Mac Pro + Windows XP (Boot Camp) + Mediashout

9secondko9secondko
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Hello,



I am looking to purchase a new computer to run a program called "Mediashout V3" on. Right now, we use a Dell P4 2.2 GHZ with 512 MB RAM and Nvidia Geforce w/ 256 MB VRAM, which crashes every now and then while running the program.



We are looking to purchase a Mac Pro with Quad 2.66 Xeon, 2 GB RAM, ATI X1900 XT w/ 512 MB VRAM, and 2 500 GB hard drives.



I am thinking to install Windows XP via BootCamp onto one hard drive and leave OS X on the other.



we were going to buy a PC, but we thought "why?", when you can have your cake and eat it too with a computer that runs both OS's.



we will use OSX for all of our web site, audio and video creating and editing and then just present them in Mediashout on Windows.



The only reason we have to bother with Windows at all is that MediaShout cancelled an upcoming Mac version of their program, and we are too familiar with Mediashout now to use something else. (the program is a pretty hefty investment too, at $400.00.



Is this a viable solution? Pleas give me some insight.



I do not see how it could be a problem, but if you know of anything, it would be helpful.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,324moderator
    Sounds ok to me. I would even go so far as to suggest that you might not even need as much as a Mac Pro for presenting. I just tested the demo of Mediashout on Parallels on my Mac Mini and it played the demo presentation with flash content and audio at 1280x1024 pretty well though it gave a warning that it needed to increase the virtual memory cache - I only have 384MB allocated to Windows but if you had enough Ram, that probably wouldn't matter. Parallels runs Windows inside OS X so you don't need to dual boot - it might be an idea having both. Parallels for quick testing of presentations and boot into Windows for the actual showing.



    I'd say that you might be better getting a Macbook Pro. If you are hooking it up to a projector, the portability is very useful and also being able to take it home and work on presentations wherever you are. The laptops hold their value really well too.



    Even though it just has one hard drive, you can partition it easily with Bootcamp. The Macbook Pros are still dual 2.16 GHz so that's at least double the Dell. You can always get external storage if you need it for backups. The laptops have the advantage that they come with a remote for media presenting in Front Row. Oddly the Mac Pros don't.
  • Reply 2 of 7
    9secondko9secondko Posts: 929member
    Update:



    we got the Mac pro -- it is a screamer.



    it also runs windows XP Pro with Mediashout absolutely perfect.
  • Reply 3 of 7
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,324moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by 9secondko View Post


    Update:



    we got the Mac pro -- it is a screamer.



    it also runs windows XP Pro with Mediashout absolutely perfect.



    I began to think you weren't coming back. Good to hear it worked out. Are you using Parallels or Bootcamp'd Windows? What kind of spec Mac pro did you get?
  • Reply 4 of 7
    sjkifsjkif Posts: 3member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by 9secondko View Post


    Update:



    we got the Mac pro -- it is a screamer.



    it also runs windows XP Pro with Mediashout absolutely perfect.



    Hey, I was wondering what troubles you were expericencing w/ Media Shout--other than crashes and if this has solved some/all of them. I am going to buy a MacBook Pro myself, and am doing my homework into Parallels/Bootcamp and all that, but my church uses MS v3 and has some issues (always have) especially now with the "DVD" support (can't play most in the program). I was thinking of setting up my Mac once I buy it to see what it can do with the program. Please let me know what Win setup you are using, the extent of your "troubles", and if this is the "perfect" solution or just better for this program. Thanks
  • Reply 5 of 7
    9secondko9secondko Posts: 929member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sjkif View Post


    Hey, I was wondering what troubles you were expericencing w/ Media Shout--other than crashes and if this has solved some/all of them. I am going to buy a MacBook Pro myself, and am doing my homework into Parallels/Bootcamp and all that, but my church uses MS v3 and has some issues (always have) especially now with the "DVD" support (can't play most in the program). I was thinking of setting up my Mac once I buy it to see what it can do with the program. Please let me know what Win setup you are using, the extent of your "troubles", and if this is the "perfect" solution or just better for this program. Thanks



    I am running a Mac Pro (2.66 GHZ, 2 GB RAM, 2 500 GB HDDs--one for mac, one for windows) and we have it dual booting with Windows XP Pro and MAC OS.



    The install of windows went without a hitch using Bootcamp (really XP Pro is the only recommended version to buy. Many versions don't work -- ie: Media Center Edition, 64 bit Edition, etc)



    the problems we were having with Mediashout before (using a Dell 2.8 GHZ P4) is that it would crash and that would happen often. We would go through a reboot or two to finally getting it working right (SAVE OFTEN!) and inputting oru slides and songs. We would then have to save it and run the presentation, at which point it would crash, require a reboot and we would begin where we left off. This especially happend when importing any kind of Windows Media Video. Not to mention the program was dog slow.



    with the Mac Pro running XP Pro under BootCamp, the program never crashes and responds fairly quickly. all aspects of the promgram seem to work perfectly. the DVD part does not recognize some DVDs, but that seems to be rare.



    If you need to run Mediashout on a Mac, I would not hesitate as running it in a new Mac is exactly like running it on a new Pc. Just be sure that you have a great video card with at least 256 GB memory. 128 will suffice, but 256 is somewhat failsafe.



    The mediashout people have made a great program. i think it is the best out there in terms of features. however, the code really needs to be gone through and optimized as it is pretty buggy. I wish they had a Mac version for OS X, but I believe they underestimated the market for it.



    edit: Only use bootCamp for this as Parallels cannot emulate the Windows Extended Desktop that is required by Medishout V3.
  • Reply 6 of 7
    sjkifsjkif Posts: 3member
    Hey, thanks for the reply. We haven't had quite that much of the crashing issue, just slow and always issues with DVDs. But the info is much appreciated.
  • Reply 7 of 7
    9secondko9secondko Posts: 929member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sjkif View Post


    Hey, thanks for the reply. We haven't had quite that much of the crashing issue, just slow and always issues with DVDs. But the info is much appreciated.



    You're welcome.



    Mediashout did crash often on the dell. We even reformatted the hard drive and reinstalled windows XP PRO with all updates and it still crashed.



    the Mac Pro handles it very, very smooth. No issues whatsoever. The speed is pretty fast too and there have been no DVD issues.



    I hope this helps.
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