I would like to know about this to so if anyone has any input speak up!

Garageband comes with work Mac/Powerbook, but youre going to have to get a Firewire interface, MOTU or MBOX or something. I tossed this idea around for a long time. A lot of the reasoning behind getting a MAC for computer recording is that Macs dont get viruses as often so run optimally. Firewire is better than USB too. That's another reason. Whatever the case, it's good to have the laptop you use for recording to be dedicated to that. So your work/home/surfing CPU would be another unit. So youre spending sat $1600 for a Macbook, $400 for an interface. That's $2000 for a setup. You can get a PC for cheaper and it will probably work just fine.

In my own opinion, I used my PC for recording and it frustrated me to no end. I had issues with sync, and latency and software crashes because recording programs take up so much memory. I eventually gave up before I really even got started. I have not interest in recording for it's own sake, just to get my music on tape. If I had the money to pay a lackey to record me every time I wanted to, I would.

a lackey...or a henchman...whichever oppertunity presented itself.

I never experienced latency issues as I was never using a monitor. With my PC soundcard I was able to playback and record simultaneously, then I'd manually match the two tracks. Dumb, but it worked. I never even really used a sequencer, but I'd like to change that so that I can mix/balance multiple tracks independently without having to mix down before adding more layers.

If only I had a henchman, things would be so much easier.

If I ever get a henchman, I want a dwarf...or even multiple dwarves so I can shoot dream sequences and the fact that they would contain dwarves would mean that they are, by nature, weird.

The only time I experienced latency was when I built a MIDI drum track, then recorded an audio guitar track. I now use Acoustica Beatcraft for my drum tracks. Just drop the wav file into the recording software, then go. I don't experience latency anymore. I prefer to stay away from MIDI. I guess I don't understand how to use MIDI enough to get good results.

well, i guess i'm the guy to talk to here because i record on a mac. Latency problems would more or less have to do with your settings and your unit. If your recording on a powerbook (which is fine but you can get a mac mini for 500 if your trying to save) you should invest in a firewire harware device...like motu.com OR even cheaper would be m-audio.com ...use firewire and you will have 0 latency!

I also use logic 8 pro which was just released. It costs more than garage band but it also is Macs pro authoring audio environment and is one of the best used by Peter Gabriel and many other artists. If you can't shell the money out for logic get logic express OR i may be willing to sell you logic 7 with the dungle to you..but i'll have to think about it.

bottomline, mac is excellent for recording, video and graphics and has an abundance of applications available from logic to manyh others..if your looking at garage band why don;t you step it up one notch and at least move to logic express? It just doesn't have all the bells and whistles as logic pro but for recording is still a good high quality affordable application.

People mock macs for their price but the fact is mac will save you money in the long haul because its based on Unix Darwin which is extremely stable environment., Th problem with pcs is there are so many third party parts and equipment you will have problems with virus's and other issues..My mac never broke down ever and it never crashes..As long as you odsx is set up correctly you have a well built machine made from quality parts.