Best PC laptop for audio?

  • Thread starter Thread starter lilcapn
  • Start date Start date
i've got the dell inspiron 8100. it has 1.2ghz with 512mb sdram, firewire, 2 usb, and 2 pcmcia ports.

the only problem i've ever had with it are:
1 when it goes into suspend mode, the CD-RW won't work on the next bootup, so i have to uninstall/reinstall it. this doesn't happen often but its a pain when it does. this may have more to do with WinXP than Dell.

2 i've had the keyboard replaced exactly once a year since i got it. then i figured out that the only thing wrong with it was that the screws on the bottom that hold the keyboard to the frame were loose. i tighten them once in a while, and everything is beautiful.

I use it with the Tascam US-428 and have gotten some good work done with it.
 
Re: upgrades

lilcapn said:
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!
Click to expand...

No I mean actually change the internal one by unscrewing the bottom of the notebook, sliding out the tray and putting in a 60gig or something to replace the original.

Installing RAM in a notebook (a Gateway anyway, I don't know about others) was actually easier to do than a desktop. Well, not really easier, but just less hassle because all you do is pop open a door and put it in, unlike having to unbury your desktop from the desk and all that stuff.
 
installing your own stuff

polaris -- thanks for all the info.

did you already know where you were going to get your new HD and RAM before you got the laptop from gateway?
where did you get it?

when i've put memory into my dell desktop, i've had to get it from Dell, since their stuff is quite proprietary. so in that case it wouldn't make sense for me to get one with a small HD only to replace it with another Dell.

but Gateway is different?

crosstudio -- you mention possible problems with XP, but most new notebooks come with it. is there a better / less problematic OS?

thanks!
 
I already knew where I was getting all the add on stuff-- Crucial for the memory and IBM for the HD. No problems, as the Gateway is ultra easy to upgrade. Just 2 screws and you can slide out the HD, and pop in a new one.
 
cool -- sounds easy enough.

how low on the Gateway foodchain (price level) can you go and still have it be upgradeable? ie, are there some that aren't as flexible? i'm sure as soon as i start asking such questions at Gateway, they'll be like "why do you want to do that? just get it with the hard drive we have" etc and give me the old hard sell.

does IBM make a 7200 rpm HD for notebooks now?
 
lilcapn said:
cool -- sounds easy enough.

how low on the Gateway foodchain (price level) can you go and still have it be upgradeable? ie, are there some that aren't as flexible? i'm sure as soon as i start asking such questions at Gateway, they'll be like "why do you want to do that? just get it with the hard drive we have" etc and give me the old hard sell.

does IBM make a 7200 rpm HD for notebooks now?
Click to expand...

As of August 2002 mine was actually the entry level notebook, so you can pretty much get any of them and upgrade the memory and the hard drive.

IBM says it is releasing a 40gig 7200rpm, possibly a 60gig too in the near future.
 
ibm

checked it out -- on their site they're still just offering the 5400 rpm drives. still, seems like it would do until they bring out the big guns (and i want to drop some more $$).

is your gateway the 400 series?

or even more entry level?
 
Re: ibm

lilcapn said:
checked it out -- on their site they're still just offering the 5400 rpm drives. still, seems like it would do until they bring out the big guns (and i want to drop some more $$).

is your gateway the 400 series?

or even more entry level?
Click to expand...

Even more entry level....it's actually discontinued. But I love it, and will not replace it for quite awhile. I've never had one problem with it.

My school (Devry University) uses them exclusively, and I know the guys in the IT dept. They love them too. Very little problems for as large of a scale as they are using them.
 
Re: Re: ibm

Polaris20 said:
Even more entry level....it's actually discontinued. But I love it, and will not replace it for quite awhile. I've never had one problem with it.

My school (Devry University) uses them exclusively, and I know the guys in the IT dept. They love them too. Very little problems for as large of a scale as they are using them.
Click to expand...

Let me get this straight - you're still in college??

I guess that explains alot. Try working 40 hours a week configuring/troubleshooting PC's from multiple vendors (HP. Compaq, Dell and Gateway).

My opinions on quality and value quickly changed after having to call Compaq's tech support on a regular basis and receiving dektops straight from their warehouses missing IDE cables and screws that hold HD's and CD-ROM's in place.

Gateway and Dell weren't much better either...
 
Re: Re: Re: ibm

brzilian said:
Let me get this straight - you're still in college??

I guess that explains alot. Try working 40 hours a week configuring/troubleshooting PC's from multiple vendors (HP. Compaq, Dell and Gateway).

My opinions on quality and value quickly changed after having to call Compaq's tech support on a regular basis and receiving dektops straight from their warehouses missing IDE cables and screws that hold HD's and CD-ROM's in place.

Gateway and Dell weren't much better either...
Click to expand...

Alright, seriously, go scratch. I work a fulltime job, and I am going to school to finish my degree, where as before I was going on my EXPERIENCE. I worked for awhile building servers and workstations for a medical center, as well as doing all their networking and web work.

I am also A+ cert. and CCNA.

I don't need to even mention my experience to validate my opinion, to you or anyone.

Just because I am in school to finish my degree does not mean I am any less qualified than you are to post an opinion about laptops, especially since I actually own one.

No one mentioned Compaq here, and if they had, I would have said not to even consider them because, surprise surprise, I have worked on them too.

Why don't you stop flashing your experience around like a friggin badge and just realize that when it comes to laptops, I will never stop recommending Gateway, because I have had a great experience with them, as have many people I know.

I also realize you will never stop saying how wonderful VPR is, which is why you'll notice I tried to stop debating you about it and just answered the poster's original questions.
 
did some research

went to the gateway joint yesterday, and it's basically impossible to get a totally stripped-down laptop (ie with LESS than the 30 GB drive) in order to instantly upgrade with stuff i'd buy separately, so that's kind of frustrating.

still, they're not terribly expensive. i comparison-shopped at Best Buy (ugh) but actually found a guy who seemed to know some things. constructed various theoretical systems with their pricing system and they all ended up in the neighborhood of the Gateway price, about 200 bucks less, but the ones we were building were Compaqs and HP's... hearing your (and others on this board and elsewhere -- basically i haven't heard them ever recommended for music stuff) opinions of Compaqs (i haven't really had any experience with them) i guess i'll steer clear, though they were cheaper.

i looked at the Matrix's, the screen looked cool but the whole thing felt cheap.

arg
 
I guess if it's one thing me and brzilian can agree on it's to stay away from Compaqs and HPs.

If you're using them for audio, they're no good.

As for the stripped down systems, you probably won't find anything smaller than a 30gig these days, that's normal. I bought mine 6 months ago, things change fast.
 
the problems with my dell have been relatively minimal compared to the problems with the compaq i had before.

i have changed the keyboard on this dell, but i later figured out it wasn't the keyboard it was the screws that hold the keyboard. i have to tighten them now and then or the keyboard will stop working. now dell tech support did not tell me this... it's all just trial and error.

other than that, i upgraded to WinXP SP1 to fix the USB stutters and I haven't had a problem since.
 
The only real complaint I have about the Desknote is that I get either a buzz or some 'usb noise' when I connect a usb audio device to a monitoring system, e.g., a pair of PS5s. However, none of this is noticable through headphones, which is how I do things sometimes. . My Asus P3 desktop is quiet as a mouse with usb crap and monitors, so I know it's possible.
 
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