[Mac Hammer Fan]

Hi,
I want to buy a Mac for converting my LPs (vinyl) to CD. So therefore, I want a quality audio-in.
I don't play games.
So which one would be the best choice: a Mac Mini or a MacBook?
I suppose the Mini doesn't have a heat problem but is a bit slower.
The only thing that am I afraid of is hum or noise while I record.
On the other hand, the MacBook seems more bang for a buck. I won't have to buy an additional monitor, keyboard and mouse...
But I can connect the Mac, if necessary, in Firewire mode to a G5 Dual 1.8 which is unfortunately not in the same room as my stereo-equipment
Therefore, a Mac which is easily to transport in the house, is something that I want.

I am also planning to use it to connect to my TV to watch DVDs.
Would 1 GB RAM be enough? And are the harddrives of these Macs fast enough for audio recording?

TIA

[Wyatt]

Get the MacBook. It's much more transportable. You don't want to have to completely redo your computer setup just to move to another room, which it sounds like you're interested in doing. Defnitely go for the MacBook with a minimum of 1GB RAM. Also, to connect to your TV, you'll need the DVI-Video converter adapter.

Why do you want to connect it to the TV, though? If it's just for DVDs, just get a standalone DVD player. DVD video quality is sub-par in OS X, and you can't use progressive scan (if your TV supports that).

[chucker]

Both of them come with the same audio input, so that doesn't make a difference.

[Mac Hammer Fan]

The only thing that I am worried about is heat. If this heat is a real problem on MacBooks, I doubt they will be still reliable after some years use. Wasn't a heat problem also the cause of many defective Powerbooks (e.g. G3) in the past?

AppleCare extends warranty for 3 years. If I get it at the end of the first year, will I have 4 years in total in this case?

[chucker]

Originally Posted by Mac Hammer Fan AppleCare extends warranty for 3 years. If I get it at the end of the first year, will I have 4 years in total in this case?

No, three.

[SpecMode]

Yup...it extends the warranty/service coverage to three years, not by three years. That said, I personally would strongly recommend getting it (as I would for any Mac these days).

[intlplby]

i would get an external soundcard for ripping the vinyl

use an M-Audio Firewire Audiophile..... i picked one up for like $135 new

it's 24/96

[Performa636CD]

Originally Posted by Mac Hammer Fan The only thing that I am worried about is heat. If this heat is a real problem on MacBooks, I doubt they will be still reliable after some years use. Wasn't a heat problem also the cause of many defective Powerbooks (e.g. G3) in the past?

I understand your concern.

However, if somehow you will be pushing your computer for many hours at a time, I would recommend the Mac mini. I did some hard work with my 12" PowerBook a few months ago which basically was converting DVD video to regular .mov format. This meant that for 14 hours at a time over the course of 2 weeks, with fan was running at full speed and the CPU was running as fast as possible. Nothing so far is broken (although the fan sounds a little different now), but I would never do that again with my PowerBook or any laptop.

[Mac Hammer Fan]

I heard that the harddrive of an Imac is faster and twice as large.
Wouldn't an Imac 17" be a better option than the Mac Mini? It's an all in one solution like the MacBook.
It's not that heavy to transport frequently to a different room in my house, I suppose.
It also seems that the CPU of an Imac runs much cooler than thse CPU of a Mini or MB.
Or is the quality of the monitor of the Imac rather mediocre?
Or perhaps it's not recommended to move an Imac often to a different room?

[BlueRabbit]

Originally Posted by Mac Hammer Fan Wasn't a heat problem also the cause of many defective Powerbooks (e.g. G3) in the past?

Well the PowerBook 5300 had a couple batteries catch on fire during quality testing, but there's not much else other than that. From my understanding lots of heat is mainly a problem for the person using the laptop, not for the laptop itself.