Rayc.
exactly the same methodology here.
actually following on from what pete brown of ms says in his write up,
bout desktops over laptops.
i normally recommend a person setting up a daw from scratch , if they want to save big bucks, to look at this type of refurb and stuff it with cheap ssd's. you can even now stuff m.2 ssd's into external enclosures , and hook them up too i believe.
https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/hp-z440-workstation-xeon-e5-1620v3-3-5ghz-4-cores-16gb-ram-512gb-ssd-quadro-k2200-4gb-win10-pro-refurbished/14348023note the loads of usb 3 ports.
its a "beast" of a pc for low bucks imho.
cant be beat imho. loads of flexibility per petes comments
in his guide.
as to APPLE.
heres my viewpoint , haveing worked in tech in the past.
1. they might have now done a "strategic move" to their own processors
so they can possibly have more control over future processor technology, plus, possibly be able to thus offer lower computer prices to get more users into the apple fold.
yes the M1 is a nice processor,but, i personally am leery knowing there probably is a M2 in the offing. my concern always is how long a piece of gear is gonna last till its obsolete, and is replaced by something better.
for example i find the iphone marketing strategy interesting in that a new model comes out every year. which is ok if ones family has a high income. but i worry bout the poor. who cant afford high prices.
2. i personally would be a big fan of apple if they adopted the following strategy.
a. allow some hardware updateing of previously sold devices.
eg if i bought an earlier m1 based mac mini, allow updateing to the new m whatever faster better processor. and please dont solder in memory. i think apple would get a lot of new friends with a "upgradeability strategy". i dont mind inexpensive upgrades, i just dont want to have to buy a new computer often.
(one reason i like that hp z workstation at the link i posted above.
the thing will last for many years, and is flexible.)
b. big sur does look nice, but i would like to see a very stripped
down ultra lean mac os that just ran daw software.
what is interesting to note , is that "yes" a lot of project and mid tier studios DO run mac based rigs, "but" if one looks around at gearslutz.com from what ive seen, often in some of the really really high end studio threads, you will often find for really huge trak and plug in counts/orchestral sessions etc etc, custom pc's running windows are often employed that have been specifically built by companies that specialise in building high end custom computers.
but of course such win pc's are out of my (or most peoples) budgets.
thus i wait for such pc's to trickle down to the refurb market
after a few years. haveing said that. yes i can see there is lots to like bout apple, but there is lots to like about pc's too.
there are pros and cons of each.
HAPPY SPRING TO EVERYONE.
there-is-no-perfect-computer-old-muso