Switching from LAWP 5.5.1 to L8 Studio

[Vim]

Hi all, i've been using LAWP for a while now and did not switch to a
mac despite having the L6Pro upgrade as i could not justify spending
the extra Fjd$7k.

Now that L8 is out and there have been significant developments in
the mac OS, i'm seriously contemplating three options to
stay 'current'

1. Spend the fjd $7k on a basic MacPro that meets the basic/minimum
requirements for L8 and stay with the s/w that i've grown used to
and love working in.

2. purchase Sonar 6 instead and migrate to Vista once they iron out
bugs because the interface for L8 has changed significantly to
affect workflow and it'll be like learning a new OS/program so might
as well stick to the OS and get a new program without a substantial
cost implication.

3. ignore both options and spend money on a PT le platform just to
be PT certified and have the option in the studio incase clients
prefer it and continue using my current PC setup with 4gb ram, 3ghz
P5 and lots of hdd space UAD cards etc.

The kind of music i do is mostly synth based with alot of audio
recording of live drums and other south pacific island instruments
(ukeleles and guitars and polyrhythm drums from Cooks and Samoa as
well as other 'weird' instruments like bampipes and nose flutes) so
more new age stuff with weird time signatures and explorative music.

I use a MOTU 896 as an interface as it lets me do surround mixing
and it has been reliable so far.

Any help in the matter will be really appreciated.

[Willie K]

I'd say...get the Macpro (if you can afford it), and go with Logic Pro 8 (or Logic Studio ), the learning curve of L8 will be less (if you've worked with Logic before) than it'll be in Sonar. By the way...Vista still "sucks" for music apps.
You don't need to be PT certified to be good (or bad)...I mean...the music is more important regardless of the tool used. I find Logic more integrated into itself than any other app. and the synths and secuencers are great...in PT you have to spend more money in those.