Guitarist Looking for the right Laptop PC (or Mac??)

  • Thread starter Thread starter Spotcheckbilly
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Well, you guys are certainly making excellent arguments for PC Laptops using the AMD Athlon chips. Keep in mind, I'm not saying anyone is lying, but I'm just trying to challenge all ideas/advice to help make sure I'm making the right decision.

After some thinking/reading your guys' posts, I realize my ONLY need for going MAC is virus protection. I have two options if I go PC:

1) Have one Laptop DAW and one Laptop for internet.

2) Have one Laptop for Audio Recording AND internet and just make sure I back up my projects on external harddrive.

Oh boy, the decision is not easy. I don't want two computers, I'll say that at least.
 
So, these AMD equipped PC's are faster than MAC Powerbook 1.33 GHZ laptops, bottom line?
 
Do A Test !!
load in 24 tracks on an amd 64 laptop with a 7200 rpm drive, and time the mixdown. do the same on a powerbook. use 3 minute tracks.
 
I don't have any tracks. I haven't done any recording lately. Just used my Omni Studio as a tool to feed my monitors w/ my Alesis poweramp and play music off of my computer. Once I learned of looping a month ago, I really wanted to get the ball rolling. I guess I'm in the stoneage.
 
haha two lap tops.... probably not the best way to go.

if i were you i'd just do both on the laptop. just back your shit up once in a while. if you buy a lap top from a reputable dealer, you will probably get a set of install CD's. these make it extremely easy to reformat and reinstall windows in the Rare case of getting a virus.

I think you are worrying too much about viruses and computer crashes. yes it does suck when it happens and it has probably happened to almost all of us. it really doesn't happen that often though, and it is even rarer that your computer will be beyond the point of repair. in that rare rare case, just do the quick reformat with the CD's and put your shit back on with the backups you made. Buy a 120 gig USB/firewire starge hard drive and backing stuff up is deadly easy.
 
Yeah, maybe I am worrying too much, but gotta make as much of an educated decision as I can.

Thanks to everyone for the advice.
 
The problem you've got is the Omni Studio won't work on a laptop. So you need not just a soundcad, but also Hi-Z inputs for guitar and/or mic preamps.

Check out the Presonus Firepod. For $600 you get 8 channels, 8 preamps, a couple of Hi-Zs, and Midi. Probably more than you need right now and being a rack mout unit it's not super-portable, but the advantage is when you want to upgrade your laptop or set up a desktop studio, it's still useful. You could flick the Omni on ebay for maybe $150 to offset the cost

edit: Oh yeah & it comes with Cubase LE
 
Well........

.....I read some articles that i found links to on this forum and I think it was John Kubis's website that had a really good article on Mac's poor performance at mixdown. The AMD 64 7200 processor laptop seems to be the way to go. If I went this route, I'd probably get the laptop for internet use and install my software on it for mixing down when I'm out of town. I'd also like to hook up a custom made desktop or rig my Dell Dimension desktop for a DAW at my home. Yes, this would be two computers, but this way I could have my desktop NEVER connect to the internet. I could take my projects with me out of town by tossing them on my laptop (with same mixing/looping/etc. software installed) and mix down while traveling. I could also keep my Omni Studio and get a midi hookup for USB port for using a keyboard. Does this seem like a good idea?

If I go this route, I have some questions:

1) What are the exact specs I should look for in an AMD powered laptop?

2) Where would you recommend I get a custom made PC desktop DAW? I heard you can get them for @ $500-$600 these days, strictly designed for recording (high RAM, fast processer, etc., but without the typical user's computer needs).

Thanks!
 
i posted specs for an amd sempron laptop earlier in the thread.
or you can look at a amd 64 laptop. more powerfull. but whether you need it is a question only you can answer.
remember one thing - and this applies to desktops too.
even if you get a sempron in both a laptop and a desktop - its no slouch of a processor. in fact its very fast. also lets say you only get 40 tracks with a sempron ..well thats not the end of the story. you can get unlimited tracks by mixing 40 down to stereo , reimporting into a new session the stereo mix - then adding 39 more tracks. so right there is 80 tracks. plenty for any song.
this is why you dont necessarily need a amd 64.
amd sempron systems are going in my area for 350 bucks.
 
minofifa said:
I think you are worrying too much about viruses and computer crashes. yes it does suck when it happens and it has probably happened to almost all of us. it really doesn't happen that often though, and it is even rarer that your computer will be beyond the point of repair.
Click to expand...

I have been using a few different laptops for many of the tasks you are wanting to perform. But I work with computers so putting together what I need when it's needed has never been an issue. I also do network/Internet security for my 'real job' and mino hit the nail squarely on the head... The script-kiddies and wannabe hackers that are reponsible for 99% of the in-the-wild Internet threats get a huge kick out of trying to make the news... Since the "I Love You" and "Melissa" viruses became instant media celebrities, the trend for the past 5 years has been to try and create self-propgating viruses/worms that will infect as many hosts as possible in as short a time as possible. To do that, the new worms configure themselves to infect vulnerable systems (Macs, PC's, Linux, they all have their weak spots) and then search for other vulnerable systems from the infected machine to wreak more havoc. If the virus were to wipe out your BIOS or hard drive (like the viruses of 'old'), it just cut it's self-propagating life short. The writers want your system up so you can be online. Plus, viruses can not infect a system unless/until something/someone at that system acts upon the hostile program... That can be you clicking on a seemingly harmless link, or java code exploiting a weakness in the OS or browser.

Now, all that being said, using your recording computer for Internet use makes you more vulnerable to online 'Parasites' than to viruses... These are the 'behind the scene' pop-up generators and spyware programs that install on your system without your permission... Over time they will bog you down to a crawl whether you're on a Mac or a PC.

I would recommend using your laptop for recording, and keeping your Dell desktop system for the majority of your web use.

Sorry for being so long winded... I hope some of this helps...
 
to keep the idiots/viruses out of my internet pc i programmed my own browser, that i'm using right now. as your a "tekkie" rabbit. the footprint is a 50k exe. got rid of all the browser bloat.
i'm using it now typing to you. there are "ways" to stop the infiltrators.
never had a problem yet. touch wood. frankly i dont know why people get perverted pleasure in infiltrating systems. in fact it baffles me.
 
Bentrabbit......that is some very sound advice.....

The spyware programs are actually more of what I'm worried about. I'm not stupid and don't fall for those email viruses that are sent out, and I blacklist all of those emails, although I'm sure there's still ways that viruses can leak onto your system.

but, what about cleaning up your computer from all the spyware? I know there's programs out there like Adware that will find them and delete them off your computer. But, is there irreversible damage down to your computer by these "parasites".....or can it be easily restored to "like new condition"???

More than anything, I need the laptop for internet work. I figure I'll stick with my Omni Studio with my Dell Desktop and just do small recording jobs with ACID software.......until I can afford a nice Desktop recording station, which will probably be a PC so I can transfer jobs for mixdown to my Laptop for when I go out of town and want to work on stuff. In reality, I can't see myself doing much mobile recording, but instead mobile mixing/editing. But, I'm sure there will be times when I will want to go to someone's house and record with him/her and then the mobile recording may become an issue. But of course, If I had a Firewire/USB method for both my desktop AND laptop, then I'd be in business.

For right now, I think I'm heading in the AMD processor equipped Laptop direction.
 
Manning..........or anyone else........what are some good browsers to use that will not allow spyware/viruses to get through to you? I guess I'm asking about some free ones that you can download? Thanks.
 
spot. not kept up with whats out there. opera i KNOW is one.
but as to its effectiveness at keeping bad guys out i dont know.
i think there is a small charge for opera. its well regarded. you might want to contact the opera people. just use google to see what other browsers are out there. the other problem your going to find is what a friend of mine has found recently. he is so paranoid. but all the protection mechanisms he has installed are slowing his machine down.
just found this ....dont know how good it is....
http://www.suttondesigns.com/
 
Avant isn't really a browser, just a different shell for the IE engine.
 
elevate. as i said i havent bothered keeping up with the available browsers as i built my own from scratch. so if you know any good ones...jump in and
suggest.
 
Thanks for the tips. I'll revert back to this thread when it comes time to get hooked up with a browser for web work with my laptop.

The real question is, do any of these different browsers really excel at keeping the "bad guys" out? That I don't know....
 
Using my Desktop

I hope no one is tooooo sick of this thread. But, I was just thinking that since my Dell Dimension 2350 Desktop has a Pentium IV chip and 256Mb of Ram, that I should probably just add more RAM to it and clean it up from all the hours of internet usage (i.e.-spyware, etc.) and use IT as my DAW. Then just use a laptop for internet stuff.

This sounds like most logical solution to me b/c I would still be able to use my Omni Studio with the Delta66 soundcard for recording. I'd just have to purchase some software (whether it be Power Tracks, Cakewalk, or whatever). I don't think I need the biggest and baddest PC as some engineers do. Just enough to do 20 tracks or less with some tracking/looping software. I could go midi via a USB port, right?

Any opinions? Am I missing something here or am I thinking logically for my needs at this point in time? It seems as if people are getting good work done without the biggest baddest PC.

Thanks.
 
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