MacBook Pro for Logic? Best configuration?

Hi everyone,
Thanks in advance for any thoughts about this.
I’m ready to upgrade my 7-year-old PowerBook G4 (which has served me so very well) to something more current. Logic Pro will be a primary use of the new Mac. With my understanding of ports and busses and the requirements of a DAW, I’m wondering about best configurations for a Mac DAW.
I generally record one, two or maybe three audio tracks at once, then add a bunch of software instruments (drums/percussion, strings, horns, pads, etc.) to craft a song. It would be nice, though, to have the possibility of recording a live drum kit or even a live band (so up to 16 tracks at once).
Aside from CPU speed, number of cores, memory, etc., my understanding is that there are two critical pieces of technology required for a well performing DAW. First is an audio interface. Second is fast storage for reading/writing audio files.
My preference is to upgrade to another Mac laptop and I’m thinking about the latest i7 MacBook Pro, 15”. I don’t want the 17” because it’s too big and heavy and I’ll be using an external monitor most of the time. (Still would like the portability of a laptop, so would rather not go with an iMac or Mac Pro.)
My concern is that the 15” MBP does not have the ExpressCard/34 slot. Without this slot there’s only one USB buss and one Firewire buss to connect a hard drive and audio interface. So either of these devices would be limited by the maximum speed of USB 2. If the 15” had an ExpressCard/34 slot, I would put a Firewire audio interface on the FW port, then buy either a FW 800 or USB 3 ExpressCard and attach an external drive to it.
So my first question is: given only FW 800 and USB 2, what would be the capabilities of audio recording on a latest i7 MBP? Would you attach an audio interface to FW 800 and an external drive to USB 2, or the other way around? Most FW audio interfaces I’ve seen support only FW 400, so would it make more sense to attach an audio interface to USB 2 and a FW 800 drive to FW 800?
Whichever the best option, does anyone have a rough sense for how many audio tracks could be recorded and played back with an optimally configured i7 MBP?
Another question: Is it possible to remove the DVD drive of a MBP and replace it with a hard drive? If so, would the buss be capable of FW 800 speeds? (I’m assuming the DVD drive connection to the MBP is an independent buss not to be affected by other devices.) I guess a FW 800 controller of some sort would be necessary? If this is an option, then one could have two independent busses for storage access and audio interface, both functioning at FW 800 speeds?
Last question: Would using a SSD as either the internal drive or an external be particularly helpful in this situation?
I hope this all makes sense. I’ve used a Yamaha AW4416 for recording for years and I’m a little queasy about switching to a DAW because of potential latency and performance issues. One option would be to sync my AW4416 to Logic Pro, use the AW4416 for recording tracks, then transfer the audio files to the Mac for mixing with Logic Pro.
Many thanks for any opinions, feedback. Very much appreciated.
Tim

Phew - long post! Let me try and find your questions...
So my first question is: given only FW 800 and USB 2, what would be the capabilities of audio recording on a latest i7 MBP? Would you attach an audio interface to FW 800 and an external drive to USB 2, or the other way around? Most FW audio interfaces I’ve seen support only FW 400, so would it make more sense to attach an audio interface to USB 2 and a FW 800 drive to FW 800?
I would go: FW800 -> FW800 Drive -> FW400 Audio interface.
Whichever the best option, does anyone have a rough sense for how many audio tracks could be recorded and played back with an optimally configured i7 MBP?
It all depends on what a track is. There is a different between one 16/44 audio track on it's own, a 24/96 audio track loaded with plugins, and a heavy software instrument track with high polyphony and loads of plugins.
In terms of raw tracks, you can get way more than you will practically need. Yes, they shouldn't have dropped eSata (I'm keeping my older MBP for this reason - I can connect eSata drives or my UAD2 depending on my needs)
Another question: Is it possible to remove the DVD drive of a MBP and replace it with a hard drive?
Yes, but it may void your warranty, depending on how you do it.
If so, would the buss be capable of FW 800 speeds?
Internal drives are SATA, much faster than FW800 in general. Throughput mostly depends on drive speed and performance, more than any bus speed limitations.
(I’m assuming the DVD drive connection to the MBP is an independent buss not to be affected by other devices.)
Not sure on that. Optical media are very slow devices anyway...
I guess a FW 800 controller of some sort would be necessary?
Internal drives have nothing at all to do with FW.
If this is an option, then one could have two independent busses for storage access and audio interface, both functioning at FW 800 speeds?
To be honest, unless you are planning massive projects, you'll be fine with an external FW800 drive. If you are planning on doing large projects that one FW800 can't cope with, then you shouldn't be looking at a laptop, you should be looking at a Mac Pro.
I think you're probably worrying too much - a well specced MBP sensibly configured is a very capable machine.
Last question: Would using a SSD as either the internal drive or an external be particularly helpful in this situation?
I'm still dubious to how SSD's will hold up in the long run - they haven't been around very long, and I'm concerned about the limited lifespans (maximum number of writes etc). I wouldn't go there personally, not yet.
I’ve used a Yamaha AW4416 for recording for years and I’m a little queasy about switching to a DAW because of potential latency and performance issues. One option would be to sync my AW4416 to Logic Pro, use the AW4416 for recording tracks, then transfer the audio files to the Mac for mixing with Logic Pro.
Once you're comfortable with Logic, you won't go back, I'm reasonably sure of that...

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