Computer A, B, C, or D? Any pref?

[JulieGirl]

I will be choosing Reaper (thanks to you guys!)
Simple recording one glorious track at a time.
Thank you!

All are about the same price.

A
TOSHIBA Satellite C655D-S5057 AMD Athlon II Dual-Core P320(2.10GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory 250GB HDD ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250 NoteBook

* AMD Athlon II Dual-Core ...
* 4GB Memory 250GB HDD
* ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4...

* Part#: PSC16U-01G010
* Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
* Optical Drive Type: DVD Super Multi
* Chipset: AMD M880G
* Model #: C655D-S5057
* Item #: N82E16834114930
* Return Policy: Computer Replacement Only Return Policy

B
Acer Aspire AS5534-1121 AMD Athlon X2 L310(1.20GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory 320GB HDD ATI Radeon HD 3200 NoteBook

* AMD Athlon X2 L310(1.2GH...
* 4GB Memory 320GB HDD
* ATI Radeon HD 3200

* Part#: LX.PJU02.006
* Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium
* Optical Drive Type: DVD Super Multi
* Chipset: AMD M780G
* Model #: AS5534-1121
* Item #: N82E16834115678
* Return Policy: Computer Replacement Only Return Policy

C
Asus NOT REFURBISHED
ASUS U80A-RFRBK05 Laptop Computer - Intel Core 2 Duo T6500 2.1GHz, 4GB DDR2, 320GB HDD, DVDRW, 14" Display, Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit

D
Inspiron M101z
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium Edition
11.6'' High Definition Truelife™ WLED (1366x786)
4GB2 DDR3 SoDIMM at 800MHz, 2x2GB DIMM
320GB3 SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
AMD RS880 Integrated Graphics
Combo 802.11n 1x1 with Bluetooth 3.0 HMC
56WHr Lithium-Ion Battery (6-cell)
AMD Athlon™ II Neo K325 (Dual Core,1.3GHz,2MB Cache)
1 Year Limited Hardware Warranty4 (10-14 Day Mail-In Service After Remote Diagnosis5)
Integrated 1.3M Pixel Webcam

 

[FoulPhil]

Are those your only options? If so is it because of price? I build custom PCs, not laptops, but if you are going to invest I would go for something that has a quad core and at least 4 GB of ram especially if you're getting a 64bit system.

I don't care what anyone tells you. They say dual cores are fine you only need this or that blah blah blah. The performance you get out of a quad core system with a decent amount of ram (4-8 GB) is unbelievable. No lag, no delays, and tons of power to get the job done.

It's a waste of money buying something that's just your overpriced average POS. It may cost you more to get something better, but it'll be worth it when it's tearing into your applications with little effort.

 

[JulieGirl]

FoulPhil thx.
You don't build and ship do you?

(...and yeah I've got a max of $550 to spend.)

 

[FoulPhil]

I can build and ship, but I only build desktops. I would have to check prices on things, but I've done cheap builds around $450 - $500 + shipping. That's just the tower with no monitor, keyboard, mouse etc.

It's best to save up a little more though. Sometimes when you buy cheap parts it's more common for them to have defects. I've bought some motherboards where only 1 out of 4 didn't need to be exchanged lol.

When money is the issue sometimes we are either stuck getting what we can afford or saving up for a while. I know how it goes because I've had to make these choices many times.

 

[VomitHatSteve]

I just scrapped my 1-year-old Acer (i.e. just out of warranty when it catastrophically failed) in favor of a Toshiba Satellite. I'm pretty displeased with the Acer being as it died just before the warranty expired; they were really uncooperative about giving it warranty service; and then it died again just after the extension to the warranty expired.

Plus the satellite seems to perform better despite worse specs.

 

[RWhite]

I'm also partial to desktops. However, out of that list of Laptops you gave I would pick the Toshiba or Dell just purely on service considerations. I.e. they are both major brands, you will be able to find drivers and parts for them for years to come. Not so much the other two.

Only you can decide if portability is a major need. If you want to be able to record at many different locations, get a laptop. If you will be doing all your recording at home, get a desktop.