Is this laptop worth an ything for recording?

Rich_S

Rich_S

Member
I just inherited a Dell Inspiron 1545 from my daughter. She switched to a Chromebook because never says "no" to any little thing that pops up on her screen, and the computer was basically useless because it was all junked up with malware and other useless stuff. It took me all day to get it cleaned off, and fresh installs of Open Office, Firefox, and Thunderbird running. So, I gots me a new computer, a big step up from that little Acer netbook I was using.

Here's the system configuration:

Dell_system.PNG

In addition, it has 224 GB of free space on the hard drive. Since this is now "Dad's Computer" and no one else wants it (They're all convinced is a piece o' crap and I'm not going to tell 'em differently.) I'm thinking about using it for low-end recording, like maybe remixing my old 4-track cassette demo (recently converted to digital.)

Let's say for argument's sake, I want to run Reaper, and a typical USB interface like a Scarlett 2i2 or 2i4. Will that be totally pointless on this laptop, or will it be useable, as long as I keep my track count and use of plug-ins to some reasonable level?

Long-term, I have a midsize tower I plan to upgrade, but it's been a year and I haven't gotten around to it yet. The laptop has the added advantage that I can take it on business trips with me and spend my evenings in the hotel learning Reaper instead of in a bar drinking.

What say you?
 
Yes. If you're going to run a 2i4 and you're limiting your input to 2 ins at a time. If you're running Reaper with only a few plugins (bump the internal memory if you plan to use a bunch). If you're going to run no more than 5 or 6 VSTis (guessing, based on the CPU speed and threads). This machine should work for you.

It actually could handle quite a bit more. Would work great as a mobile recording solution. May be a bit slow rendering...
 
I have one very similar and can track 14 tracks at once. I have nothing but Malwarebytes running and I turn off WiFi when I record. I do not run any VSTs as I am just using it for tracking, so you might have to freeze tracks on this (or render) if it gets too many VSTs running. But you can do a lot with this little machine within reason (not the DAW ;) )

Nice little machine really.
 
It's better than mine. - though I'm running Arch Linux.

MAYBE... I would put a solid state drive in if it doesn't already have one... since it's a fresh install anyway..
 
Solid State Drives nice. They are nice if you want 20 second boot time instead of 2 minute. They are great for recording drives (far better use). And they are becoming reliable (much more than 5 years ago). Even a small one (90-120G) can be used for boot and recording. Just make sure you move the project folders off when you finish so you have room for more! Boot sector takes less that 1Gb and storing the audio takes about a quarter gig per minute for 16 tracks at 88.2/24.

They may not be an end-all, but they do have some uses.
 
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