Facing a dilemma: USB vs. Firewire DAW for Dell laptop

V

vbibber

New member
Hello there!

I just got myself a brand new Dell Inspiron 640m laptop (in some countries the inspiron e1405) with the following specs:

Intel Duo Core T2400
2 GB SDRAM
100 GB 7200RPM HD

Which I intend to use for audio recording, therefore I am trying to decide which mobile soundcard to buy. Before I got the laptop I'd set my eyes on the Presonus Firebox or the Focusrite Saffire LE since these devices are getting rave reviews (at least the ones I've read ;0). BUT......

Then I came across this topic on the notebook review forum: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=73829

It seems like firewire devices don't work with Dell laptops since they are not using the TI chipset. Normally this could be fixed by buying a PCMCIA firewire card with TI chipset, but my laptop only has the new Expresscard slot and there seem to be troubles to get a firewire expresscard working with the new Dell laptops. Which seems to come down to this: no firewire audiocard for me :-(.

The first thing I'd like to ask is this: can anyone confirm this story? Is there anyone out there who could get his Dell laptop (preferably a Inspiron 640m) with a Ricoh firewire chipset working with a Firebox or Saffire? Or anyone with a working Firewire Expresscard?

Secondly, although I preferred a Firewire DAW over a USB (because of the negative stories I read on USB audio), it looks like I'm going to be forced to buy a USB DAW. The problem is; I want to be able to record 4 analog inputs simultaneously (and the DAW should have 2 mic pre's). The only USB DAW's I could find who are able doing this are:

Lexicon Omega
Edirol UA-101

Can anyone confirm this? Or are there models I overlooked? And what do you think of these DAW's? Are they any good? I'm especially focussed on getting good recordings, so nice pre-amps are important. At the moment I'm leaning towards the Omega, because of the price (which is more similar to the Firebox than the Edirol DAW).

But still a little voice inside is telling me not to buy a USB device and it tells me to wait till it's absolutely sure there is no way of getting the firewire working on the laptop. What do you guys think? Your opinions are greatly appreciated!

greetings,
Vbibber
 
If you just got a dell laptop and it has none of the connection features you need, i'd suggest you send the piece of junk back ( and dell laptops are pieces of junk , i have to repair them every day :( ) get a refund and buy something else . Your computer is going to be your hub of your studio therefore make sure you buy something that is going to work.

Check one of these out :-

http://www.acer.ca/acereuro/page9.d...txParam=en&ctx3=-1&ctx4=Canada&crc=1444411889

I suggest Acer right now because out of all the Laptop Manufacturers they are the only brand that dont suffer from Exploding battery syndrome. Plus their warrenty is one of the best in the industry .


( no i don't work for Acer but i do repair all kinds of laptops on a daily basis , and I actually sell most brands of laptops including dell as we are a Dell VARS reseller )

This is my opinion based on my experience of laptop repair over the last 10 years, therefore it's based purely on fact from the service side of things with no bias on my behalf to any particular brand!
 
I contributed to that thread in notebook review as well. Read my comments on answers posted by MOTU.
If I were you, I would return the DELL asap and get a AMD Turion laptop, like HP. I have not heard of any issues with them so far. I am planning to get it as well.
 
Tnx for your replies. Returning the laptop is no option (anymore) and I'm actually quite satisfied with the overall performance of the laptop (for the price!!). So I'll just have to face to facts. So tnx for that link sync, it silences the voice a little bit. The only thing is: I can't find many USB DAW's who can record 4 inputs simultaneously. So i'm seriously considering to buy the Lexicon Omega, because of the good price and the many options. The EMU 0404 looks nice, but it can't do 4 channels (if I interpreted the specs alright). Any further advice? (besides returning the laptop ;0).
 
Well, if you wait too long to try out other things, the return period for the laptop might end and you could be stuck with it. So, might as well try the USB setups you want ASAP and see if they work for you.

Good luck.
 
FYI,
Motu came out with a USB2.0 version of their popular 828mk2.
That would give you plenty of I/O to play around with and room to expand your setup in the future.
I own the firewire version and love it.Hassle free setup on my HP laptop.
FWIW, the HP just uses an OHCI compliant firewire chipset.
Only downside regarding the 828 may be that it only has 2 preamps, also it is not the cheapest solution at $700US.
Good Luck
 
Buy the TI Firewire card anyway. It may take a little while for Dell to get the BIOS bugs worked out, but it's just a matter of time. The problem is that the TI FireWire ExpressCard chipset is a PCIe to PCI bridge, and that requires some BIOS fixes to make things work.
 
I used a Compaq 3430 US quite successfully for a long time with no issues at all.

Not a core duo or anything, but it might be a place to start looking.
 
Elmo89m said:
so should i not purchase a tascam FW1804 for use with a new dell e1505? or will that work okay?
Click to expand...

I'd get the Tascam if you're stuck with the Dell, but make sure you try it out within the trial period.
 
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