Best laptop for Recording...Anyone?

Dracon

Dracon

New member
I'm looking at getting a laptop to get a mobile Project Studio.
I really like the Toshiba Laptops, but I'm not too sure what if anything is anyone else using for mobile laptops.

I know I could probably use anything, but I've always like the Toshiba. However, I ask because sometimes there are known issues that folks may have had with one brand or the other and say a firewire or USB interface.
 
I'm on my toshiba satellite right now...
it's a great computer. it has served me well, i use it for everything.

that siad, you should hold off a month or so and see how the AMD equipped lap tops turn out. they sould be out really soon.
 
Dracon said:
I'm looking at getting a laptop to get a mobile Project Studio.
I really like the Toshiba Laptops, but I'm not too sure what if anything is anyone else using for mobile laptops.

I know I could probably use anything, but I've always like the Toshiba. However, I ask because sometimes there are known issues that folks may have had with one brand or the other and say a firewire or USB interface.
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You should be fine with a Toshiba, there are many using them successfully for mobile recording. I personally use a Dell Inspiron and it's been solid as a rock going on two years now. Just make sure that the interface that you intend to use doesn't conflict with the chipset of the firewire/usb host controller in the laptop you choose, and you should be alright. ;)
 
Clit Torres said:
You should be fine with a Toshiba, there are many using them successfully for mobile recording. I personally use a Dell Inspiron and it's been solid as a rock going on two years now. Just make sure that the interface that you intend to use doesn't conflict with the chipset of the firewire/usb host controller in the laptop you choose, and you should be alright. ;)
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My second choice would be the Dell. But since I know Dell much better than Toshiba, I thought it might be easier on me to just get a Toshiba. I'll look into chipset compatibility.

How much memory is suggested for the laptop. I've read somewhere around here that some folks had issues with their memory on laptops, as if the laptops don't perform as fast as a desktop.
 
Dracon said:
My second choice would be the Dell. But since I know Dell much better than Toshiba, I thought it might be easier on me to just get a Toshiba. I'll look into chipset compatibility.

How much memory is suggested for the laptop. I've read somewhere around here that some folks had issues with their memory on laptops, as if the laptops don't perform as fast as a desktop.
Click to expand...

There really aren't any issues with laptop memory speeds, maybe a couple of years ago, but at present they're pretty much at par with desktops. :)

Do yourself a favor and get a minimum of 1gig of ram, you won't regret it. Also be aware that most notebooks only have 2 slots, so if you order 512mb of ram they'll stock it with 2 256mb sticks. So if you want to upgrade to a gig or two later, you'll have to dump/sell the 2 sticks and get two 512's or one to two 1 gig sticks. I unfortunately learned that the hard way. :mad:
 
Each of the laptops you have mentioned have super-slow hard drives (4,500 or 5,500 rpm), so how can you recommend them for audio??
 
Clit Torres said:
So if you want to upgrade to a gig or two later, you'll have to dump/sell the 2 sticks and get two 512's or one to two 1 gig sticks. I unfortunately learned that the hard way. :mad:
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Thanks for this information. I'll make sure that I do get 1 Gig of memory.
 
Giganova said:
Each of the laptops you have mentioned have super-slow hard drives (4,500 or 5,500 rpm), so how can you recommend them for audio??
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A 7,200 HD really will not give you that much better performance, and it does cause significant amount of heat (especially on the laptop). Right now, you get better performance out of a faster processor & more memory.

The significant better performance in HD speeds come when you can get 10,000 or higher. SATA drives are barely making it into the 10,000. Besides unless you are doing 24 tracks on a laptop it really does not help you that much to have a 10,000 SATA HD. It would certainly won't hurt anything to get a 10,000 (other than more noise and more heat). I appreciate you looking out for me.
 
Giganova said:
The Alienware laptops are specifically built for audio.
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I've looked at Alienware, but I'm not sure how good is their support. I have looked at their website, and they do say that they custom make laptops and desktops (and for audio) but I was not able any specific specs for their audio laptops and desktops.
 
I've just looked at Alien Ware (customize Option).

Has anyone here used AlienWare laptops or desktops? Just want to know Pros & Cons they've encountered.
 
Giganova said:
Each of the laptops you have mentioned have super-slow hard drives (4,500 or 5,500 rpm), so how can you recommend them for audio??
Click to expand...

People who use notebooks for recording use external drives for audio, and if you're in a pinch the internal 4500-5500rpm drives work just fine.
 
There is a pretty helpful review of the Alienware Ozma-m Mobile Studio in the October 2004 issue of "Recording."
 
My Dell 5150 running XP has been totally reliable using a Digigram VX Pocket PCMCIA card. Also works well with my Tascam US122 USB interface, but that's more of a toy compared to the VXPocket.

Tim
 
Over the past ten years, I've had three Toshiba laptops. They never let me down and are built very tough. You can literally drop them and they keep working. No product has surpised me more than Toshiba, they are awesome and the most "pro" laptops money can buy.

My wife has a Dell and this machine is horrible: way too heavy, and very slow, even though it cost $1400 (last year). It actually gets so hot that you can't keep it on your lap for more than 10min!! (unless you want to boil your testicales). I'd never get a Dell.

My next laptop will be either a Mac G4 (because the G5 Powerbook is unlikely to hit the market in 2005 since they are having significant engineering challenges to fit such a high-end processor in such a small box, and heating/noise/battery life is not under control), or an Alienware XP (which is more likely since they are way faster than the G4 and cost approx the same).
 
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