Laptop Processor Questions

  • Thread starter Thread starter thehouseofshawn
  • Start date Start date
thehouseofshawn said:
The speed is so much slower though...or is it? Can anyone provide info or a link about processor speeds and comparisons? They're doing around 1.2 or 1.5 while the IV is doing 3. I am confused.
I'm not sure what the numbers are exactly but a Pentium M at 1.3 GHz roughly equals a P4 at 2 GHz.
 
christiaan said:
I'm not sure what the numbers are exactly but a Pentium M at 1.3 GHz roughly equals a P4 at 2 GHz.
How does that work? I tried to look up stuff on howstuffworks but didn't figure it all out.
 
The Pentium M and the Pentium 4 are based on two completely different cores. The Pentium M core just happens to be more efficient per MHz than a Pentium 4. Just like the Athlon family.
 
So I found a laptop that would work well...maybe?
HP Pavilon zx5280us
-HP also has pretty much an equivalent with the Athlon 64 processor

It comes with an 80GB hardrive that operates at 4200rpm. I was thinking, since it has been suggested before and from other musicians and recording setups, to have a dedicated music hard drive to use...now...since it has 3 USBs (which I assume are 2.0s) can this hardrive (SimpleTech SimpleDrive 250GB) work well with it for it is the 7200rpm, plus I'll have more then enough storage space just for music.

There's a section on it about USB A and USB B...apparently the notebook has USB A and the harddrive has USB B. What is the definition between the two...and what problems would arise with it? (If any...)

Thanks...
 
Last edited:
i am no hardware guru, but it seems that this route (usb2 hdd) will somewhat "cripple" your possibilities to use a USB audio interface.

usb devices normally absorb some processor resources, so you would challenge your procesor quite a bit ...

any opinions?
thx
alfred
 
do some more googling and i think youll find there are several athlon or a64 laptops with 7200 rpm drives.
DONT GO 4200 rpm. i think someone mentioned emachines as a candidate.
 
Check out a ProStar 8794.
You can customize your own with up to 2 Gigs of RAM and two internal 60 Gig 7200 RPM hard drives.
They also offer an AMD 64 version 4764, but it doesn't offer the ability to have two internal hard drives.
 
crankz1 said:
Check out a ProStar 8794.
You can customize your own with up to 2 Gigs of RAM and two internal 60 Gig 7200 RPM hard drives.
They also offer an AMD 64 version 4764, but it doesn't offer the ability to have two internal hard drives.

I printed out your resources...thank you...I wish there was more review on these or more publicity...I never knew this brand existed. I will find some reviews of them if I can...and take them into consideration.
Since I can get two drives with the first one...would any of you suggest a dedicated hard drive for music...or is that just a silly misconception?
 
With a notebook, you definitely want a company with strong support, because you can't just run out to CompUSA or Micro Center and buy a new PS or motherboard.

Gateway, IBM, and HP all fit the bill in this category.
 
apparently bestbuy.com are selling a64 laptops.
compaq are. eurocomm.com are and many others.
one point to consider if your going with a firewire audio solution
ask the sound solution manufacturer which chip is recommended
in the laptop for firewire support. there have been some issues i believe.
also i think asus and fujitsu are also making a64 laptops.
i expect more manufacturers will enter the fray. this is a hot new market.
so as i said before - buyer beware. do your research.
and dont rush into things. try and get 7200 rpm drives if you can.
 
thehouseofshawn said:
...would any of you suggest a dedicated hard drive for music...or is that just a silly misconception?

By all means ..... Having a drive dedicated to the audio data is the way to go.
OS and programs on main drive and all audio data on a second drive. Less worries about dropouts due to the OS or programs needing to read/write from/to the drive if all the audio is being read/written from/to a separate drive.
The song posted in this thread was done on a ProStar with SAWStudio. 24 tracks in one shot using a RME CardBus, DigiFace and 3 ADA8000's.
 
ok shawn - ive found a central resource on the amd laptops.
go to amd.com . click on where to buy, then on the upper right hand side
click on NOTEBOOKS. the page that comes up lists the vendors using amd
processors in their laptops. just be aware that laptops are not as easily upgradeable as towers. and there is the obsolescence factor to consider versus towers. but from my research so far. the amd64 laptops are very fast.
but you draw your own conclusions and research.
hth
 
My dream book would have to be this:

Voodoo M860

Athlon 3700+
2gig RAM
Radeon 9700 (yes, I take recording breaks to play Jedi Academy :D)
1680x1050 15.4" widescreen
60gig 7.2k HD
WinXP Pro

A mere $4400. For comparison, the Compaq R3000Z, closely configured:

Athlon 3700+
2gig RAM
MX440 AGP (yuck.....but perfectly fine for audio)
1680x1050 15.4" widescreen
WinXP Pro
80gig 5.4k HD

$3005.00

Both use the nForce3 Go 150 chipset, so they should be good for audio compatibility.

That being said, I am still going strong on my Gateway with 1.3Ghz, and I am probably just going to get a Toshiba 80gig 5.4k HD, w/16MB cache, and maybe another stick of 512MB. :D

With Audition, freezing tracks works wonders and saves me money. hehehe
 
crankz1 said:
You could always look into AlienWare for a laptop also.

It's a rebadged Clevo. Clevo makes laptops for tons of people. Sager is another one. You'll find that the specs of the Alienware are very similar to a couple Sagers.
 
Well...I've turned towards Macs. Very close friends who have a recording studio at home suggested it, and I was able to come in and mess with it...it is what I would really like.
Now...one more question, and I'm sure it'll be done:
FirePod says "The FIREPOD comes ready-to-go with Steinberg's Cubase LE 48-track 24-bit/96K recording software, and is also compatible with many popular ASIO/WDM and Core Audio based applications."
So...what popular software would work with this, would Logic? I could get a good deal on Logic with the mac too...which is why I ask.
 
well ok - go mac.
i'm reading in the past few days how powerbooks poop out.

you need to read some of the perrformance numbers on some forums of
the amd 64. like cakewalk.com and nuendo.com.
the amd 64 will give you more track counts and plug ins.
sean - everything has its positives and negatives.
where i come from there is couple of sayings. beauty is skin deep,
and mutton done up like lamb. look below the surface of the mac at the underlying computer architecture.
and do some detailed research and youll see i right.
 
in addition an early amd 64 user reported to me a noise reduction test done on it of 1.75 seconds. this translates to time savings in a session.
a powerbook wont come close.
 
Back
Top