Laptop Setup

[Sir_Matthew]

Okay, here's my dumbass newbie post in this forum.

I recorded my last album on an old Roland VS-880 and it worked fine. But as is always the case, I would like to make the next one even better, with the option of more tracks.

However, I would like to retain the portability I had with the 880, since all tracks won't necessarily be recorded in my studio. So rather than going 1680, I think I'd like to go laptop-based.

This throws me into a world I know very little about: Your world.

I'd like to keep my laptop upgrade budget under $1000, since I have to upgrade my mics and preamps as well. Is there a way to get a laptop with a good soundcard and an interface for $1000 or less?

In a related question, it seems to me that soundcards for laptops would come in more limited varieties than those for desktop PCs, so would I need to buy the laptop with a good soundcard already in it?

 

[jazzrich9]

phew.

okay, first of all, if by laptop upgrade budget you mean you want to buy a new laptop for under 1000.00 with the balls to handle audio, you're going to be unhappily surprised.

Bear minimum specs for audio on a laptop

P4 2ghz+
512 megs of Ram
40gig 7200rpm HD

you will not find a laptop that has an adequate audio interface. I recommend looking at the Hammerfall cards as they have some pcmcia interfaces, or one of the motu firewire pieces. If you want an all in one solution and are not looking at playing the hardware software matching game, you can check out the Digi 002, and go the pro tools route.

Anyhow, check out some of these things, let the sticker shock settle a bit, and figure out what you want and what you actually need.

Hope this helps.