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#157738 04/22/12 08:08 PM
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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clav Offline OP
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Am looking at a Dell, 14" Inspiron, core i3, 2350M laptop computer with 6gb of memory, to use with my Clavinova. Plan to get BIAB which is new to me. The price is approx. $530, my ceiling would be $800.

I am open for good suggestions on this.

clav #157739 04/22/12 10:14 PM
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Depends partly how many tracks you plan to use and other factors. For BIAB alone at home you're probably fine. For playing out with more than, say, 8 tracks I'd recommend going to an i5 processor with a 15" display. (Some would even say go to 17", which would probably get you a dedicated numerical keypad, too.)

If you throw a refurb into the mix you can get a heck of a lot of computer for between $450 and $800, although you typically only get a 30 to 90 day warranty versus a year or longer with a new PC. Decisions, decisions.

Wait for a few more answers. Tell us a little more about your specific goals. You'll get some good information.

Good luck,

Richard


"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
clav #157740 04/23/12 04:54 AM
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Do a Google search for laptop reliability and you come up with Asus, Toshiba and Sony, in that order. 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.
clav #157741 04/23/12 05:03 AM
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Hi Clav, and welcome to the forum. No better place for good advice.

What Clavinova do you have? Are you planning to run the audio out of the laptop and into the Clavinova and utilize it's amp and speakers? For the Dell you are looking at, what sound system does it come with? And what are the audio outputs - You need to be sure it has an line-out or audio-out.

Good Luck.


kelso

Dell Desktop XPS 8100 W10 HomePrem/64 / Core i5 760 (quad, 2.8GHz) / 8GB DDR3 / 1 TB SATA / ViewSonic VG2428wm / EMU1616 PCI / Event ASP6 Active Monitors / BIAB 2019 64 bit (609) / Cakewalk
kelso #157742 04/23/12 06:11 AM
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I'm still using a long in the tooth AMD Turion 64 laptop w/1gig ram for live playing with the outrigger USB drive and Band in a Box, no problems playing RealTracks here.

Therefore I would think that the core i3 processor should be very able to handle the job.


--Mac

Mac #157743 04/23/12 07:15 AM
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I find BIAB is not really picky about CPU. I am running a Core I7 at 4.3, and it is not noticeably faster than running on some pretty ancient hardware. A fast hard drive seems to help, though.


Jan - 12 Core AMD Ryzen 9 3900X
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