Mar 27, 2008 08:45 am As much RAM and as fast of a processor as available.
Most laptops have 5400 RPM hard drives, which isn't very fast, look for a 7200 or faster.
best laptop specs for recording???
Posted on Mar 27, 2008 08:36 am
grossdaddy
Member Since: Jan 15, 2008
Hi...quick question- I'm going to buy a laptop (~$1500 budget) strictly for recording. What SPECIFICALLY should I look for as far as specs go? ie., processor size, memory, whatever...then I'll probably order it through Dell unless anyone has a better suggestion...I won't be switching to MAC though.
Thanks in advance,
Mike
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Mar 27, 2008 08:45 am As much RAM and as fast of a processor as available.
Most laptops have 5400 RPM hard drives, which isn't very fast, look for a 7200 or faster.
Mar 27, 2008 08:55 am Yup yup, make sure you get a 7200RPM hard drive in that puppy. If you're buying new, then it shouldn't be hard to find nowadays. Also, most laptops now have a 1394 (firewire) miniport, so you could use external firewire drives too.
But just like dB said, make sure you get the most RAM and the highest processor you can find.
Mar 27, 2008 11:09 am Cool thanks...as far as fire wire goes, I've been using USB connections for MIDI controller and interface on my existing PC...Is there a definite benefit using firewire??
Mar 27, 2008 11:12 am I don't know if you can check, but I've heard to make sure the firewire is Texas Instruments (TI). Others seem to be less stable with FW audio.
That's if you're using a FW interface, of course.
You can add a FW card, if the laptop doesn't have one. I'd probably shoot for one built in though, if I were buying for that purpose.
When you purchase, spend the extra 10$ or so for the install media. This will be the CDs that you can reload your laptop with. I haven't done my lappy, but I did with my home desktop, and it worked great. So you may be inclined to reload the PC right away.
Also, see if you can get XP Pro on it, instead of Vista.
In my view, I would not buy a PC with Vista on it. My recent work PC purchase is XP Pro, and I would search out a laptop that is XP as well. You may like vista though, so . . .
I know, Vista can run with audio, but XP can be installed pretty clean and fast. And from what I've seen / read about vista, i'll not be using it in my home any time soon.
that's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it =).
Mar 27, 2008 12:11 pm Good stuff.
Fast processor as stated, I recently switched from a pentium 4 to one of the multi core CPU's and the difference is quite amazing and very much noticable.
With XP or Vista 32 you can really only support 3GB (I have 4, 3 shows up) of ram so there is no point in going any higher. On a side note, dell usually charges and arm\leg for Ram, you would be better off ordering the minimum and then purchasing more from newegg or the likes. Laptop RAM is very easy to install.
7200RPM drive, right on in that respect, the 5400 I used to have definitely was a limitation.
On vista again, I am now using it with Audition 2 and the line 6 UX8. It works very well, I cannot comment on other setups though and have heard some horror stories reading around forums. If your going Vista, make sure your software and hardware both support it.
Happy Recording!
Mar 27, 2008 09:17 pm i had a big problem with my a previous laptop in regards to it absolutley not accepting my interface. it was brand new. you guys might remember my whingeing in the past about it.
I would say be careful what u buy, if you can test your interface with it first.
i've still got a bad taste in my mouth in regards to my experience with mine.
I've never really heard of a similar story though...wonder if (as usuall) mine is a rare case?
Mar 27, 2008 09:21 pm The only real benefit of firewire is a higher input count, but that is when it works. Many of the interfaces have issues such as stated above with connectivity as a result of only working well with certain chips.
Mar 29, 2008 11:28 pm IMHO, Laptops are just not great for recording. Their inharently slower than desktops, Their rough and expensive to upgrade and some upgrades just arn't practical. There's nothing like pluggin into the bus instead of using an external interface for either extra hard drives or audio interfaces. For portable recording I use an Alesis HD24. It may seem a little expensive at first glance but for 24 darn good A/D's, Plenty of hard drive space. Simple controls (especially for me on the road, things are confusing enough) you can't beat it. Bring the tracks home and load them up on the desktop.
May 16, 2009 08:43 am im looking at buying a sony vaio with centrino dualcore,hows that for protools 8?
Feb 16, 2010 09:52 pm ACER ASPIRE 57322, Its amazing for recording, 4 GB ram and a lot of memory. it gets the job done. I own one and you you cant go wrong for the price.
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