I'm upgrading from old desktop PC to laptop. Suggestions please.
Printable View
I'm upgrading from old desktop PC to laptop. Suggestions please.
I think Dave's been smoking something, this morning.
Jeff, you may want to ask about laptop recommendations on the SAC forum. There are far more people using laptops there than there.
Sorry, Jeff. I'm in a goofy mood.
What, exactly, do you want to know? Model suggestions? Feature suggestions? All of the above?
It would be good if you spelled out your specific intended use and what kind performance you need (number of tracks, VSTi's, effects processing...) Maybe also what kind of interface you want to use. But, to be honest, my five year old Pentium M 2.3 GHz laptop does more than I need. I've recorded loads of simultaneous tracks without issue. These days, I'd think as long as you shoot for something current, you'll be fine. Others will have more expertise than I, though.
I'd also say, whatever you buy, plan on wiping the HD and reinstalling your OS of choice, to get a nice lean, clean machine.
Pay attention to the connectivity on your laptop for your audio devices, external hard drives etc., and internal hard drive RPM speed. More RAM is better.
Soundguy
Jeff is a friend of me and is just a SAW/MWS user so he asked of this group if you were to move into a laptop what would you be look for in a laptop. Brand, Model?
We travel (Trade Show techs) with our Laptops and his older Toshiba/Vista can not handle everything SAW has to offer. (Freeze ups and crashes). My IBM T61 is on the ropes so I thought it would be a good place to ask. I remembered when Jeff and I visited with Bob L he said he use two laps to record a great live session with the Lon Bronson band.
(Great Stuff Bob)
SAC, yes another good place to ask.
Jeff, your machine has Vista? Just a hunch...if your laptop is not that old, then it might not be your issue...however, Vista might very likely be. Even if the OS, in and of itself, might not appear problematic, your "old" machine's BIOS might not support Vista (and Win7). Might there be a BIOS/Firmware update for your machine...?
In any event, here's my 2¢: Before plunking down the cash to buy a new box, first wipe your current machine's HDD and install a fresh copy of XP2. If you still experience crashes, etc., then, yep, it's time for a new machine.
I'd say it's worth the time and effort checking into it. :)