Can i install my DAW on a laptop instead of a desktop?
- Thread starter semsem612
- Start date
I bought Sonar/Cakewalk ESS 1 a few years ago and I am pretty sure you can get it activated on at least two computers.
The rub is, how powerful is the laptop and, crucially, what do you intend to do with it? For example, this HP i3 lappy (then 4G now 8G ram) ran the massive Samplitude Pro X demo fine and had I the hardware I am sure I could have recorded 20+ tracks no sweat.
But! If you want to run heavy VST instruments and scads of plugins you are going to need a far tastier laptop than my old HP!
Dave.
Bobbsy
Boring Old Git
I run my DAW on a laptop specifically because I do a lot of live stuff and lugging a tower around would kill my aging arthritic knees. As long as the laptop is to a spec that would run the DAW well on a desktop, then you should be fine.
A couple of limitation:
Screen real estate can be a major limitation. When I'm doing multitrack stuff at home, I have a large second monitor I plug in. Also, the ability to expand/add features is much more limited than on a desk top so make sure you have whatever it is you're going to need in terms of drives etc. from the start. That said, I have a couple of USB3 ports and USB3 external drives work just fine for me.
(I'm not on Sonar, though I've use it in the past.)
A couple of limitation:
Screen real estate can be a major limitation. When I'm doing multitrack stuff at home, I have a large second monitor I plug in. Also, the ability to expand/add features is much more limited than on a desk top so make sure you have whatever it is you're going to need in terms of drives etc. from the start. That said, I have a couple of USB3 ports and USB3 external drives work just fine for me.
(I'm not on Sonar, though I've use it in the past.)
Farview
Well-known member
As was said, a computer is a computer. The biggest downsides to a laptop is that there tend to be less connections to the outside world, no place to put a second hard drive, and you can't (or at least not easily) upgrade any of the hardware.
Laptops also have energy saver software that needs to be shut off, and they are more expensive for the same power and memory, when compared to desktops.
Laptops also have energy saver software that needs to be shut off, and they are more expensive for the same power and memory, when compared to desktops.
There is no licence issue with SONAR, there might be hardware limitations depending on the power of your laptop
If the laptop has reasonably pokey CPU (i5 or better?) you could replace the hard drive with an SSD, I have quickly found 500G at £120, be cheaper where $$s are king. 500G would be plenty of space for OS and DAW and leave space for storage. You would of course back up/wipe as soon as possible.
Max out the memory and you could have a pretty potent "tracker" with enough grunt to handle a few plugins?
But I have always thought I would (in another life!) just build a fairly decent tower and put a guitar amp strap on top. Even a serious PC weighs less than most 15W valve combos, they are just bloody awkward to heft.
Dave.
Max out the memory and you could have a pretty potent "tracker" with enough grunt to handle a few plugins?
But I have always thought I would (in another life!) just build a fairly decent tower and put a guitar amp strap on top. Even a serious PC weighs less than most 15W valve combos, they are just bloody awkward to heft.
Dave.
