my laptop possibilities?

[vaporpark]

Hello,

Please excuse my ingnorance of PC recording, but right now the ignorance is all I have.

I am hoping that some of the seasoned folks here might help me with the direction I might could take with the current laptop I have.

Gateway Solo Pro 9300
PIII
9.33GB, 7.75GB currently available
128MB RAM
MS 98 second edition
Maestro Soundcard
2 usb ports
PCI card slot
S/PDIF audio out

I have loaded Pro Tools Free and it seems to playback and function fairly well. Of course I realize recording will probably tax the system more. Is there something other than PTF that I can use (Cakewalk, Cubase, n-track, etc.) that would be better? I looked at the MBox but it seems to only be available for P4/XP. Is there an external device (PCI slot sound card) that will allow me to use the laptop with midi? What about a USB interface like M-Audio, do they work well?

I know, I am green as can be when it comes to PC recording. I have a Tascam 788 and was hoping that the laptop might help me get some keyboard sounds and drum sounds going via midi. Of course I am always looking for extra tracks. Any help would be much appreciated.

Peace,
vp

 

[brzilian]

If you want to use your laptop for DAW work, you will need to add more RAM. 128Mb is not enough - 256 is probably the absolute minimum and 512 would be ideal. The HD is also on the anemic side - 20Gb would be better.

I would also suggest upgrading to XP so you can take full advantage of WDM drivers and the performance gain they will give you.

I really can't make any suggestions as far as software and interface because you really haven't explained your needs (how many inputs, type of input (balanced/unbalanced, line level/powered).

 

[Polaris20]

An upgrade to XP, more RAM, and an Echo Indigo I/O for the cardbus slot would be a good choice, in conjunction with Adobe Audition or something like that.

I wouldn't go to heavily into soft synths on that book.

 

[Chris Shaeffer]

About the cheapest way to get started is to get n-track or just continue using PT Free until it no longer works for you. Do you have mics, cables and such so you can see how your system holds up under a load?

I started with a computer that had similar specs- a bit worse, actually. It doesn't hold up to today's standards (which is why so many folks are suggesting you upgrade) but it *does* work. I just traded up from a computer with about the same specs (except running XP with 512M ram) and it ran Pro Tools LE and Cubase SX just fine. About 22 tracks max with modest plugin counts.

USB devices work pretty well, and are well matched to your machine. I started with a Tascam US-428, which is a MIDI interface, 4 channels in, 2 out audio interface and control surface. There are smaller versions availible now, as well a a host of other, inexpensive USB audio interfaces. I'd just be sure that they have Win98 drivers availible. I'm pretty sure the Tascam devices do.

You shouldn't have any trouble using that machine as a MIDI sequencer and audio recording. On my Sony PIII, I'd have a softsynth drum machine playing a MIDI drum track and have 12-18 tracks of audio. It worked, and I'd still be using if I didn't find a good deal on a buyer for it and a great deal on a new machine.

Take care,
Chris

 

[Fusion2]

a notebook should suffice for mixing small amounts of data and record/capturing purposes of limited size, less your pockets are a mile deep [2+ grand] i suggest the desktop route for a truely useful [24-48 track] DAW....

imho of course...