Choosing a Laptop for Music Making

Hi,

I don´t know a lot about computers but I have just bought one I am very happy with: Lenovo brand, new to me. I got a Lenovo ultrabook i5, 13 inch and 800gb.

Anything you buy I would advise to be at least Intel core i5. The most modern one you can currently find in the market is Intel Core i7, so if you can afford it go for it. Also, if you have got external graphic card is great as your computer will go very fast if you are using design programs, videogames and so on. If the card is shared will go slower but for music should be absolutely fine. In case it is getting much of the memory card I´d advise to go to a voice over agency or professional so you would not need to use and force your computer so much. Hope this helps.
 
Hi,

I have always used HP ones, but I have just bought a Lenovo, which it is part of the American IBM (International Business Machine) and it works amazingly well not only when it comes to music making but also I do multilingual voice overs , and recording. Overall, works great: 800Gb, intel core i5 (one of the best after Intel core 7). Many of my friends are happy with Apple too, but cannot tell as I haven´t had one so my recommendation it is to go for Lenovo as they have got a huge range of laptops and ultrabooks.
 
Nice article. I just suggest when using a laptop to produce music look for fast processing, 4gb of ram or more and get an external hard drive. Macbook Pros are great at producing music and you can find one on Amazon at a pretty reasonable price. In my opinion if you by another brand, you will most likely spend around the same amount that it cost for a used or older model Macboo Pro. Roughly Around $360-$750
 
Definitely go with a Mac

I started out digital recording with an IBM based computer and a PRESONIS FIREBOX. After working on recording for awhile I always had latency issues. Then my, graphic artist, friend talked me into buying her G4 so she could update to new MAC. That was 12 years ago and I'm using a MACBOOK PRO and IPAD to date.
I have found that I like recording with a standalone recorder, (TASCAM PORTA STUDIOS, ZOOM HANDHELDS, just recently purchased a ZOOM R-16) then move it to my MAC for editing. I've used GARAGEBAND, TRACKTION, CUBASE, AUDICITY, and several others. I hate to admit it but I really like GarageBand. Easy to use, always gets the job done. The others have an incredible learning curve. I'd dabble with them for months before going back to GarageBand. Although the computer DAW have come a long way, especially with the MAC, I prefer to lay down, clean tracks/recordings on the stand alone, then transfer them to MAC via sd card for editing.
 
From what I gather, most of the computer equipment today is capable of doing great recordings if they are supported with a good sound card and a preamp. So I am thinking it is more to do with the other equipment than the computer?
 
From what I gather, most of the computer equipment today is capable of doing great recordings if they are supported with a good sound card and a preamp. So I am thinking it is more to do with the other equipment than the computer?

It doesn't matter what soundcard is in the computer, because you'll be using a audio interface, which BECOMES your sound card while you're recording.

So as far as the computer goes, you want a lot of RAM (4GB RAM minimum, generally), a fast hardrive (while you can do a lot with a 5400RPM hard disk drive, a 7200RPM is better, and a Solid State Drive is best), plenty of ports (USB, Thunderbolt, et al), and most importantly, a fast processor.

Here's a few good links to get you started, recommendations included:

Choosing a Windows Recording Laptop

Choosing a Budget Windows Recording Laptop

Apple MacBooks For Audio Production

HTH,

DM
 
Beginner's note: I'm learning Elements7. I'm using a standard Dell laptop w/i3 processor 2.4 ghz, 4gb ram, windows 8,tascam us-144, ezdrummer2. I'm tracking audio & midi(including ezdrummer2) with very few problems & dropouts. So far I've used up to 12 tracks. The point is: You don't need a high dollar computer to learn on. Soon I hope to buy a more advanced laptop, but for now, don't let a cheap laptop stop you from learning.....
 
Just to add on, I recently starting doing work on a Lenovo with an i3 processor, and so far it has been able to handle up to about 20 tracks of audio which is pretty much my max (if I ever need more than that then it's indicative that I'm doing something stupid). It has done just fine and I run an audio interface through USB3.0. Only thing that really sucks about laptops is space on the screen :|. Second display highly recommended.
 
I've got quite an old Toshiba Equiuum laptop. RAM is 2gb and it has an Intel dual-core processor. I am currently working on Fruity Loops and am intending to buy an audio interface bundled with Cubase or something similar to record vox/guitars etc. However, when I layer 3 or 4 channels in FL, the track stutters, and at any more, virtually grinds to a halt. I basically have two questions: 1) Given my system specs, is this inevitable and is it unrealistic to expect the laptop to run FL properly, let alone FL and another recording program, or if I do defragging/deletion of programs etc, should this help? 2) Will the addition of an audio interface help the situation, on the grounds that it will take over as the soundcard? Thanks!
 
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