Laptop VS stand-alone

[deathbog1]

I am about to buy a laptop and I’d like some advice. I wish to record solo acoustic guitar music. I may choose to multi-track occasionally, but as there’s only me playing, I do not need to record multiple tracks simultaneously. I am getting a laptop for non-musical reasons anyway.

Questions...
What sort of spec laptop would I need? (Celeron or Pentium M?)

Should I use my new laptop and get a USB or firewire interface or should I buy a dedicated hard disk multi-track?

As I will be using a large diaphragm condenser microphone I am concerned about picking up external noise. Are laptops noisy? Are multi-tracks noisy?

Why are interfaces so expensive? They are almost the price of some recorders!

So, could you kind folks suggest some gear that will best help me record solo acoustic guitar. Bear in mind after I have forked out for the laptop, I have about 1,200 dollars (700 quid) to spend, on a mic, boom, leads and gizmos.

Cheers.

 

[apl]

Hi, deathbog.

I recorded this song using a TASCAM US122 (US$200) and a Rode NT3 mic (US$180). I bought the US122 because it had phantom power mic pres and DI for guitar. I am very pleased with both and had no problems with the USB setup.

When I recorded the vocals I set up my mic in a bedroom, hit record, hurried down the hall to the mic, so I didn't have to worry about PC noise. It seems that a laptop should be pretty quiet.

You should be OK with any new laptop. I am running a desktop Duron 750MHz with 256 MByte RAM and Windows 98SE.

Hope this helps.

PS Please post a comment on the song! Thanks!

 

[setabkcin]

Hey Deathbog,
As far as laptop specs a Pentium 4 or an AMD Athlon would be best with at least 256 ram Win XP and like 40 gig HD (just keep in mind the system requirements for the gear you are looking at). A good USB interface would be something like the M-Audio Duo, and good firewire could be something like M-Audio Audiophile. If you've got like 500 bucks for an interface you could get a Digidesign Mbox with Pro Tools LE (do we promote Pro Tools here?) As far as mics, the Rode NT3 is a good choice. I personally use that Audio Technica AT3035, it's simple but it gets the job done well. I've had no problems with it. I hope this helps. Good luck.