Specs on Dell v.Sony--laptop limits

jackstpaulUHS

New member
I'm going to buy a laptop to use as my sole pc. Have desktop now. I'm a very low-end hobbyist. Using CEP 2.1a for 5 years now, have only done 1 audio track at a time. Looking to move into midi a bit, some more advanced effects, some other advances, but for self-/friends use. Never expect to record more than 2 tracks at once. Music audio is lower priority, but since I’ve narrowed my focus to a specific Dell and a specific Sony model, it’s now the biggest question mark.

From what I know at my limited level of knowledge they look indistinguishable except for Dell being cheaper. Without music software in my decision-chain, I’d buy Dell.

I will be buying audio new software--undecided yet. Maybe some version of Cubase, Sonar, Adobe Audition. No other use of the laptop would be beyond normal use, i.e. no graphics/video/etc. Since I’m at a point of being decided unless there are important advantages/disadvantages for audio stuff, I’m paying more attention to it.

Looking for comments on these 2 models I'm deciding between and relevance to audio recording of my low-end level.

Dell Inspiron 1525-122B $595
Vista Home Premium SP1; 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5750; 3072MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz , chipset --Intel GM965 250GB Western Digital 5,400rpm. DATA: 4 USB 2.0, mini FireWire, multiformat memory card reader EXPANSION : ExpressCard/54 NETWORK Modem, Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi 128MB Mobile Intel 965GM Express;

Sony Vaio VGN-NR498 E/W $695
Vista Home Premium SP1; 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5750; 3072MB DDR SDRAM 667MHz;; 250GB Seagate 5,400rpm, Intel GM965 Express, 4 USB 2.0, mini-FireWire, MemoryStick, SD card readers, ExpressCard/54, Modem, Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth

There's a lot of overlap in parts. My knowledge isn't much deeper than harddrive, memory, single/duo/quad core, some of speed, processing issues. Chipsets, diff. manufactures where there are differences—it’s lost on me. I've read many things here recently.

Limits of laptops I've read: Inability to install non-factory components--diff. soundcard, processors. Thermal issues.

The interesting thing for both is that they have "mini-firewire." I'm not seeing firewire on many models--what is "mini?" Will it work the same with interfaces as like with desktop?

I'll be getting an external hard rive for sure--don't know which yet.

I like Cubase as maybe my choice, but if there are significant issues that the different laptop models present, there’s' some interactivity on my part. Limited audio capability for given software might swing me to specific laptop model and vice-versa.

If anyone sees anything of real significance in the Dell and Sony for audio software in general or relating to one of the software I'm looking at it would be appreciated. Thanks.

p.s. I had no idea how big and upscale Best Buy had gone with music—instruments, software, lot of accessories, etc.
 
The only trouble you might have with the dells will be in the fw/usb controller. SOME of the sony's had good TI chips for that, but most are now just like the dells, macs, and whatever else

May not be an issue anyhow, it isnt for me except when using usb soundcards and wifi at the same time
 
The only trouble you might have with the dells will be in the fw/usb controller. SOME of the sony's had good TI chips for that, but most are now just like the dells, macs, and whatever else

In case you didn't notice, the new MacBook Pro machines are using TI controllers again. They went to Agere and enough people screamed that they backpedaled on that.

That said, I've been learning more about this issue, and as far as I can tell, the reasons most manufacturers are dropping TI for Agere have little to do with cost and everything to do with performance, power consumption, and heat dissipation.

As far as I've been able to find, TI still does not offer a native PCI Express to FireWire bridge chip. That means that laptops with tight power budget have to either incorporate extra hardware for legacy PCI support or use one of TI's "hybrid" offerings. Most manufacturers chose the latter if they stuck with TI, but since Agere was first to market with an actual native PCIe to FireWire bus bridge chip waaaaay back in January of 2007, most manufacturers flocked to the native silicon.

Hybrid offerings such as the ones TI builds have higher latency because they are basically PCIe to PCI bus bridges grafted onto the front of FireWire chips. From the perspective of people trying to build computers for audio recording, the Agere chips actually outperform the TI chips. A few device compatibility issues notwithstanding, the TI chips are a pretty significant step backwards, IMHO.

The hybrid offerings also probably have significantly higher power draw and thermal output than the Agere chips because of all the extra glue silicon. (Unfortunately, I can't find any relevant data from TI on any of their bridge silicon to confirm that.) Power and heat are very important factors when designing a laptop or other device in a small enclosure (e.g. the iMac or Mac Mini).

And of course, the Agere chips have a smaller physical footprint (as a result of being actual native PCIe<->1394 bridges), which could potentially reduce board production costs, though probably not significantly. This is ignoring the parts cost; the Agere is probably cheaper in that regard as well because the silicon is so much smaller.

So there are a lot of reasons that the manufacturers are flocking to the Agere chipset, and for the most part, "cheap" isn't the primary driving factor. TI dropped the ball massively and continues to do so with their PCIe<->PCI<->1394 bridge silicon. I'm not saying the Agere chips don't have bugs, but on the flip side, it's pretty embarrassing for Lucent/Agere to beat TI to the native silicon market by a year and a half. From what I've seen, I'd bet on Lucent and/or the handful of device vendors who aren't compatible with them getting their act together long before TI does. Just my $0.02. :D

P.S. I've seen a number of reports that the RME FireFace 800 now works correctly with the Agere chips with the latest firmware from RME. As far as I could find, they've never admitted that they fixed anything, of course.... :D
 
I've heard that Apple went back to TI, but I have also witnessed the zippered lips when you try and get a TI PC from the apple store. As soon as old stock is gone, itll probably be a non-issue I guess.

Im not too surpised that RME got it going, they got them working on the worst possible dell usb/fw combo card as well.

Im also not surprised they didnt admit to fixing anything, par for the course with those guys, but if it works I wont complain
 
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