Welcome to the forum. Many of us use BIAB on laptops with success, including on gigs. The only machine I just couldn't work with was my 10" netbook (remember them?). No question though, the bigger the screen (and the younger the eyes), the happier you will be. But I have run BIAB for decades on screens of all sizes, and only could not function on that one netbook.
The owner of the company, Peter Gannon, has stated he develops BIAB on a laptop.
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.
Eyesight is the key. A few years ago at a gig one of the young guys was reading some charts using iRealB on his 5" IPhone from 3 or 4 feet away. If you can do that then a small lappie is ok.
There's a lot going on with Biab's GUI so the rule is the bigger the screen, the better.
I am getting ready to purchase a new Ultrabook. Is a 12.5'' or 13.3'' screen size large enough to effectively use BIAB 2014 & Real Band?
While it would probably run BB, I would recommend that since you are purchasing new, that you seriously consider paying a little bit more for a model with a larger screensize.
If for no other reason than my favorite at purchase time, I try to let the idea of "future proof" guide part of the decision.
Never know what new thing is coming down the pike, but in this instance I think its safe to say that the trend has been moving to larger and larger screensize and having that available when needed can solve problems even before they arise.
What I can tell you via empirical observation is that, during the beta testing and afterwards now, I've broken out an older laptop with 14" screen to check out the new BB on, and while it is usable, I've got to say that the more modern widescreen laptop I've got here is MUCH easier to view, easier to see the Chord Sheet or Lead Sheets when playing and practicing, so I wouldn't think that the choice you are looking at here would be the best situation for such.
Click on the link above to see a side by side comparison between new and just prior GUI. If you're used to reading while you play, as opposed to playing from memory with backing tracks, it appears that the viewing space for chords, and associated details, has been reduced approximately 16% vertically (two thirds to a half dedicated to chord space), and the fonts are less bold than before, as well. Not easy to see on a 13.5" screen.
I would buy the largest laptop you can afford. I have an ASUS Q500 series with a 15.5" screen. I have 2/3 of the screen for the chord grid and the tool bars take up 1/3. My resolution is 1920x1080. The size of the fonts, (default setting), depends on how many bars are in your song. The font size in a 32 bar tune will be larger than a 64 bar tune. Later, Ray
Last edited by raymb1; 12/08/1305:51 PM.
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.
My ThinkPad 13.5" screen only goes up to 1366 x 768, and displays only 1/2 vertical space for chord display, as shown in my link, above. As a workaround for the cramped viewing, and the chord font display challenge, you can use a custom font with bold option and a larger font size, though you may need to limit the number of rows you can see at once, as there is a trade off in the # rows and the chord font size. Is there no way to remove the mixer, and re-size the upper left to be fully horizontal, as before and open up some more vertical space to display the chords screen portion?
I got 2/3 before on my 15.5" screen with 1366 x 768 resolution, not needing a full blown gamer laptop to see and read the chord display. The image in my link shows the 15.5" screen on the right at 1366 x 768 resolution. I ask again, for all those who don't possess large screens or ultra high resolution displays - is there a way to reconfigure the subcomponents of the GUI, like removing the mixer and resizing the upper left transport portion towards the right and add vertical space to the chord display portion?
Thanks, Ray. Didn't see your response before sending.. Sorry, and I appreciate the prospect, as well as so many of the other updates, especially the New Orleans styles. Looking forward to using those.
...I ask again, for all those who don't possess large screens or ultra high resolution displays - is there a way to reconfigure the subcomponents of the GUI, like removing the mixer and resizing the upper left transport portion towards the right and add vertical space to the chord display portion?
And I say again (and again if you're reading other threads on here) that we've been promised such in a future Update file.
But none of us can tell you when to expect that to appear.
They've also promised to restore the ctrl-t to working order as well. With that, we should be able to Toggle between just Chord Sheet display of full view as in the past.
Thanks for posting those pics, that's a very dramatic comparison. Seeing the two side by side like that makes you wonder what were they thinking?
I don't see two pics in this thread, but if you are referring to the differences in how XP displays the new GUI as vs any of the newer Windows OS's, this was duly noted and reported by several of us during the beta testing. We've been promised a fix in upcoming Update, apparently "they were thinking" that it would take a bit of time to implement such properly.
Likely a case of the way the newer OS's do things internally as to screen display, after all, even the laptops out today feature plenty of graphics enhancements over poor old XP.
There may be a few other reasons besides OS here, for example, the use of different monitor sizes, differing video and graphics hardware and drivers, etc.
PG music enjoys a rather excellent reputation at going after both backwards-compatibility as regards older OS's and equipments, I'm sure that they will come up with ways to make the new GUI work and look great for as many different cases as they can.
Not fair to denigrate this great hardworking Develooment Team with that, "What were they thinking?" line.
IME they are always thinking about ways to better serve the customers.
Ask that question about other outfits that simply turn last year's expensive hardware or software into nonsupported unusables. PG's never done that and I don't think they ever will if it is in their power to do so.
Look at Edwins "DrDuBose" Google link. He's posted a pic of two laptops side by side, one displaying 2013 and one displaying 2014. XP has nothing to do with it. The 2013 display is exactly what it looks like on my new Win 7 64 bit machine as well and then 2014 is what it looks like here too.
How many times we gotta say that the new GUI is still a work in progress?
Enhancements are still being worked on, Updates will be issued, viewing areas should have solves, etc.
BTW I can tell that the LH screen in that google pic must be running XP because of the amount of screenspace taken up by the upper area.
On the newer OS's, the upper area only takes up about 1/3 instead of about 1/2. I beta tested on three different PC's and also on a Macbook just to see all the differences and such, and duly and instantly reported my findings about that, complete with screenshots to development. And PG did indeed promise an upcoming fix.
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We've just released XPro Styles PAK 10 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 28 RealTracks and RealDrums!
Few things are certain in life: death, taxes, and a brand spankin’ new XPro Styles PAK! In this, the 10th edition of our XPro Styles PAK series, we’ve got 100 styles coming your way! We have the classic 25 styles each from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, and rounding out this volume's wildcard slot is 25 styles in the Praise & Worship genre! A wide spanning genre, you can find everything from rock, folk, country, and more underneath its umbrella. The included 28 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
Here’s just a small sampling of what you can look forward to in XPro Styles PAK 10: Soft indie folk worship songs, bumpin’ country boogies, gospel praise breaks, hard rockin’ pop, funky disco grooves, smooth Latin jazz pop, bossa nova fusion, western swing, alternative hip-hop, cool country funk, and much more!
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