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Hi Folks
My laptop fried itself yesterday, immediately prior to a gig. Luckily, it seems I have a patron. If you were in a position to buy a brand new PC laptop for use exclusively as a DAW and music system, what would you buy? Of course, I realise that Vista is to be avoided so I am looking at XP Pro systems (or at least where I can install XP Pro instead of Vista) - yes, I know how to do that...
I look forward to your recommendations.
Many thanks
Follow That Dream Sam Karaoke King -------------------- Turning that corner again - I have to keep following that dream, no matter what
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Well, I have a 5 year old Compaq (HP) with XP I use here. The only problem I have had was when the AC jack went south (User error). Other then that, it has been a workhorse here. I use it everyday.
It has a Celeron processor in it with 512 MB of Ram. I use it with no problems with BB, RB or PT. I paid about $500.00 for it when it was new.
I also have a new Dell with Vista laptop. I definitely prefer XP for recording with.
Trax
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Thanx very much, Trax
I too am an HP fan but this was an HP that just decided to hit the dirt. I would like a multi-media laptop that I can work with in all respects. If this question came at me, I would say HP too...
The question, seriously, is 'what is the ultimate 'best' laptop on the market today'?
This girl, my 'patron', bought me a suit for over €1k last week and slapped down the cash in €100 notes without even blinking... Of course, I realise that I am in a very privileged position all of a sudden (we only met about 3 weeks ago) but she has said to me, "We can't let this happen again. I believe in you. We will send the old laptop to a data recovery specialist and we will buy you a top-of-the-range laptop to make sure this nightmare does not happen again." By 'we' she means 'she'. I'm broke.
Am I grateful? Yes, very grateful. Am I lucky to have such a 'patron'? Yes, very lucky. I know...
BTW, the laptop that let me down was a two-year-old Compaq... Sh*t happens.
Follow That Dream Sam Karaoke King -------------------- Turning that corner again - I have to keep following that dream, no matter what
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The "best" laptop may not be the best for our kind of work.
Meaning, avoid high-end "gaming" lappies for the most part.
Sam, there are so many choices out there today, I think you should go shopping and narrow it down to a few brands and models that look good to you and then post those here so that others can peruse the specifications pages for them and come to a resonably reliable conclusion.
--Mac
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check rain recording they have 2 laptop options they say What's Different About Rain? A Better Mousetrap. Rain computer systems are engineered to perform. Knowing that digital audio is notorious for hogging system resources and overheating components, we designed our workstations with the perfect balance of power and stability. Purpose Built. It stands to reason that a computer built for checking your email and browsing the internet may not have what it takes to record a live orchestra for four hours non-stop. Rain systems are designed and tested for digital audio recording and playback by real-world digital audio professionals. (Don't worry, you can still check your email)
Lenovo YOGA 900 Window s 10 Home 64bit M4 pro Mac mini 1tb HD 24GB mem casio wk7500 presonus audiobox i2 usb interface
casio wk-7500
biab & realband 2025 everything pk both with Current builds
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Quote:
We will send the old laptop to a data recovery specialist
if you haven't don so already you may want to consider a
ATA/ATAPI/IDE/SATA to USB 2.0 Universal Adapter to try & retrieve the data from your hard drive
Lenovo YOGA 900 Window s 10 Home 64bit M4 pro Mac mini 1tb HD 24GB mem casio wk7500 presonus audiobox i2 usb interface
casio wk-7500
biab & realband 2025 everything pk both with Current builds
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DTuna
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Sam, You may want to check out ADK http://www.adkproaudio.com/index.aspThe build nothing but DAW systems, tower, rack and laptop. I bought a tower system from them a few months ago and am completely satisfied. Their website offers a wealth of information on buying a DAW. Tom
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I can't believe that anyone is actually able to purpose-build laptops for a small market.
Selecting one that meets criteria and marking it up, that I can believe.
--Mac
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how bot folks weigh in with their thoughts on what should go with this spec template & why
Enclosure
Processor
O. C. Support
Chipset
L2 Cache
System BUS
Memory
Hard Drive 1
Hard Drive 2
Optical Drive
Graphics
Card Reader
PCIe ExpressCard 34/54 Slot:
eSATA II Ports
Firewire 400
USB 2.0
LAN
Audio
Bluetooth
Modem
Wireless
Camera
Weight
Dimensions
Software
Support
Warranty
Power
Price
Lenovo YOGA 900 Window s 10 Home 64bit M4 pro Mac mini 1tb HD 24GB mem casio wk7500 presonus audiobox i2 usb interface
casio wk-7500
biab & realband 2025 everything pk both with Current builds
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If it was me and money was not an issue I'd buy a 19" rack mount PC case and build my own. Put it in a nice shock mounted rack with plenty of cooling.
If you go the Laptop route buy 2 exactly alike.
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It has to be a laptop as I cannot hike a desktop around for gigs
Follow That Dream Sam Karaoke King -------------------- Turning that corner again - I have to keep following that dream, no matter what
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Funny thing, this has to be a laptop.
When I was a kid we booked bands for our Saturday night dance as the country club, and my brother played in bands several summers. As I recall, the band typically showed up with a van and unloaded a full drum kit, speakers, amps, PA, mixer of some sort, etc. etc. etc.
Just currious why one could not take a desk top PC to a gig. I could easily be hidden amounst other equipment.
This is not specifically directed at WienSam, just a general question as to what are the issues of a computer verse a laptop. Yeah, I know keyboard, monitor, mouse and box three things verse 1, but If these were packed in an approprately build case, perhaps one that could also be opend on a stand to make equipment look like sound eqipment and put it at a convienet level and location, this does not seem to me to be a big issue?
PM
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Well, Sam does a lot of "hit and run" entertainment, I imagine there is a degree of spontaneity and "sitting in" as it were.
Besides, if he wants a laptop, that's all the criteria that there needs to be...
--Mac
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Quote:
Funny thing, this has to be a laptop . . . not directed at WienSam, just a general question as to what are the issues of a computer verse a laptop. Yeah, I know keyboard, monitor, mouse and box three things verse 1, but If these were packed in an approprately build case, perhaps one that could also be opend on a stand to make equipment look like sound eqipment and put it at a convienet level and location, this does not seem to me to be a big issue?
Now you've got me thinking. Given the rackmount PC, I know for a fact that other rack accessories are made for keyboards, monitors, media, etc. Think industrial catalog, not music suppliers. RackMountMart, acnodes, and littlepc were on the first page of Google hits for "rackmount computer". Just stash it all in the same rack with your audio processing gear.
'Course, you won't be toting it with you to Starbucks or the local equivalent . . . unless you're playing there! 
Seriously, Sam, whatever you pick, think rugged and field serviceable. Then do regular backups to a spare drive. Good luck.
R.
"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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I built a nice rackmount cabinet for a guy, had handholds, snap on front, wheels, patch bay, and a computer. Ordered parts from here and there, was about 3 years ago. Had a big eq, effects rack, crosssover and 2 amps.
He plugs 2 mics and guitar into it.
John Conley
Musica est vita
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My questions in not about or for Sam specifically. Sam his his citeria and seems to have an option for getting what he wants/needs.
I just wonder, about using a PC. Seems that there are many advantabes to a full blown machine, and that if you have to take a mixer, an amp, etc. what is one more package? Just looking for poeples thoughts on this from those who do live gigs?
Last edited by PapaMikie; 04/27/09 01:24 PM.
PM
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Hi Sam,
As I see it, there is one major thing you have to consider:
the HD. Most lappy drives run with the old speed 5400 c/m. In desktops the HD runs with 7200, some SCSI, SAS drives etc even with 10000-15000. 5400 may cause you drop outs or simply arent fast enough for plugins. I know there are almost no lappies available with the faster SATA II standard 7200 speed. So the first thing I would do is change the disk. There is a Seagate out for laptops with 7200 - just can`t recall the exact name. (Please look at the Seagate page and into the specs of the drives)
If you want to run XP (and I would suggest you so), go to the desired laptop homepage and see if drivers are available for XP.
Don`t buy supermarket products (Hofer, Medion is a Hofer brand BTW, Interspar etc), buy brand names. They have good homepages with the drivers available.
Other elements to watch out for are: Intel Dual Core CPU,
Ram should be at leat 2 GB (the application can use 1.5 GB in a 32bit environment anyway, but the rest is needed for Windows - and Windows can only use 3 GB when using 32bit OS)
The graphics cardis of no big importance. Most lappies are very expensive becuase of a dedicated graphics card. I would suggest a dedicated one, because a shared one takes the memory from the RAM which is desperatetly needed in music production. But don`t get the best one - would be a waste of money.
And last but not least: Optimize your OS for audio (disable all unneeded Windows services, virus scan etc)
Good luck, Sandra
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Quote:
My questions in not about or for Sam specifically. Sam his his citeria and seems to have an option for getting what he wants/needs.
I just wonder, about using a PC. Seems that there are many advantabes to a full blown machine, and that if you have to take a mixer, an amp, etc. what is one more package? Just looking for poeples thoughts on this from those who do live gigs?
There was time when I put together rack-mounted PCs and Macs for touring shows, etc. -- specifically the keyboard section.
That has pretty much been replaced by the laptop now, though.
The laptop is now the equal of the desktop in most ways. That is, if you pick the *right* laptop configuration for the task...
I guess for over three years I've taken only the laptop to every gig, whether BIAB was involved or not. I have all my fakebooks scanned to .pdf files on the hard drive now. Also, I use the laptop for the B4 Hammond organ clone quite a bit.
I have a separate Hardware Profile for music making, but I really only use that when the task is recording more than two tracks at a time, when I use the E-MU 1616M. All other times, I have found that the standard XP Profile works just fine with BIAB playback, etc.
It is also very convenient, the artist can keep their laptop with them, tweak programs between show, access works in progress while traveling, etc.
--Mac
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I say this without totally knowing however I't appears Notes Norton plays this BIAB backing band thing as much if not more then most here. He carries 2 IBM Think Pads and has never gone down. Notes?
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