Ibook 4200 Hard Drive Unsuitable For Daw Work? Options

[ambivilant]

It seems that next to RAM, the most important thing for a music machine is disk speed and 4200 is ridiculouisly slow, isn't it? I mean, for let's say a 7 minute song with y'know, 10 tracks or whatever, and a few softsynths, will an iBook with 512 end up queuing audio onto the hard drive and slow to the point of uselessness?

It's too bad the iBook doesn't come with a 5400 hard drive option; I'm left with a jump from a $1000 laptop to a $1600 one, and it's depressing because I really wanted to get a mac too. But the iBook has everything I need except that. Maybe I'm wrong, is the HD really that important after all?

[Dustan]

Dear all,

I used an Ibook 300mhz(!!) with logic 4.8 for 2 years a couple of years ago, and I could handle up to 11 or 12 tracks with "small" plug-ins. At the time, bouncing was the solution to deal with that to me, everytime I need a "Orange Vocoder" or something heavy as that. And that computer had the standard 4200 rpm HD. But I made lots of projects with that little fellow.(Most of the stuff on www.the89.org , is made with an Ibook Blueberry,.. god I love Apple computers!)


I have now a Powerbook 1,25Ghz with a internal 7200 rpm Hitachi HD, running Logic 6. It made a dramatic impact on my performance having this fast HD. It felt like doubling my ram or something. I made that decision for an internal, because I felt losing a little of my portability with an external device, and that is important to me.

I have not experienced any heat problems in particular or noise or else, I think Aluminium Pbooks are already so damn hot I could not tell if it is over heated. And my HD has warrany till 2006, by Hitachi.

Maybe buying an internal HD, and asking apple to install it for you would keep your warranty?!.. I thought so... If you can spare losing your warranty or don't have any left, to change the HD on a white Ibook, it takes about 30 minutes, if you know what you are doing. Clamshells are much, much.. harder.. first time I did it, it took me 2 days.. haha..

I have heard many times people saying you can not work with an internal 4200 HD on DAW. I have. There are SO many things involved on making your system stable and able, such as .. RAM, Processor (Bus speed), System, Sequencer Version and kind... number of tracks you are recording at a time... you name it.. So Hard disk speed is one part of the "problem"/Solution.

My conclusion is: It all depends of your needs. It's amazing how little systems used within the limit of it's action, can make wonders,... with a little help from his friend... You.

Cheers!!