Almost Ready To Buy First Interface And Software, newbie questions Options

[Rodrigo Ramos]

Hello everybody,

Alright here is where i am at, i have a Mac G4 powerbook and a 1000 dollars to invest in my first interface and software (aaah!) Like several other writers i have been contemplating between:
digidesign mbox with PTLE vs. MOTU ultralite with logic express.

I want to record mostly acoustic instruments (saxophone, elec and acoustic guitars etc.) but i also want to do field recordings (animals and machines) and i am certain that at some point i will work with midi. I am inspired by the work of brian eno, nigel goodrich (radiohead, beck) jim orourke and john mcentire.

Although i am looking towards doing mainly audio recordings i feel like MOTU/logic is more advantageous - 1) both are particularly MAC oriented, 2)both seem to be more flexible in working with other programs 3) tech support for both sounds more favorable- interestingly i have only found one complaint against Logic/MAC (hahaworld from last november) but i have seen much more complaints about digidesign and PTLE tech support. . . me being a newbie this is important. 4) reviews seem more positive about MOTU preamps than the digi mbox 5) MOTU has more analog i/o than the digi mbox.
Does my reasoning make sense?

question #1 can my MAC G4(OSX) handle logic express? i only have 512 MB and i read Lepetitmartien saying that 768 MB is not enough ( LPM, if you are reading this what were you refering to?)

question #2 i am living in spain (canary islands) and retailers/ distributors in the US dont ship overseas, does anyone know any reliable retailers in Europe ( U.K. will be too expensive!)

question #3 if i buy the MOTU interface in europe, will it be rated to work only with european voltage? or can it function in the states also?

thank you,

rodrigo ramos

[Rodrigo Ramos]

Alright, it sounds like the important features to look for in a audio-oriented ext. HD are: that it is FW, speed of 7200. I would reckon that noisiness and heating up are also factors to ask about. Today i found a brand called conceptronic- FW and USB 2.0, 7200, 320 GB--124 euros--plus 2 year waranty. Anyone heard of or use conceptronic?
Yo thanks Greg for breaking down the relationship between FW and the CPU, but what were you talking about in when you wrote 9ms?

thanks again