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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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What should the minimum specs for a Netbook be to use with a BIAB 2010.5 HD? Later, Ray
Asus Q500A i7 Win 10 64 bit 8GB ram 750 HD 15.5" touch screen, BIAB 2017, Casio PX 5s, Xw P1, Center Point Stereo SS V3 and EWI 4000s.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Ray:
I see that nobody has answered your question yet and I'm by far not the most knowledgeable on the subject.
However, here's a couple of thoughts.
Can you be a bit more specific on what you plan to do with BIAB on your Netbook?
Are you just going to run BIAB only or do you plan on using any Real Tracks?
Will you be taking it "on the road" to use for gigs, with or without Real Tracks?
If you already have BIAB 2010.5 on the HDD, you could try just taking that to your computer dealer
and see if they'll let you try running it from there. I don't think BIAB installs anything to the system directory.
Provide some more info and perhaps someone will be able to help.
I have a Netbook but I've never tried BIAB on it.
LLOYD S>
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I would bet that BB would run on any of 'em, if I were a betting man.
Rule of thumb, the slower the processor, the longer it takes to load RealTracks. Once loaded, all is equal.
Other than that, if you have enough RAM in the thing, you should be good to go.
--Mac
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Apprentice
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Apprentice
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I own a 3 year old Acer Extensa 5620, with Pg Music HD,works great. A few years back I had a Dell it was a nightmare. Ed
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Thanks for the replies. I just wanted something smaller to take on the gig and wasn't sure if a netbook could handle the BIAB HD. I will take the HD to a PC store and check it out. I'm a pianist, so I just use Real Drums and Real Bass on the gig. Later, Ray
Asus Q500A i7 Win 10 64 bit 8GB ram 750 HD 15.5" touch screen, BIAB 2017, Casio PX 5s, Xw P1, Center Point Stereo SS V3 and EWI 4000s.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I'm typing now on a Toshiba NB205 netbook. BIAB runs on it, but I would not consider it for a gig because more than one Real Track slows it down too much. However, that's with the Real Tracks and Real Drums running on the netbook's hard drive.
Sorry, I'm on the road, or I would try the experiment using it just to run BIAB from an external drive.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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The problem I had with a Netbook was overheating. That's a 3 year old one. And the boot time on XP was about 4 minutes. We live in a time where that is close to eternity. Now I use Ubuntu on an old Sony laptop with 4 seconds from login to surfing the net. But I don't run Band in a Box on it. To be honest, I now prefer making mp3's.
I have seen a bunch of Acer's which attach to the back of a monitor. They are about 4 inches square, and you can choose the monitor, even touchscreen. To me, if I was to start from scratch, with the years invested in the Band and the box and the system, I'd look at that before the netbook. the screen is what size you want, and the power will be equal to the netbook. The speed of the netbook was not a factor, after all, once done tweaking your files, the tracks can be frozen and played OR made to mp3's. But I admit, having the conductor and the live screen seems better to me. Then you make sure to stay with 32 bit NOT 64, (as described by the Chicago Prof after evaluation) and maybe add a midi pedal for the piano to program start and stop, (check there is one I have with volume pedal, expression, ability to change patches etc.) and bob's yer proverbial paternal sibling, or uncle if you want.
Part of the equation is midi vrs real, and I have the Ketron and suggest if you are doing any midi, it's not only the answer, but the Holy Grail.
I should post, get Acer, get Ketron, Later, John
John Conley
Musica est vita
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I've played with my daughter's ASUS netbook, and for BIAB, I am sure that the biggest bottleneck will be the processor -- these are single core (generally, there are some dual core) machines with 0.6GHz processors (the slow speed keeps them cool). The memory is solid state, so disc transfer will be fast -- but BIAB doesn't seem to be at all disk intensive, so this really doesn't mean anything. Generally the design emphasizes exactly the opposite of what you would want from a BIAB computer. I was actually surprised in my tests (click here), but on Win7, all of your cores are used almost equally in BIAB processing (I suspect due to Win7) and this makes a big difference when you use Realtracks (it takes <3 seconds for these to 'compile' on my setup, discussed elsewhere on this forum). I'm running 4 cores at 3.5GH -- 1 core seems to be about 1/3 the performance of 4 with BIAB. And at 0.6GHz, you should be operating the netbook core at ~1/6th the speed ... so figure at best it will take 12 times as long to process BIAB tasks on the netbook ... and you are going to run that processer at 100% (which is why they get hot). Also, from my daughter's experience, you will go through a couple of netbooks a year if you really use them. BTW, these are called 'Net'-books, because you are supposed to do all of the computing on the server side of the Internet, instead of on the netbook. These were an offshoot of Nicholas Negroponte's "One child, one notebook' initiative (now the XO notbook) that was designed to provide worldwide client Internet services. Asus and Intel couldn't reach Negroponte's $100 price point, so backed out, and repackaged it as the Netbook-Atom laptops. Chris
Last edited by westland; 11/06/10 11:15 AM.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2003
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Jeez, I remember selling Wyse 75's for $500.00...and running 8 of them on a 68010...
I laugh at people talking about clouds. We called that a Unix server with terminals.
John Conley
Musica est vita
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Oct 2006
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Wyse ... it sounds vaguely familar ... I think I remember those from my college days ... We're dating ourselves John
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2003
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I remember the first computer I had. You slide one part and line the two of the rulers with the other part. Very cool. Never overheated. I could draw lines with it too. The printer was very poor though, almost illegible.
John Conley
Musica est vita
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 92
Enthusiast
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Wyse, I remember those. That's all the army was using when they started to automate everything. The first network I saw was when I was in the army band in Japan. They a a server in the admin office and at least a dozen Wyse terminals all around the building in different offices runnning Unix. I wish I would have gotten involved learning that stuff instead of chasing the local woman...that's another story. Getting back to netbooks. My question is, is it really worth the trade off net vs. notebook? The prices of notebooks are pretty good for the computing power and you get a lot more screen size.
Dell Studio 16 Laptop i7 with 256 gig SSD
BIAB, Reaper, Encore, Sibelius
Roland SD-50
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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We have 4 computers here. A netbook and 2 laptops. I'd go for a laptop after my experience with the netbook. It overheats too much. Not comfortable on your lap. And the small screen makes it hard to read. It did work fine with Band in a Box though....
John Conley
Musica est vita
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Not every Netbook is saddled with solid state drive, you can also get them with the standard hard drive inside as well...
--Mac
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Not every Netbook is saddled. Giddy up. Trigger and Buttermilk were saddled. Bullet ran along for the ride. Never heard of a hoss named Netbook. 
John Conley
Musica est vita
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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You guys are too much. LOL!! All I would need to see on the netbook is the title. My Toshiba laptop is just a little too large sitting on a piano. Later, Ray
Asus Q500A i7 Win 10 64 bit 8GB ram 750 HD 15.5" touch screen, BIAB 2017, Casio PX 5s, Xw P1, Center Point Stereo SS V3 and EWI 4000s.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Howsabout a Netbook named, "Secretariat," then?
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Windows Special Offers End Tomorrow (January 15th, 2026) at 11:59 PM PST!
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Another exciting new addition is the new AI-Notes feature, which can transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI. You can view the results in notation or play them back as MIDI, and choose whether to process an entire track or focus on specific parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®.
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Season's Greetings!
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy holiday season—thanks for being part of our community!
The office will be closed for Christmas Day, but we will be back on Boxing Day (Dec 26th) at 6:00am PST.
Team PG
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