What do you all think about running Logic Pro 7 on a
Powerbook G4 with a
1=2E5Ghz processor,
1=2E256 GB of ram, an
80 GB Hard Drive, a
8x SuperDrive (DVD=B1RW/CD-RW) and
12 inch Display

along with a FireWire410 Audio Interface
and other less important accessories

I'm trying to save up for something along these lines but want to get
some outside opinions before I spend all of my money.

-XfenderX-

Chad (XfenderX) Kirkpatrick wrote:
What do you all think about running Logic Pro 7 on a
Powerbook G4 with a
1.5Ghz processor,
1.256 GB of ram, an
80 GB Hard Drive, a
8x SuperDrive (DVD=B1RW/CD-RW) and
12 inch Display

along with a FireWire410 Audio Interface
and other less important accessories

I'm trying to save up for something along these lines but want to get
some outside opinions before I spend all of my money.

-XfenderX-

You can certainly run Logic on a G4 powerbook; however, the 12" model
has limitations compared to the 15" and 17" versions. The obvious being
a 12" screen, Logic can be very cumbersome with all the environment
layers you might want access to, plus all the plugin windows etc. I
find it bad enough with very minimal sessions on a 20" screen.
If you add an external monitor, you should check the specs on the
powerbook to make sure it supports dual monitoring, that is you can use
its screen to display, for example, audio layer and the main screen to
display the arrange window. The 15" and 17" models support this but I
am not sure about the 12" model.
Since you are a Logic user, you may be interested in "node processing"
which allows you to hook up, for instance, a powerbook with gigabit
ethernet to a gigabit enabled powermac, it can be a G4 or G5 for extra
processing power when using Logic plugins etc. This feature does not
work for 3rd party plug, as far as I know. The 12" powerbooks do not
have gigabit ethernet, the 15" and 17" models do.
So long story short, you can certainly run Logic on a 12" powerbook but
there are a lot of advantages to moving up to a 15" or 17" model. If
you want to use only your powerbook for recording, I would scrimp and
save for a 17" because Logic can be extremely frustrating to use when
it starts getting cluttered. If you get an extra screen, then it is
more of a toss up. If the 12" model can perform dual monitoring and you
don't think you will need node processing, then the 12" could be a good
choice. You will also want/need an external hard drive to record your
audio, so make sure that whatever you decide on has at least 2 firewire
ports. I am pretty sure that the 15" and 17" models do but the 12"
models may not. Just be sure to check the features/limitations of the
12" before purchasing anything because from what I remember when
looking at them, they do seem to be a very much stripped down version
of the larger models.
Good luck with your search.

Paul