Good Laptop for Audio Recording

If you must have a laptop (desktops will give you much more bang for the buck), here are some general guidelines.
Monitor: You have to look at this thing. If you get a 10" mini and have to deal with 16 channels across the screen...you see the point. Aim for at least 15.6, but my 17 was a bit small for my taste. If you're adding an external, why not use a desktop?
Processor: In my experience, Intel chips work better for recording. There's a certain amount of bleed with AMDs when your video updates. i.e. you can hear through your monitors when you move the mouse....
Memory is not a huge factor in recording, but as always, more is better. If this is a dedicated machine for DAW, 4GB or better. If not, get 6 or 8 or even more, depending on whatever you need for other apps.
Drive. Most laptops do not have SSDs, but if you can afford the cost, hit a 480 gig or bigger for writing your data to. You can backup to externals when you get to a docking point. You really don't need SSD for recording, but they are nice.
Regular drives are perfectly acceptable to recording and even 5400 RPM drives are ok if you have good throughput. Again, larger is always better. Considering the cost difference, go with 3TB if you can find it.
Your device is USB, so that's not a problem.
Your OS is the only other problem. For recording, I always recommend staying back a step. XP is about to be lost to support, but 7 is still very stable. 8 may not be a great choice until there's a little time under its belt.

Hope there's some good info here for you. Happy Recording! :)
 
BroKen_H said:
If you must have a laptop (desktops will give you much more bang for the buck), here are some general guidelines.
Monitor: You have to look at this thing. If you get a 10" mini and have to deal with 16 channels across the screen...you see the point. Aim for at least 15.6, but my 17 was a bit small for my taste. If you're adding an external, why not use a desktop?
Processor: In my experience, Intel chips work better for recording. There's a certain amount of bleed with AMDs when your video updates. i.e. you can hear through your monitors when you move the mouse....
Memory is not a huge factor in recording, but as always, more is better. If this is a dedicated machine for DAW, 4GB or better. If not, get 6 or 8 or even more, depending on whatever you need for other apps.
Drive. Most laptops do not have SSDs, but if you can afford the cost, hit a 480 gig or bigger for writing your data to. You can backup to externals when you get to a docking point. You really don't need SSD for recording, but they are nice.
Regular drives are perfectly acceptable to recording and even 5400 RPM drives are ok if you have good throughput. Again, larger is always better. Considering the cost difference, go with 3TB if you can find it.
Your device is USB, so that's not a problem.
Your OS is the only other problem. For recording, I always recommend staying back a step. XP is about to be lost to support, but 7 is still very stable. 8 may not be a great choice until there's a little time under its belt.

Hope there's some good info here for you. Happy Recording! :)
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first of all thank you very much for the answer.
I know that a desktop is much more bang for the buck, but i need something portable.

I was considering this model ... msi gt70, about 1600$


but I actually red that lenovo has good stuff too.
 
TimOBrien said:
Shame because PC Magazine declared the is a Mac Pro.

It's just an Intel laptop and you can put Windows on them or run both os's....
Click to expand...

I don't know ... but what I can tell you for sure is that I woul need about 3000$ to buy a mac book pro with the same tech specs of e.g. a MSI GT70 that is about 1600€ ... and I'm not willing to pay 1400$ for an apple ..

Thank you for the link though
 
Interesting you posted about Lenova as I was showing the Lenova. Don't be scared off of MSI though, they have excellent systems. The GP70 is only $880 at amazon, the GT70 runs on 8, and is primarily set up for gaming, not recording. If you want to save money, don't get the i7 or the extra 8 GB of ram which will not help for recording, and stick with the OS that IS stable for recording, and you'll save about $800.
 
You can always buy a laptop with the normal 4 GB RAM and buy extra 8GB RAM for like $30 and install it yourself. It takes less than 15 min!

And get a external monitor too. So you can save money on a smaller size laptop , but still see it big like a regular desktop.
 
anoopbal said:
And get a external monitor too. So you can save money on a smaller size laptop , but still see it big like a regular desktop.
Click to expand...

As long as you can find a monitor that has battery power, so it's still portable like the laptop, this is good advice. Otherwise, spend the extra $150 and get the 17" screen over the 10.
 
Another vote for Lenovo. I bought one for DAW work about 18 months ago and it's been very good so far. What attracted me to the Lenovo is that they allowed more customisation than many other brands so I could get the configuration I needed.

No sense my mentioning model numbers though...they change every few months.

I agree with the "get a monitor" suggestion though. Even the largest laptop isn't enough for recording and mixing. I have the 17 inch screen AND a 21 inch external monitor...I wish I had more space.

Edited to add...Lenovo let me take the backwards step to Win 7 (despite 8 being out when I ordered). I don't know if they'd still do this 18 months on but it's worth asking.
 
I guess it goes back what you are used to. I am just used to working at work, in the library with big screen monitors, and my previous desktop.

And I find it hard to work looking down at the laptop screen. In a separate monitor, I can keep it eye level.

I have a Lenovo too. Just the G series though.
 
Bobbsy said:
The 'andle is easy. The team of Sherpas to carry it will be more difficult.[/QUOTE

Thought you were sposed to be tough down there in the Antipodes? Too much Amber Nectar an sittin' in a comfy, leather stooodio chair!?

Dave.
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Large screen, portable. These are the marks of the new all-in-one computers (you can get them with 24 & 26" monitors). Problem is, they all run on 8...and if you're getting a laptop because there won't be power, then the monitor is useless, unless it runs on batteries, too. A high power UPS (uninterruptable power supply) can power just a monitor for hours, but adds noise and an extra 20 pounds to the problems. Alienware has an 18" monitor, but their computers run $1800 +
Sorry, just throwing out ideas how to make a truly portable system work. . . unless you have extra batteries. Your laptop won't last that long anyway, especially if it has to provide phantom.
 
Bobbsy said:
Another vote for Lenovo. I bought one for DAW work about 18 months ago and it's been very good so far. What attracted me to the Lenovo is that they allowed more customisation than many other brands so I could get the configuration I needed.

No sense my mentioning model numbers though...they change every few months.

I agree with the "get a monitor" suggestion though. Even the largest laptop isn't enough for recording and mixing. I have the 17 inch screen AND a 21 inch external monitor...I wish I had more space.

Edited to add...Lenovo let me take the backwards step to Win 7 (despite 8 being out when I ordered). I don't know if they'd still do this 18 months on but it's worth asking.
Click to expand...

thanks fo the answer ..
may you tell me the specs of your laptop, how much did you pay it and the sample rate that it can handle without clipping ?
 
I had a Toshiba Satellite 3G ram and that was pretty good on a KA6 considering it was running Vista Business!

I would guess a Toshy on W7 would be fine but again, so much depends upon the specific model.

Dave.
 
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