Minimum specs for notebooks

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pleasestare

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I am looking at notebooks for recording purposes and would like to know what the minimum processor and ram are that I should get. I will get something like an inspire (presonus) interface because it can daisy chain with my brothers for more inputs, but my budget is really tight and I need it to be portable.

Suggestions, is a 1.66 gig celeron quick enough?
 
I'd stay away from Celerons and Semprons if it all possible. That being said, they will get the job done if you don't expect too much out of them. i.e. not recording a lot of tracks at once, or using many plug-ins.

Stick with Windows XP, have 512 MB RAM and you should be ok for a few tracks at a time.
 
buying a portable computer has always been a fight between "how much can i spend?" and "what is the minimum level of performance that will accomplish my goals?"... it doesnt really answer your question, but does prove that there is really no such thing as a "high-performance laptop on a budget". you will always fight with a computer that is just barely enough, and unfortunately, practically all budget units have "just barely enough" in spades.

a
 
If you get a laptop just for recording, and you do the mixing on a desktop PC, if your CPU is no more than 4-5 years old, you probably won't ran out of resources.
It's plug-ins that sucks CPU's blood.
If you don't use plug-ins and just record on your laptop, everything should be ok.
Or if you still need to mix, you could try bouncing tracks with their FX included. For example, you compress and EQ a kick until you like it, then you bounce it to a new audio file where you get the kick compressed and EQ'd, but without CPU sucking...
Sonar has a "freeze" option, that does automaticly what I just explained, I don't know about other DAW though...
 
2Ghz P4 minimum, dual-core better

512Mb minimum ram, 1-2Gb better

NEVER buy a laptop that doesn't have TexasInstruments firewire chips (even if you're not using Firewire YET)

ALWAYS get at least one fast 7200rpm external drive (one for recording to, one for sample libraries and/or backup.) Getting external drives with multiple interfaces (USB2, Firewire, even eSATA) is a SMART thing; then you can hook them up to your best benefit.
* NEVER record to the internal drive. Internal notebook drives are SLOWWWWW.

Pay a little extra for a widescreen. You will be MUCH more comfortable with more screen real estate...
 
pleasestare said:
I am looking at notebooks for recording purposes and would like to know what the minimum processor and ram are that I should get. I will get something like an inspire (presonus) interface because it can daisy chain with my brothers for more inputs, but my budget is really tight and I need it to be portable.

Suggestions, is a 1.66 gig celeron quick enough?
Click to expand...

No, don't use a Celeron or the AMD equal. First check out Sweetwater or Rain and see the specs they use on their computers made for recording. Then you can try and build one using those specs. Laptops are a problem because of the express card slot. You will have a hard time finding a sound card other than SoundBlaster for these and if you google the reaction to these for recording ...well ... not good. Do a lot of research before you do anything. Lot's and lots.

Find out what ASIO 2.0 is.

Check out what the specs are from the recording software web sights…if you can find them. Not all so easy to navigate.

If you are not discoraged yet then start looking into the nightmare of the DAW world “latency”

I’m trying to do the same thing right now. Go from a Korg unit to a laptop…. for not so much money.

This sight is a great help. Do your homework though.
 
Man, this is so annoying. I am looking at notebooks in South Africa and there is not much in the low to mid range notebooks that have firewire, either that or they don't say they do on their websites. I found one that had 4 pin firewire, but as far as I know I need 6 pin to power an inspire or a similar product.

Perhaps I can get something a little customized :confused:
 
I will only be recording 1 or 2 tracks at a time (for anything more like drums I can borrow my brothers macbook pro) so would celeron with 512 only be a problem when I am mixing and editing?
 
pleasestare said:
Man, this is so annoying. I am looking at notebooks in South Africa and there is not much in the low to mid range notebooks that have firewire, either that or they don't say they do on their websites. I found one that had 4 pin firewire, but as far as I know I need 6 pin to power an inspire or a similar product.

Perhaps I can get something a little customized :confused:
Click to expand...


You can always add a firewire PCMCIA or Expresscard firewire card. Makes no difference.

You do NOT need 6-pin firewire. 5th and 6th pin only carries power and all firewire interfaces come with separate power supplies that you should use anyway. Just get a 4pin-to-6pin cable (I use one on my Motu828mkII to my XP laptop).
By the Way: Its rare to find ANY PC laptop that has 6pin firewire because the busses do not have the power capability to handle it properly. Only Macs have 6-pin firewire on their laptops.
 
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