manning,

The high-powered nicely equipped laptops are there - you will pay the price for them. Just like in the old days. When I was shopping the Clevo and Pro-Star and IBM stuff a few years ago, I was in the 1000+ price range. Yes, there were much cheaper offerings from each of those vendors, but none of the cheaper offerings had what I was shopping for. So I got what I paid for.

Mac has stated many times, including in this post, that he doesn't bother shopping the consumer line of HP lappys. He specifically seeks out the business solutions (my HP business laptop I had at GM was a very reliable box - nary an issue in 2+ years of 8-10 hours per day, 5-6 day per week use and transport all across the globe).

I've gotta throw something back at you. For many years, you've been drooling over quad core processors, etc. as what will be the 'real' solution - yet all of this time, there are people all over the world happily making music with machines that are very far back on the technology curve.

Many of those folks using plugins as their primary sound generation and modulation devices as well (I'm in this pack). One just has to know how to use those tools like any other tool.

Let's talk guitar amps as an example.

There are some folks who swear by amp simulation - I'm one of them. Main reason is the decision to choose practicality of transport for a perhaps slight degradation in authenticity. I can have a Marshall Plexi, Fender Blackface, Vox AC 30, Mesa Boogie and Matchless amp sound at my fingertips and with none of the back breaking issues or physical space needed to house all of those.

If I'm arguing against amp simulation - and I have the money and space to house all of them - I would be stupid to put them all on one of my 15 amp circuits in my house and switch them all on simultaneously or use them simultaneously. That would be the incorrect use of the tools.

Same goes for using plugins and laptops. Know and study the tools - use them in their intended manner, and you'll have clear sailing. Plenty of laptops out on the market today and in the past that are up to music tasks and don't even breathe hard in the process. I use my Thinkpad for a good hour before the supplemental cooling fan in the thing kicks into high-speed.

I'm wondering if the test you refer to has real-world significance for the home recordist? Is there a way I can try to track the processor usage of a typical session I have on the Thinkpad, just for comparison purposes?

No need for whatever quantum computing is. I know what optical computing is. Way off in the future. I want to make music NOW.

As Sam pointed out - Caveat Emptor. Price of entry is still pretty doggoned low for highly capable boxes. It might not be in the newspaper advertisements, but the technology is already here and has been for years.

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