Hi.
Are there any special applications you will use at school ? Applications wich exist only in Windows-Versions ? Then a PC-Notebook may be a must.
I have a PowerBook (667MHz, 3 years old !)and I'm still happy.
I had recorded 16 tracks simultan and had no troubles.
I have a lot of applications on it, make websites, running lot of apps simultan, no problem. Still !
I'm online all the time! No AntiVirus-Software, No Firewall, No securitythings wich cost a lot of money! (very important for me!).
I never did complete formating of Harddisk and never used to reinstall full OSX since the first time when I changed from OS9 to OSX.
At home I have also a Windows PC, but I use it only for these applications wich I didn't found for Mac.
Best audioInterface : RME Multiface ! For both.

May this help a bit? Good luck for school.

My first and probably more useful response would be to go with whatever you are most comfortable with. You can make quality recordings on either platform, as long as you do your research and get a well built computer.

That being said, I was/is a PC person since the 8088 chip (pre-286), swore by PC's, said I would never go to Mac. Then I started my classes in Audio Production, and everything was on Mac. I fell in love with it, went out and bought an iBook, and have never looked back. It has yet to crash on me, and I too run other stuff on it (Photoshop, dreamweaver, World of Warcraft :roll: ) My only regret is not spending the extra dough on the PowerBook.

Now I use Macs at my day job, and will probably never buy a PC again. Anything you can do on a PC you can do on a Mac, except a lot of games, which probably doesn't matter to you that much, if at all.

Whatever you get, pack it with as much RAM as you can. I'd even go so far as to say get the smallest possible HD, and use the savings to get more RAM, because you can pick up a firewire HD for fairly cheap these days.

my adwise, go mac...
with a decent firewire interface. and maybee a firewire 7200rpm HD for audio... & a healthy amount on ram.
stick peak and logic on it and you are up and running...

that's for music.

If you haven't decided on a music recording program yet (and as everyone has already mentioned, you'll do fine with MACs or PCs), then you'll probably want to find out what the primary platform & software is used where you'll be going to school.

Sounds like you'll need the computer for school work, online/web surfing, word processing, etc. Simply find out if they support both, or if there's a platform-specific requirement for certain courses...esp whatever you're majoring in. (Legal courses, or med courses, etc., may be platform-specific, I don't know...been a long time since college for me!)

Other than that, you'll do fine with whatever you end up with. Besides, should you have the chance to learn BOTH, you'll be all the better for it in the long run.

I'm thinking about getting a power book for my pro tools rig just for field recording.

What plays the biggest part in playing back and recording numerous channels? The Ram, Prosessor or HD or all three.

I'm sorry if that seems like a stupid question but I'm not 100% sure.

I won't really be using the Powerbook for plugins etc. Just to do the recordings. What processor power would I be looking at?

endwhereyoubegin,
The first thing is to check with your school and find out if there are applications
they will use that require one platform or the other.

If they have no preference, then go for a PC/Windows XP *PRO* (not Home!) laptop.

Specifically, if you can afford it, (USD$1400-$1700)

I VERY HIGHLY recommend:

Toshiba Satellite P30 ( "P30-RG4" (only this model - there are several sub-models) : 3.46 GHz w/80GB)
& 7200 RPM Firewire External Hard-Drive
(a 5400 int rpm drive is ok for the operating system but doesn't
cut it for music recording)
Firewire or USB/FW Combo Maxtor 1-touch 160GB or 350GB @ Best Buy are rock solid
and will do the job as good as any music specific 7200rpm drive for less $$$

Computers are the sum of their parts...
A weak component anywhere in your system will destabilize the whole system.
Component and add-on compatibility is a must and solid on the Toshiba!
R&D, interference, environmental & stress testing will also add to the MSRP of a system.
Toshiba has some pretty stringent tests and standards for its notebooks.

Toshiba also has add-on warranties (which cover EVERYTHING - including dropping and beverage spill)
can't be beat!

Also: In ANY laptop you should get a new battery at LEAST every year! And always do your
recording with the laptop plugged in.

FYI: I began working with computers over 20 years ago, hold many certifications, and
have personal and published review experience with most everything out there.

dabhoys,
All 3 matter though it's mostly RAM & HD!
You can overcome Interal HD speed issues (sub 7200 rpm) by adding an
external 7200 rpm+ drive. You can 'GET BY' with 512MB RAM though 1GB should be your minimum!
If you're buying new, just go for a G4 (around USD$1600).

For all: If you experience any issues on a laptop that has int. wireless
network cards, you should disable / remove or turn off the card
when recording.

KJ
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KYRO Studios