I have been doing more research on the laptop I want to buy for my home studio. I originally was looking at a PC because I am accustomed to them. I was probably going to buy a decked out Asus or Toshiba. After looking more thoroughly, custom computers like Rain, ADK, and PCaudiolabs seem to be the way to go and a Macbook Pro is even better.
The issues I found that come up quite often are related to latency issues and driver issues between software and hardware items in your DAW system, which straight out of the box MACs seem to have less of.
WHY do MACs have better performance?
What causes more prevalent errors or unwanted performance issues in PCs?
Is it the MAC (OS) vs. PC windows operating software that is the root of the problem?
I believe Rain, ADK, and PCaudiolabs run on windows platforms, so are they subject to the same issues that PC's have or a they set-up to run more error free like MAC's?
If you use a laptop to record, does it have to be totally for recording? For example, would it be a disaster to use it for photos, to load your CD collection on and use it as a stereo, use as a word processor, and other simple stuff etc?
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It's mainly because of the limited hardware platforms offered an
It's mainly because of the limited hardware platforms offered and Apple continually discontinues their old stuff and typically doesn't support backwards compatibility. Windows on the other hand can be installed on many, many more hardware configurations which relies on the hardware vendor to write stable drivers, the cheaper the hardware, the less stable the driver may be. You get what you pay for in that regard.
I've used PCs/Windows since high school and rarely ever have any issues because I buy high quality laptop PCs and if it's a desktop PC I will build it from scratch with high quality hardware.
Once you get good hardware behind Windows, you shouldn't have many issues. But if you go with Apple, again, you get what you pay for.
Mac's run better than the cheapest PC's for the reasons listed a
Mac's run better than the cheapest PC's for the reasons listed above. The best audio PC's use quality parts and are on equal footing with the best Mac's. It just becomes a preference at that point.
The problems arise when people try to make or buy a cheap Windows machine. They may have spent less money up front but the time and headaches lost and accumulated make one wish they hadn't. Can one build a powerful audio/video PC cheaper than a professionally built one? Yes. But it still isn't what most folks think of as cheap. Also, the research into the parts compatibility is where most home builders either get lucky or fail.
They may or may not be more powerful, but they are a more integr
They may or may not be more powerful, but they are a more integrated solution, because of the limited specific hardware.
Less variables, means less configuration issues.
I use my Macbook Pro for everything, I have an event video side business.