That's like switching from English to French. Plus any software you had won't easily be compatible. 4 GB is low FYI.

If you have had it 14 days or less you may be able to return it but you better be quick. If it's longer then that you might have missed your return window based on your story. I am guessing that's the case. You will get more for your money for a pc and you'll also be back in familiar territory so look at that and don't get stuck. Call the store mgr and raise hell if you have to and see if you can do an exchange if possible. Remember its YOUR $2000 you spent. You are allowed to be satisfied with your purchase.

Good luck

[Navron]

To put it shortly, nothing works the way it should, and I have no idea what I'm doing.

A lot of software is still not compatible with Macs, so if you're trying to do that, of course it's not going to work the way it should.

Regarding your second problem, there really isn't much I can say other than learn it. Macs use a completely different OS that is unlike windows in almost every possible way, save for using window boxes to navigate the file system.

If you rushed into the buy because you heard Macs are good for music production, then there isn't much advice I can offer, other than I think you're initially disappointed because you didn't learn the OS before buying it.

When it comes down the final line, Macs have their own advantages. There's a reason a lot of music producers, VFX studios, and digital artists prefer Macs. They are considerably more stable when it comes to those types of applications, and when you're dealing with hobbies and jobs that require weeks, months (sometimes years), and longer times put into those projects, stability becomes more of an issue.

Windows has gotten better at stability over the years, and right now it's more of a preference when deciding between Mac and PC.

In the end it's up to you. If you feel like you'll struggle learning the OS, and it won't offer much of an advantage in the long run, then I'd recommend returning it, however if you put the time into learning the OS, you may end up liking the way Macs run a lot better.

And this is coming from a former Mac owner. I don't own one now, simply because I play a decent amount of PC games, however if I was looking into a laptop strictly for music production, I'd probably end up getting a Mac.

[Triple_B]

Wow sounds awful. Part of the biggest reason i think its not easy to just use mac is how its a completely different OS. I thought switching from Windows XP to 7 was bad enough. That's like switching from English to French. Plus any software you had won't easily be compatible. 4 GB is low FYI.

If you have had it 14 days or less you may be able to return it but you better be quick. If it's longer then that you might have missed your return window based on your story. I am guessing that's the case. You will get more for your money for a pc and you'll also be back in familiar territory so look at that and don't get stuck. Call the store mgr and raise hell if you have to and see if you can do an exchange if possible. Remember its YOUR $2000 you spent. You are allowed to be satisfied with your purchase.

Good luck

It's not even been two weeks; just counted it up. IT got here Monday, 27th of August. It's been 11 days.

Calling the customer support desk thing after doing an IRC type chat with a representative who gave me the number to get me to a real person....

I can return it, they'll email me a printable address thingy, and Apple will cover the shipping. After they receive it, the funds will automatically be returned to my account.

So it comes down to preference... And the only thing I haven't tried on this computer, is Logic.... I guess that'll be my game changer.

UGH I AM SO TORN ON WHAT TO DOOOOOO ._.

[the4thImpulse]

There's good advice in this thread but I think it needs to be asked: why did/do you want a mac?

[Lavender_Harmony]

I've never enjoyed using PCs to make music. I learned how to use a Mac in uni, as well as Logic. Logic really did change my view on music production when I first started using it. It has everything there you would ever need to get going making music, and you can expand on it with other plugins etc. If you take a look in the Mac App Store, that's the place to get Logic.

I got a 27" iMac with an i5 and 8GB of RAM, and it's been a delight to use since I got it, aside from a couple of hiccups that had to be resolved. One of the major things as a music producer is that you should really always be 1 OS version behind, I only just upgraded to Lion. Compatibility is always an issue with any OS. I've personally never used Ableton.

If you're really struggling with the OS, you can list some things. You say it doesn't work how you think it should, if you went into detail I'm sure us Mac-heads could outline the differences. They're subtle, but it's all to do with workflow, really. It doesn't take much time to get set up and running on Mac if you're coming from Windows.

Also do remember you have Boot Camp, you can make a partition and install Windows on that for the time being until you get set up with Logic. It's simple to set up.

What do I recommend in the long run? Get customer services to help you downgrade to Lion, explain it's from a professional standpoint, you're a music producer and the current software you require is not compatible with Mountain Lion. Your Mac shouldn't be running that hot either, in my opinion.

[LFP]

Sounds like there's something wrong with your Mac if you have a delay when clicking, you should honestly report that and demand a refound!

Switching operatives can be quite annoying at the start, especially if it's a Mac since it's very complex and doesn't run all the programms (worst part is that the scroll is reversed when you're using a normal mouse since you're supposed to use a magic (touch) mouse XD ) you'll just have to get used to it.

Considering Macs are built in a special way (already put together and no way to add fans and stuff) it getting hot should not be a problem (if it does get so hot it damages your computer something is wrong with the fans etc).

I have no idea why your virtual machine would crash, check if there's any insurance still on considering its only been a very short time, I advice you to talk to the guy you bought it from/anyone else who knows the subject.
Are you using parallels (running two operatives at the same time), or a single operative (boot camp etc) program?
Because parallels will split your CPU, ram and stuff so you'll get a much more poor performance output, but you do get the ability to switch from windows to Mac (and vice versa) very easily.

Hope this help, and good luck!

[PinkieGuy]

I'll admit, I use a desktop for most of my music production because I often wind up with thousands of cached recordings when doing my metal songs. No jokes, one riff in one of my song took 2000 recordings alone.

With that being put aside, the laptop that I bought for music production was a gaming laptop, and one of my best recommendations when looking into investing in a music computer is considering a gaming computer. They generally don't have the best soundcard, but lots of them have all the power you need to run a billion instances of Massive.

[vladnuke]

I use a PC. I built the computer that I'm currently using and know about everything that went into it. I really don't see what so unstable about Windows now, with 7 it has literally never crashed on me, and I got 7 when it first came out. Idk, man. Even the Sony laptop I have (building laptops is for masochists) is running smoothly. I honestly don't know anything about Macs, but when you're ready to plop some cash down on a PC, you can feel confident knowing that you too can build your own machine. I mean, seriously, it's like putting legos together now, no soldering required, it's cheaper, better than anything you'll find in the store, and will last you a LONG ass time. A little effort goes a long way. Plus, you'll learn how a computer works!

[bartekko]

I could write some lines about my experience with PCs and Macs, and how I prefer PCs for being more open....
but I'm just going to say:
If you don't know why you need a mac, except for "It's better than PC for music", Don't get it. If anyone else is looking into buying a mac, Ask yourself these questions:
Do I need a Mac?
Why is a Mac better than my PC?
Is my PC limiting me in any way?
Am I aware of what inconveniences await me?
Have I tried Hackintosh not sure if that's legal

[ChocolateChicken]

Macs are great machines, first of all. From reading the OP's initial post, I can see several problems already that can be fixed. You only got 4gb of RAM? On a 27" iMac? You should have at least 8gb of RAM and your hard drive should have a 7200RPM hard drive; that's pretty much the standard and it makes a huge difference.

I had the demo of Ableton for a while too and I know that demo versions of DAWs ALWAYS take up more RAM space and CPU power than the full purchased versions. You really should buy a DAW. If you bought your iMac for college, you should have received a MASSIVE student discount on it, as well as $100 dollars for the app store.

My advice is to take that $100 Mac App Store discount you have and spend it on Logic Pro, which is available as an app store download. Logic Pro is one of the best DAWs out there, and my personal DAW of choice. With the discount, you will be able to have Logic Pro for only $99, which is a steal.

iMacs are amazing computers. I really hope you don't decide to get rid of it.

[LFP]

Is it possible to add ram to an IMac?
If it is, you should be looking into buying some in the future.
Oh and there was a video linked by 4thimpulse a while ago (photographic memory :\ ) where a guy explained that abelton shouldn't take up more than 2 gigs of ram.
I never watched the video myself as I do use FL so u don't know if he just ment abelton alone (aka no plug-ins) or not. Might be helpfully though!

[the4thImpulse]

Is it possible to add ram to an IMac?
If it is, you should be looking into buying some in the future.
Oh and there was a video linked by 4thimpulse a while ago (photographic memory :\ ) where a guy explained that abelton shouldn't take up more than 2 gigs of ram.
I never watched the video myself as I do use FL so u don't know if he just ment abelton alone (aka no plug-ins) or not. Might be helpfully though!

BOOM! Video.



RAM is not important when it comes to music, 4 gigs in enough you won't need more 8 will let you easily run other programs along side ableton/any other DAW. Its all about the processor and in case you don't know there are many different versions of the I7 and some are significantly better than others. Go to this site to see how the prossor stacks up. I have an $800 with a prossor that ranks number ~50th on the high end list.

[CommandSpry]

Get your money back mate, and buy a killer PC with that money.

2100USD? 4GB of ram??????

Buy a 3rd generation i7, buy 32GB of ram if you want to, buy 2 TB drivers and 2 SSDs to put in RAID, buy 2 GTX670 cards to run everything in 2560x1440 in max settings and render in seconds, hell, buy original Windows 7 and you would still have money leftover to buy an original FL or Ableton.

[Flutterbro]

I'll never understand why people spend exorbitant amounts of money on a Mac when they can get a far, far, far superior PC for the same price.

[Lavender_Harmony]

I'll never understand why people spend exorbitant amounts of money on a Mac when they can get a far, far, far superior PC for the same price.

If you need to ask that, Mac isn't for you.

[Codeum]

I'll never understand why people spend exorbitant amounts of money on a Mac when they can get a far, far, far superior PC for the same price.

If you need to ask that, Mac isn't for you.

PC can do anything a mac can. I'm running both operating systems on my computer. I should know

[Applejinx]

The whole lego computer thing does sound really cool except for I don't like Windows or Microsoft I've run linux on a Mac before!

However, I enjoy my little Mac laptop, though it too only has 4G of RAM. And I really have my stuff down in Logic, which I bought waaaay before you could get it for $99 on a student discount- that's nuts, that's an amazing opportunity. I've mixed commercial songs with more than 100 tracks (for online competitions) with a little cleverness and submixing.

I have to second the idea of not trying to run latest-and-greatest. The thing to do with a working production Mac is get it to an older system software that is running really well, and then LOCK it there- tell everything to not update unless you tell it to, and get a system going that's reliable, and keep it. You want it to be like a toaster, totally familiar and predictable. This is why Macs turn up on stage at big shows- the people doing that are probably doing it on the machine they use for everything, BUT they are very likely keeping it locked down and predictable. You'll find there's always drama involving really new OS versions around production software, particularly fancy plugins and stuff.

I've worked on plugin software for the guy who mixed Led Zep III and the ZZ Top albums. He's working on a _PPC_ Mac, not even Intel- waaaaaay worse in every performance respect than your new iMac or the lego-PCs people are talking about. He works with preamps and outboard many times the value of any desktop computer, you know he could afford any of that stuff- it's that he knows something and is pursuing a conscious strategy for making the DAW as trustworthy as a piece of API or Neve outboard gear.

Macs are by _default_ suitable to such use. You really need to be an expert builder for lego-PCs to be comparable- and I'm not sure the expert PC guys are necessarily running Microsoft's idea of the latest and greatest system software either.

I don't know anybody in serious production work using Macs who is using any form of Windows emulation to get anything significant done. Seems like if you want to run Windows you should not be doing it with a Mac. I envy Paint Tool SAI, but I don't expect to run it on a Mac with any real effectiveness...

[Dr_Dissonance]

I've never understood the desire for macs either, but getting back to the original post, if you don't like your product, regardless of whether it's a PC or Mac, send it back before the deadline and choose something that you're more comfortable with.

And yeah, the 4GB RAM is a problem, I'd at the very least look into upgrading that.

[SoaringFlight]

In your case - send the thing back.

There's no point of wasting all of your money on it and be left without any for software or anything else that you need for music, can't help but wonder why you decided to buy it. Unless you get the software by using other means. But even then.

If you can't spend alot of money, do what i did - Just get a normal laptop. My Asus has Intel i5, 4Gb's of RAM and 750 Gigs space on disk. Cheap, cost effective package, that is completely enough for music and anything else, not to mention it costs shitloads less than a Mac.

I'm not saying that you must get a pc tho, it's your money and personal preference anyway. Just my 2 cents.

[Lavender_Harmony]

I'll never understand why people spend exorbitant amounts of money on a Mac when they can get a far, far, far superior PC for the same price.

If you need to ask that, Mac isn't for you.

PC can do anything a mac can. I'm running both operating systems on my computer. I should know

It's not always a case of 'PC can do everything Mac's can." It's a case of "Macs can do what PCs can, but much, much better."

If you're a gamer, go PC. My Mac is primarily for work, end of discussion. Your retort of 'Macs don't play games" is completely irrelevant.

[Codeum]

There's also the pinwheel of death that you can't really do anything about. I do agree if you want a computer to do exactly what you want it to do without many problems and maximize your resources, you're mac. If you want to tweak the living hell out of everything, have access to the majority of software available today (most of which is windows only) and would much rather fix the computer yourself without needing anybody but google for help, go windows. I've got both because I find both to be useful. I tend to stay on the windows side because this is my only computer. I'd like to be able to use it for whatever I want without being bogged down by problems I can't fix or software limitations. Once I get a nice fancy gaming desktop, I'll think about only using this MBP on the OSX side for work only.

[Lavender_Harmony]

There's also the pinwheel of death that you can't really do anything about. I do agree if you want a computer to do exactly what you want it to do without many problems and maximize your resources, you're mac. If you want to tweak the living hell out of everything, have access to the majority of software available today (most of which is windows only) and would much rather fix the computer yourself without needing anybody but google for help, go windows. I've got both because I find both to be useful. I tend to stay on the windows side because this is my only computer. I'd like to be able to use it for whatever I want without being bogged down by problems I can't fix or software limitations. Once I get a nice fancy gaming desktop, I'll think about only using this MBP on the OSX side for work only.

Never had that pinwheel. I've always been able to resolve issues myself. Because I do this for a living, it's imperative that what I use just works. I don't want to spend all my time scanning for viruses and defragging. Almost every time someone has wanted to show me something in FL they've done, I'm in a Skype call and all I hear is "Okay, let's open this up, why is it stalling, fucking hell stop STOP CRASHING why is it crashing ITS CRASHED agrh okay open it again okay FL won't open oh my fucking god do I need to defrag this again omfg this is such a piece of shit!!!"

I'll oass, thanks.

[Codeum]

*You'll pass

And that person sounds like they don't know how to take care of their computer. I never need to defrag or scan for viruses. I've only gotten a few in the 5 years I've been a windows guy and most of the time (sometimes needing a google search) dispatched them quickly. And you just need a tight grip on file management to avoid the need for defragging. Sure I have problems, harder to solve than most since Apple kinda despises people who bootcamp and don't give proper support for it, but out of all the people in my class, I'm the only one who can solve the problems myself. the rest of my classmates have a lot of trouble with the pinwheel, the wireless, and getting programs to run properly. They end up always having to take their computer's to the laptop techs on campus, or to an apple store. My OS ran for nearly a year with subpar maintenance before the partitions got screwed up and killed the bootcamp partition. The error was actually on OSX side. It screwed something up when I updated (go figure) I consider having problems to be a good thing. with each one I solve, I become more in tune with the personality of my computer and the software that runs on it. It's an intimacy that I'm not willing to give up.