laptop vs pcs

[snottycrab]

has anyone got any advice or opinions as to the pros and cons of buying a lap top computer as a starting point for a musician who is very interested in setting up a small digital home recording studio? i heard they they werent fast enough and the fact that one is limited to the amount of pci slots and bay ports one can have in comparison to a standard pc could make recording be very limiting. any comments would be very much appreciated

 

[Slackmaster2K]

Well a lot of the arguments against a laptop are pretty obvious:

1) Less available hardware.
2) Extreme hardware integration. Almost all internal hardware designs will be proprietary. Drivers can be difficult...installing windows can be difficult.
3) More expensive components, including hard drives and memory.
4) Often unpredictable power management.
5) Irritating to use. Small keyboard, small screen, etc.
6) Fragile.

I would only recommend using a laptop if you absolutely require mobility. Although even in that case I would recommend a rackmounted machine and LCD monitor.

The one single benefit of a laptop is that it's (of course) portable. But that can definately be a huge benefit. I wish I had a laptop!

Slackmaster 2000

 

[TexRoadkill]

If you had to go with a laptop get a Mac if you can afford it. PC latops aren't very good for audio/video because of the reasons Slack gave.

If you are serious about recording get a desktop. They are cheaper and better for hardware.