Best PC laptop for audio?

[lilcapn]

i don't want to go Mac here -- all my other computers at home and work are PC's. most are Dells.

i'm going to be working in conjunction with analog gear i have, and don't PLAN (who knows what will happen) on immediately going to work on a 24-track pro-tools style situation, more just AudioMulch-type processing, some field recording, etc.

my main question is, choosing between brand names (like the Dells i've got) and companies that build DAW machines exclusively, but that i've never heard of...

any recommendations here?

thanks!

 

[brzilian]

Its not DAW specific, but I like the vprMatrix laptops. You get USB 2.0, Firewire and a nice 15.2 widescreen display much like what the Apple iBooks sport these days.

www.vprmatrix.com

 

[elevate]

How's that vpr stock doing?

 

[Polaris20]

deja vu.

I still say Gateway. $800 less than VPR, and faster with more storage.

S Video outs really mean dickydoo when you're talking audio.

 

[Chris Shaeffer]

I've had really good success with a Sony laptop. Just be sure whatever laptop you get has a firewire port (or buy a PCMCIA firewire card) and a 5400 rpm harddrive.

I'm actually in the market for a new laptop (my sony is 800mHz...) and those vpr boxs looked COOL. I spend a lot of time (work and play) with my computer and a fresh look is kinda nice. Too bad they have 4200rpm drives. Wide screen kinda winds my clock since I do a lot of video, as well.

Polaris- is there another thread around about this? Could someone post a link? I could search, I suppose, but my connection is sssssllllloooooowwww.

Take care,
Chris

 

[j]

Don't know if this is the best, but I'd at least check out the Desknote. http://desknote.net/

I don't think anyone is building laptops optimized for audio. But, of course, I could be wrong.

 

[Polaris20]

Don't know if this is the best, but I'd at least check out the Desknote. http://desknote.net/

I don't think anyone is building laptops optimized for audio. But, of course, I could be wrong.

Chris, the thread about laptop audio isn't on this site, it was brought up over at HC recording hardware here.

As far as the desknotes, they are cool except that they insist upon using a SiS chipset, which sucks.

 

[lilcapn]

looks cool

the Desknote thing looks cool, but i can't find prices anywhere on that site! do you have to build it all yourself and order all the parts separately?

the vprMatrix also looks good, though it's not cheap, and am i crazy to not totally trust a company that's a subsidiary of Best Buy? i mean, maybe they were a great and respected company that got BOUGHT by Best Buy or something, but it makes me nervous.

hard to find USB 2.0 on the Gateway site.

too many choices! none of them perfect....

 

[Polaris20]

Re: looks cool

the Desknote thing looks cool, but i can't find prices anywhere on that site! do you have to build it all yourself and order all the parts separately?

the vprMatrix also looks good, though it's not cheap, and am i crazy to not totally trust a company that's a subsidiary of Best Buy? i mean, maybe they were a great and respected company that got BOUGHT by Best Buy or something, but it makes me nervous.

hard to find USB 2.0 on the Gateway site.

too many choices! none of them perfect....

No need for USB 2.0, it has Firewire, which is on paper slightly slower than USB2, but has been shown to be actually as fast or faster in some applications than USB2.

That was in a recent PC Mag article.

The VPR is $800 more for a 500Mhz slower machine with a 20gig smaller HD. Not the greatest of values IMHO.

 

[brzilian]

Re: looks cool

the Desknote thing looks cool, but i can't find prices anywhere on that site! do you have to build it all yourself and order all the parts separately?

the vprMatrix also looks good, though it's not cheap, and am i crazy to not totally trust a company that's a subsidiary of Best Buy? i mean, maybe they were a great and respected company that got BOUGHT by Best Buy or something, but it makes me nervous.

hard to find USB 2.0 on the Gateway site.

too many choices! none of them perfect....

People see value in the vprMatrix even if Polaris doesn't. Otherwise it wouldn't have been selected as a "Best Buy" (no pun intended) by quite a few paper and online computer periodicals.

Why does the fact that they are owned by Best Buy make you nervous? If anything, I think I would worry less about vprMatrix than Gateway considering they are an established nationwide chain.

Gateway, on the other hand is once again restructuring itself because of poor sales in the 4th quarter. It sounded to me like a pretty desperate move to give away computers with the purchase of another high end desktop/laptop. Sounds to me like they have too much inventory and needed to blow it out to make the books look better for their year end accounting.

 

[Polaris20]

Re: Re: looks cool

People see value in the vprMatrix even if Polaris doesn't. Otherwise it wouldn't have been selected as a "Best Buy" (no pun intended) by quite a few paper and online computer periodicals.

Why does the fact that they are owned by Best Buy make you nervous? If anything, I think I would worry less about vprMatrix than Gateway considering they are an established nationwide chain.

Gateway, on the other hand is once again restructuring itself because of poor sales in the 4th quarter. It sounded to me like a pretty desperate move to give away computers with the purchase of another high end desktop/laptop. Sounds to me like they have too much inventory and needed to blow it out to make the books look better for their year end accounting.

I actually own a Gateway notebook, unlike you who doesn't actually own a VPR notebook.

Discount the Gateway all you want, but I still think it is a better value.

I didn't say the VPR was a piece of shit, I just said I didn't think it was as good of a value. Stop acting like I kicked your dog or something.

Best Buy may be a nation-wide chain, but it has restructured itself in the past, so don't use that as a reason not to buy a notebook. They've been quite close to bankruptcy more than once.

 

[brzilian]

Re: Re: Re: looks cool

I actually own a Gateway notebook, unlike you who doesn't actually own a VPR notebook.

Discount the Gateway all you want, but I still think it is a better value.

I didn't say the VPR was a piece of shit, I just said I didn't think it was as good of a value. Stop acting like I kicked your dog or something.

Best Buy may be a nation-wide chain, but it has restructured itself in the past, so don't use that as a reason not to buy a notebook. They've been quite close to bankruptcy more than once.

Who said I was acting like you offended me? I'm just appeasing lilcapn's fears of buying a computer from a Best Buy subsidiary.

Stock price numbers say it all. As far as the future path based on past performace, Best Buy is a safer bet:

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=BBY&d=c&k=c1&c=GTW&a=v&p=s&t=my&l=on&z=m&q=l

 

[lilcapn]

Best Buy fears

my fears of buying an expensive computer from a company owned by Best Buy aren't based in fears of Best Buy's stock taking a nosedive or the company going out of business, though i guess i could worry about that too.

it's just that my associations with Best Buy are of terrible service, employees who know nothing about what they're selling ("umm, i think this will play CD-R's, i don't know, do you have one with you?" etc), and a general vibe of an unweildy monster company that can't take the trouble to look at the details of anything they do.

while Dell and Gateway and even moreso IBM are certainly large companies, they pretty much do one thing, so you know (or hope) they're paying attention to it at least.

like i said, maybe VPRMatrix was already a good company before they were bought by Best Buy or something, and maybe Best Buy leaves them alone to do a good job, it was just a vibe i get about best BUy.

Gateway has a good rep, it didn't seem terribly cheap once i started "customizing" a system on their website though.

 

[Polaris20]

I wouldn't even buy a CD from Best Buy, those guys are total clowns. Maybe their stock is better than Gateway, but that doesn't mean I'll enjoy their crappy customer service because of it.

 

[Aussieladdie]

I've had good experience with the Best Buy helpers and crew whenever I worked there (as in, shopped for materials).

Then again, I live in Illinois...

 

[Polaris20]

I've had good experience with the Best Buy helpers and crew whenever I worked there (as in, shopped for materials).

Then again, I live in Illinois...

So do I......Schaumburg. They're idiots.

 

[lilcapn]

which brings us back to

are there companies out there building PC laptops for audio that aren't Dell, Gateway, etc?

polaris you are happy with your gateway?

which model is that (i know you can customize, but where did you start)?

 

[brzilian]

I wouldn't even buy a CD from Best Buy, those guys are total clowns. Maybe their stock is better than Gateway, but that doesn't mean I'll enjoy their crappy customer service because of it.

Who said I bought my vprMatrix because of their service?

I bought it because it makes use of better quality components than bigger name brand PC's (Gateway and Dell included) and knew what I needed before walking into the store.

I go to Best Buy to buy anything because they are usually the cheapest for whatever I'm looking for. I don't need service if I already know what I need and want.

 

[Polaris20]

Re: which brings us back to

are there companies out there building PC laptops for audio that aren't Dell, Gateway, etc?

polaris you are happy with your gateway?

which model is that (i know you can customize, but where did you start)?

Yes, I am very happy with my Gateway, it is the 1450 (little older model) with a PIII 1.2Ghz and 15" screen. I got the smallest drive I could so I could upgrade to a 60 or 80gig later for a better price. I also got the lowest RAM, and already upgraded with Crucial for less money than Gateway wants.

I normally build my own computers, but obviously that's not too much of a reality with notebooks right now. So the Gateway was the next best choice.

Brzlian, you own stock in VPR, I love Gateway. My opinion will never change, neither will yours, so give it a rest.

When you actually own a VPR notebook, let me know how you like it.

 

[lilcapn]

upgrades

polaris --

when you say you got the small harddrive because you were going to upgrade -- do you mean upgrade with an external firewire drive or something? or did you put one into your laptop?

i've installed RAM in my desktop, never in my laptop -- how tricky was that (assuming that i don't build computers like you do)?

thanks for all the info!