Macbook Air

[EricDeluxe]

Thinking of getting a Macbook Air or Macbook Pro. How many tracks and plugins can you run on your Macbook Air? Whats your system specs? I run Sonar x1 mostly, but thinking of using the Boot Camp function.

I use MBA for Reason and some Ableton work. Does well for me when I use it with Apogee Duet2

[JBlongz]

I usually don't push high track counts on it...perhaps 20 instrument, 3 audio at most in Reason. Ableton wise, I use one plugin to create presets or drum kits when away from workstation. My Air is 1.8GHz Core i7 with 4GB ram and 256 SSD. Now if you're talking bootcamp, I would not recommend the Air. The Pro would be more suited...especially since you can get more usable specs for the price. You can always put an SSD in anyway. When I used bootcamp on my Macbook Pro, splitting the disk in half was a no brainer for a 750GB HDD, but space is skimpy on the Air. Infact my air (without bootcamp) has only 50GB left from 256.

[EricDeluxe]

Ok, thanks JBlongz.

I was considering the Macbook Pro in the first place with Core i7, 512 GB SSD and 8 GB RAM (expensive though). Will wait until after the summer anyway.
As I mainly use software synths, CPU power and latency will be a huge factor for me. Thus my interest in Thunderbolt in the future.

[JBlongz]

I'd buy the MPB without the SSD because the upgrade price is the cost for 2x 512 SSDs (Crucial M4 512GB)! My Crucial SSDs are blazing fast and I paid $800 each at release. They are $550 now. I never buy upgrade parts from Apple aside the CPU. So I recommend getting the CPU spec you desire, and buy the other parts aftermarket. You'll save a LOT for the same or better performance.

[EricDeluxe]

Let me get this straight; your recommendation is to purchase the MBP with the recommended CPU and skip the SSD now?

PS - seem like there will be a new version of MBP in June, with USB 3, no optical drive (slimmer) and Retina screen

I'd buy the MPB without the SSD because the upgrade price is the cost for 2x 512 SSDs (Crucial M4 512GB)! My Crucial SSDs are blazing fast and I paid $800 each at release. They are $550 now. I never buy upgrade parts from Apple aside the CPU. So I recommend getting the CPU spec you desire, and buy the other parts aftermarket. You'll save a LOT for the same or better performance.

[JBlongz]

I forgot to add that I would wait (if you can) for the new model. Also, get whatever CPU you want, I always go for the max. We'll have to wait and see which drive the new model offers as a standard. If the typical 2.5" HDD is offered, I'd take that and buy the SSD separate.

[EricDeluxe]

Yep, no hurry for me really, still got my Sony Vaio running like a clock, even though it is almost 3 years old. However, need to upgrade soon.

Thanks for your input

I forgot to add that I would wait (if you can) for the new model. Also, get whatever CPU you want, I always go for the max. We'll have to wait and see which drive the new model offers as a standard. If the typical 2.5" HDD is offered, I'd take that and buy the SSD separate.