peters@udel.EDU (Shirley Peters) (06/13/90)
I am interested in printing out music scores clearly, legibly, and
hopefully easily :-). What hardware/software combinations would you
recommend in the Mac line of computers (cpu, printer, and software) which
would cost less than $5000?
Thanx
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Shirley Peters peters@udel.edu
I'd rather be sleeping!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------rc3h+@andrew.cmu.edu (Ross Ward Comer) (06/13/90)
peters@udel.EDU (Shirley Peters) writes: > I am interested in printing out music scores clearly, legibly, and > hopefully easily :-). What hardware/software combinations would you > recommend in the Mac line of computers (cpu, printer, and software) which > would cost less than $5000? Well, post on a Mac news bboard and get a Mac answer! The way to buy a system is to find the software that does what you want and then get the hardware that runs it (assuming you can still afford it ;-). I have used both Finale and MusicProse from Coda. Finale is incredible, doing almost everything you could ever want in a music transcription program, but you pay for it in ease of use. MusicProse is simply a scaled down Finale with most of the good features, but none of the hassles. It allows input from the keyboard, mouse, and a MIDI keyboard. It's output is clean, especially on a laser or Deskwriter. Unless you really need the control, MusicProse should do. In terms of hardware (and of course we're talking Macintosh), get the best (fastest) that you can afford. I ran both programs on a Plus, but it could get painful on some of the longer operations (moving sections of a score). Current education prices make both the SE and SE/30 VERY reasonable. Sample breakdown of prices: Finale: $550 or MusicProse: $170 Mac Plus: $700 or SE: $1000 (?) or SE/30: $2000 or Mac II??:... Hard Drive: 20Meg: $400 30M:$450 40M:$550 50M: $600 ... MIDI+Keyboard: $200 - $900 Printer: Image: $450 HP Deskwriter: $750 LaserWriter II: $5000 (or so) So, assuming MusicProse, SE/30, 40Meg hard drive, a nice keyboard, Deskwriter, and accessories, your looking at around $4200. A cheap system could be thrown together for $2000-$2200. A "radical system" (Mac IIci, large screen b/w monitor, 80Meg HD, 4 Meg RAM, Finale, Deskwriter) could easily exhaust your $5000 budget... Note that these prices are all educational or mail order. Also, PLEASE try out the software and hardware combination BEFORE your put any money down. Only you can decide if a piece of hard/software fulfills your needs. Hope this helps. ross ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ross Comer | ARPA: rc3h@andrew.cmu.edu PO Box 262, CMU | Bitnet: rc3h@andrew.cmu.edu Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213 | UUCP: ...!harvard!andrew.cmu.edu!rc3h ------------------------------------------------------------------------