I run my BIAB, Real Band and Power Tracks on a home built desk top PC (Windows XP Pro) but it is now seven years old and very under powered. It certainly struggles when importing Real Tracks with BIAB version 2009. I do have a second desk top PC but I am considering buying a laptop so that I can practice along with my BIAB files anywhere in the house and am not tied down to my music room. I would also like to record my practice sessions at a friend’s house, for later analysis.
I have been looking at models with Pentium Dual Core processors, 4GB RAM, 250 GB hard drive and perhaps a 17” screen to make reading music easier whilst standing up playing. I appreciate that the MIDI side of things will not be as good as my Edirol SD-80 plays them on my desk top, but I will be using Real Tracks anyway.
I would probably buy an M-Audio Fast Track to record to the laptop via USB as recommended by Mac (9th April).
So my question is, what sort of laptop memory and power would you recommend please? I prefer to buy a machine with an eye to the future as far as forthcoming PG demands on such a system may require.

*Always buy the fastest machine you can afford at the time. This is as much "future-proofing" as we can reasonably expect.

*I typically avoid package deals that already have a lot of RAM installed, as the price of one with less RAM and purchasing and snapping the extra RAM into it yourself is usually a cost savings to be considered. But not always. Right now, the economy is forcing lots of great deals, so do your homework on that front.

*If at all possible, I'd go for a machine that comes with XP installed and not Vista at the moment. Simply makes for an easier-to-use machine for music programs at this point in time. XP Home or Pro doesn't matter, either will do the music programs identically.

*The M-Audio Fast Track also includes MIDI connect on it if I'm not mistaken. A plus for when you do want to hook up something MIDI.

*Stay way from Dell brand name. Too many reported problems over time with music programs and aftermarket sound devices. IMO the same goes for Toshiba, although they have been getting better at it. A good deal on a newer Toshiba, I'd consider it now.

*HP, Acer, those are two brands that I've recommended to people I know and they are generally happy with pgmusic products and those brands. But there are other brands that are out there to consider as well, don't think these are the only two.

*The pgmusic USB hard drive with all programs on it and the ability to change from machine to machine with the same copy of the program and all songfiles of your own is priceless.



--Mac

Mac,

Thank you once again for your good advice. I will certainly take all the points into consideration. Thank you for the Dell warning too.

Umm..okay. Some better advice for you. Don't buy anything that runs Windows. Period. It's garbage and no one knows where Microslop is headed since the Vista debacle. You want to risk getting caught up in one of their software control schemes to force users to switch from Xp to something else? They're dropping support for it, you know. Developers right now are all confused about what to do with Windows 7 right around the corner to boot. And who knows what kind of problems Wimdows 7 will bring with it?

You can get a Mac and run BB using Crossover for $30. You don't even need a Windows disc. I only mention this because Petey's been dragging his feet for five years on a new Mac version of BB.

Just sayin'...stop being a silly perpetual Beta tester for Microshaft. You'll be happier.

Your bank account will be a lot lighter than it has to be too...

And less software choices...

WesLong, Thanks for that . Yes I also have read about Microsoft stopping support for XP once Windows 7 gets going.

Mac and abaudio, messages received too.

A pity that some Mac users are so stubborn in putting their issues as a general users issue. I never had any real trouble with windows. I won't say it is perfect, neither I would say a Mac is (and I worked with that as well for many years). Both have their (dis)advantages and neither is better or worse in that way. It is the user in the end which makes the computer crappy or good. Well enuff said about it, since I would end up in a Mac-Windows discussion that is in fact really not my attempt.

About the support being stopped for XP I would like to say: so what? I got an old computer running even with win98SE ( a stable 48 tracks with quite some effects and dynamics processors on a 1200 Mhz system), just because my old setup just runs great with it. My XP systems also run smoothly, so there is no need to be scared for that. Just get all the important updates and that system can run for many years after, unless you like to change hardware and software all the time, buying the newest stuff...

For windows 7 I can't say a thing, but I do not put it down up forehand. That is just a matter of wait and see I guess...

Well I run both a Dell and a Toshiba. Someone's old discarded lappies. Total Invested for both $250 for new drive, 2G ram, & cost of buying the Dell. Still run Win2K on both. I think the big difference is the Dell is internet etc. the Toshiba is just Biab, RB etc. I little maintenance also goes a long way. If you dare do this:

Do this and you'll see a marked improvement. I had ALL SORTS of leftovers from AVG, AVIRA, you name it.
DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING UNLESS YOU'RE SURE IT'S NO LONGER USED ON YOUR MACHINE.


When you install a device driver on a Windows XP machine,or Win2K the operating system loads that driver each time the computer boots regardless of whether the device is present—unless you specifically uninstall the driver. This means that drivers from devices that you have long since removed from your system may be wasting valuable system resources & causing conflict issues.

Follow these steps to view and remove these unnecessary device drivers:

1. Right click MY COMPUTER---> Properties to bring up the System Properties dialog box.
2. Select the Advanced tab and click the Environment Variables button.
3. Click the New button below the System Variables panel.
4. In the New System Variable dialog box, type devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices in the Variable Name text box and 1 in the Variable Value text box.
5. Click OK to return to the System Properties dialog box and then click OK again.
6. Select the Hardware tab and click the Device Manager button.
7. In Device Manager, go to View | Show Hidden Devices.
8. Expand the various branches in the device tree and look for the washed out icons,(light Grey) which indicate unused device drivers.Mostly under non-plug & Play drivers.
9. To remove an unused device driver, right-click the icon and select Uninstall.DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING UNLESS YOU'RE SURE IT'S NO LONGER USED ON YOUR MACHINE.

I have a few IBM/Lenovo ThinkPads, and they have been very dependable (although the Lenovos are slightly less dependable than the IBMs). Still they seem to do better than the competition.

As far as the Mac vs PC thing is concerned, my friend when through the same problem when OSX was first introduced as people have with Vista. It's just the nature of the beast. The cutting edge is the bleeding edge.

Anyway for me, nothing beats a ThinkPad for durability and value.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Notes

I've got an Acer netbook and even with the internet running and running band in a box from the external hard drive it came on it's just a second or two slower rendering realtracks than the XP quad core 6 gig 1 terabyte monster in the 'studio'.

That said the one downstairs is Vista sp1 and I should upgrade it. I'm just waiting for some more time to pass.....never the first to upgrade unless it's to band in a box.

Think with the Acer Apsire, it's like $300, runs xp, and if you have a suit coat with a large pocket you can unplug it and not leave it out during breaks, although no one would touch it most places I play.

I just bought an HP laptop at WalMart. Cost was $499. An AMD 64X2 processor running at 2GHz, 3 GB of RAM, Vista Premium 32 bit, 250 GB hard drive, 15.4" screen.

No PCMCIA slot, so I can't plug in a PCMCIA sound card. Not an issue, buy an Edirol UA-1X for $80 from PG Music.

I upgraded to Windows 7 Ultimate 32. I would have upgraded to 64 bit, but there were some programs I wanted. I may switch to 64 anyway, just to get it to run faster. The programs are replaceable with others I have.

What I'm saying is that you can do an awful lot at a lower price today.

Of course, if you want, I also have a Toshiba with a 3.2GHz Pentium IV, 2 GB of RAM, 80 gig hard drive, 15.4" screen, XP Home, and a new reinstall to factory settings, AND a color laser printer with more than half the toner left, $550, cash only, you pick it up!

Gary