Laptop for Recording?

[Zachg]

I've been thinking of maybe getting a laptop to run as my music computer instead of running my gear on our main "home" computer. Is it even worth it to use a laptop for a mini studio (M-Box 2, headphones, 2 channel pre, small monitors, etc)? The computer i'm using now has an Intel Core 2 Quad w/ 3 gigs or ram, but it's really bogged down with extra programs and crap. Do you guys think it would be a worthwhile upgrade, even?

For the tech stuff, what kind of specs should I be looking for, provided, of couse, it's a good upgrade? Is a Core 2 duo good enough or should I go for an i7? How much RAM? Another idea could I get a Core 2 Duo and then add a UAD Solo laptop card, would that be a worthwhile option?

Please help, I'm a little clueless when it comes to music computers.

BTW: I'd like for this to be reasonably priced, i.e. under a $1000 if at all possible. I've already spent way more money, and am going to spend more, than I should , being only 16, hahaha

Cheers,
Zach

Edit by smelldon: spelling mistake fixed. We forgive you.

[Sandyrb]

What kind of specs should I be looking for?

Hi mate. Might I suggest that two hard disks would be a good thing to do? Most audio softwares respond well to the "one for programs, one for data" approach. And you'll want them to be nice and fast. Lots of RAM, lots of CPU power... that's the way. Oh, the ability to disable the onboard soundcard in the BIOS is a VERY good thing indeed. So you don't need any "fluff" like ass-recognition software, webcams, fingerprint detector, diphrasal unit, overhead underhang... all that silly bananas. You just need something robust and powerful. And get something reliable... Compaq, HP, Toshiba; any of the decent big names. That being said, those ASUS machines are pretty darn good and not as pricey as some of the name brands.

Hope this helps. If you need anything else, well, I guess you know where I am! ;)

Cheers,

[Dan]

Honestly, given your budget, age, and professional requirements (i.e. limited on all counts), I'd first take a stab at optimizing your present computer. From the limited specs you've given, there's no reason it shouldn't be able to handle recording. If you can get it optimized and impress upon your family the way to and value of keeping it optimized (which should be apparent to anyone using it, if it's currently in rough shape), you can save yourself a bunch of money and learn a couple valuable skills along the way.

-Dan.

[Tomasz]

Honestly, given your budget, age, and professional requirements (i.e. limited on all counts), I'd first take a stab at optimizing your present computer. From the limited specs you've given, there's no reason it shouldn't be able to handle recording. If you can get it optimized and impress upon your family the way to and value of keeping it optimized (which should be apparent to anyone using it, if it's currently in rough shape), you can save yourself a bunch of money and learn a couple valuable skills along the way.

-Dan.

I Agree with Dan.... Your setup sounds like it just needs Dan's suggested "optimizing". Including but not limited to reinstalling your OS and not even having applications that are never utilized...
In my opinion today's computers have more than we "should" need to handle any audio production that's thrown at them...

[Dan]

In my opinion today's computers have more than we "should" need to handle any audio production that's thrown at them...

Yep. To put things in some perspective, our RADAR unit is built around a 1GHz P3 w/ a 7200 RPM drive. I forget the amount of RAM, but it's less than 1GB.

The OS and software are optimized for a single task, and it doesn't allow for any sort of plug-ins or massive editing, but it's enough horsepower to record & play back 24 tracks @ 24/96. With some TLC, a quad-core w/ 3GB of ram ought to be just fine for what you're working on.

Something to look into would be separate user accounts on this machine. It may be that you can set up your own profile that's more stripped down and optimized for recording, while your mom & sister keep all their ridiculous widgets and your dad keeps all his porn viruses.

-Dan.

[Tomasz]

Something to look into would be separate user accounts on this machine. It may be that you can set up your own profile that's more stripped down and optimized for recording, while your mom & sister keep all their ridiculous widgets and your dad keeps all his porn viruses.
-Dan.

One better... get them to buy the laptop to "replace that slow old computer" ;), you keep it and give it the optomizer...:cool:

[Zachg]

The current computer has good specs, but it's really overworked. My brother does some photography, and theres 4 different anti-spyware/virus things right now. And when I checked it has 67 process running in the background at all times... that extra "striped down " user account thing is a good idea, I will try that. Then I could buy an external drive 500gb(?) or bigger, than run all music stuff off that.

Some friends of mine are really good with computers, so I'm gonna recruit one and get this running quick again.

Thanks for saving me a bunch of money!
Cheers, Zach

[gypsyfingers]

If your brother is big into photog stuff and you're into recording, there's also the possibility of switching to a mac.

Goes without saying that I have no interest whatsoever in discussing the relative merits of PC vs. Mac--there are hundreds of flame wars on the subject if you're interested. But for myself, I have a Macbook Pro at 2.53, 4 gigs and generally have a web browser, Mail, Word, iTunes, Quicktime, and sometimes more open when I run any given PT session and rarely even have CPU overages. You're not really supposed to do this (or be *able* to do this), but with the all-purpose nature of the laptop these days, it's just not convenient to keep shutting everything down every time I open a session to change a mix or do a bounce. I can't really imagine using anything but a laptop (particularly when it's situated as mine is in a NYC apartment), and love the portability. I've done several sessions on my new album at friends' apartments with nothing more than a backpack's worth of gear.

You should be able to get a lowline MBP for about $1k refurbed, though there's a good argument for just buying a new PC and spending the extra cash on externals (hard drive, preamp, mic, room treatment).

[Dean]

If your brother is big into photog stuff and you're into recording, there's also the possibility of switching to a mac...... I've done several sessions on my new album at friends' apartments with nothing more than a backpack's worth of gear.

A laptops mobility has to make it a serious consideration. I regret now not going that route. Not being mobile has cost me many opportunities. Hindsight_ 20/20.. Especially now that the space I use for recording is needed for another purpose. If you don't have a great place to record, being mobile might be the way to go. …d

[Fivewaters]

Another afforadable option may be to look at a Mac Mini.

[Zachg]

Back from the dead. Oh well I'm continuing the same question. Sort-of.

I decided to make do with the computer we had, and put off purchase of a laptop for a bit.

Now I am going to need a laptop for school next year. It going to be used to run Pro Tools 8/9, I'll be using for a little bit of photography and video editing, as well as the general typing assignments and checking facebook. I will use it mostly for audio, though. I can hear the cries of " Macbook Pro " already.. :)

Problem is I can't afford one. My budget is around $1,200-$1,300.
These are what I'm looking at so far:
http://www.msimobile.com/level3_productpage.aspx?cid=9&id=286
http://otvtech.com/catalogue.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_stock.tpl&product_id=9869&category_id=273

Is there anything else I should be looking at?

Thanks,
Zach

[Sandyrb]

Is there anything else I should be looking at?

Hiya mate. Gary Kaminski got back to me about the Asus model. Yes, it is the same one and he's loving it. He reckons it's rock-solid and it absolutely flies. So the Asus definitely gets the Gary Kaminski seal of approval, which means it's probably quite good.

Cheers,

[Zachg]

Hiya mate. Gary Kaminski got back to me about the Asus model. Yes, it is the same one and he's loving it. He reckons it's rock-solid and it absolutely flies. So the Asus definitely gets the Gary Kaminski seal of approval, which means it's probably quite good.

Cheers,

Duly noted. The specs on that MSI are very tempting, though... :)

[Halfway Competent]

Back from the dead. Oh well I'm continuing the same question. Sort-of.

I decided to make do with the computer we had, and put off purchase of a laptop for a bit.

Now I am going to need a laptop for school next year. It going to be used to run Pro Tools 8/9, I'll be using for a little bit of photography and video editing, as well as the general typing assignments and checking facebook. I will use it mostly for audio, though. I can hear the cries of " Macbook Pro " already.. :)

Problem is I can't afford one. My budget is around $1,200-$1,300.
These are what I'm looking at so far:
http://www.msimobile.com/level3_productpage.aspx?cid=9&id=286
http://otvtech.com/catalogue.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_stock.tpl&product_id=9869&category_id=273

Is there anything else I should be looking at?

Thanks,
Zach

Dell Latitude, or Lenovo Thinkpad T-series. Rock solid machines, the both of them.

MSI I would be hesitant to recommend purely because of my experience with MSI motherboards. I've had minor issues with them.

[Zachg]

Dell Latitude, or Lenovo Thinkpad T-series. Rock solid machines, the both of them.

MSI I would be hesitant to recommend purely because of my experience with MSI motherboards. I've had minor issues with them.

I'll check those two out.
What sort of issues did you have with the MSI motherboards? Some friends of mine have had nothing but good things to say about the MSI gear they've used.

[Halfway Competent]

I'll check those two out.
What sort of issues did you have with the MSI motherboards? Some friends of mine have had nothing but good things to say about the MSI gear they've used.

When I worked in a lab at Microsoft, we had a bunch of generic PCs with MSI mainboards. We referred to them as "white-boxes" since they were in plain, white cases. Machines ran fast enough, but failed after a few years. The manager of my group, after I lost my machine, flipped out and replaced every one of them with Dell Precision workstations, which are rock-solid.

I still build my own PCs... Mostly just 'cause I like to. I've found the ASUS motherboards to be the most stable, personally.

All that said, ASUS, Sager, and Compal (and probably MSI, too) build most of the laptops the other "manufacturers" sell. For example, the Apple Powerbooks have been built by both ASUS and Compal. Wouldn't surprise me if HP, Acer, Sony, etc., were built by those companies, as well.