What’s a good laptop for production

[oldintomusic]

Hmm, so I ordered a Sandisk 1tb last night will get it this morning. Using it in my iPad 10 should I be concerned? Lots of original lyrics and music, don’t want to lose any!

 

[Papanate]

Never worked for me. My mac mini has loads of external storage, but despite my best efforts, far too much stuff requires being on the internal drive. So annoying. Spent ages last night trying to make more space. No huge files, just crazy numbers of smaller ones. Cubase now needs lots of space, so does adobe. Even a few sample packages thwarted my attempts to run externally. Grrrrr

That doesn’t sound right - what programs require local drives? - Also from my own experience with a MacBook Pro with a 1 TB drive on board - I use SSD’s for external drives and have absolutely no problems if I load a program on the SSD and run it - I even loaded the OS on one just to see what it would do - booted fine - maybe a tiny bit slower - I think spining disk drives might be too slow - is that your issue?

 

[Steenamaroo]

Hmm, so I ordered a Sandisk 1tb last night will get it this morning. Using it in my iPad 10 should I be concerned? Lots of original lyrics and music, don’t want to lose any!

Sorry, @oldintomusic - My advice regarding external storage was aimed @rob aylestone
I didn't mean to add confusion to your topic.

 

[oldintomusic]

Yea, it’s all good. Just trying to go the right route. Thanks

 

[ecc83]

"There's an app called DaisyDisk...."Ffff***! Mr S, a mac only app. Is there something similar for Windows? This Lenovo has a 256G SSD but I only have about 10G left! I do try to spruce the drive but am never quite sure what to dump.

Dave.

 

[Steenamaroo]

WinDirStat, if memory serves.

 

[ecc83]

WinDirStat, if memory serves.

Got it! Thanks and already it has found the hibernation file of 13G which I have now deleted and deactivated. Also however I found a download of 5.4 G, Windows 11 (this is 10) Now, HTF THAT got there I have no idea! Microsoft have in the past asked me to check to see if this laptop will run W11. It won't but does that process then leave about 7gigs of crap inone's machine?

This Lenovo only has a 240G SSD and it has filled up over the years. I think that app will be invaluable in making space safely.

Dave.

 

[Steenamaroo]

Not the prettiest looking app in the world, but it does the job!

I stopped fighting windows updates a long time ago.
In the end I added all their domains to my pi hole so it can try to download updates all it wants - It won't happen.

 

[DM60]

Not the prettiest looking app in the world, but it does the job!

I stopped fighting windows updates a long time ago.
In the end I added all their domains to my pi hole so it can try to download updates all it wants - It won't happen.

That is a pretty nice little use for a PI. Cuts down a lot of crap.

 

[scottmartin]

I can only advise you about Windows machines but since you want to keep costs down, for any given specification a mac is likely to be more expensive than a Windows laptop.

The three "parameters" of any computer are,
CPU speed.
Hard drive capacity (has to be an SSD these days)
and memory, ram.

Don't get hung up about CPU speed. You have a Volt 2 in 2 out +MIDI interface. Any i5 or i7 loaded laptop that runs Win 11 will work fine. You only need blistering CPU speeds if you are running loads of track and plugins and VSTis. And I DO mean loads! Do you know about "Latency"? If not come back and we will go into it.

Hard drive: get the biggest one you can afford. I would say 512G as a minimum but better 1Tb and up. Some laptops can take two HDDs and if so you could avoid getting two machines? Just save music on one drive, "office" on the other*.

RAM: 8G is enough but go for 16 if you can. You can do just about anything audio with 8G but if you want to dabble with video it will stutter.

Makes? I like Lenovos, but have an old HP that still serves me well. Dells can be good too, I hear. That’s about the extent of my experience. If you have a trusted this UK laptop retailer Shop near you, see what he likes?

*in any event get at least one 1TB+ external USB drive. SSD would be nice but big ones are expensive. Wee spinners are cheap as chips and since speed is not an issue get those. You MUST you see back up all your work OFF the PC....'t'appen. Also, once you have the laptop all setup make an image of the system drive on said USB drive.

Lastly I am NO PC guru! I am just a retired valve amp tech who has been dabbling with computers for 20 years. I SHOULD know more but it is hard to get it to stick when you get past about 75!

Dave.

For music production, I’d go with a MacBook Air or Pro with Apple silicon. They’re quiet, reliable, have good battery life, and handle DAWs and plugins very well. I’d recommend at least 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD. If you prefer Windows, look for a recent Intel or AMD laptop with good USB connectivity and 16GB RAM. I’d avoid ARM/Snapdragon Windows laptops for now if you rely on older audio plugins or drivers, as compatibility can sometimes be an issue. For your Volt 276, just make sure the interface and its drivers are supported by whichever laptop you choose.

 

[Papanate]

Damn, really? Not saying you're wrong but I don't think I've ever encountered that.
I've opted for the 256GB model three times in a row since 2011 and I generally have around 60-100GB free.
That leaves enough free space that I never get stuck and have to juggle.

Do you have everything in the Cloud?

There's an app called DaisyDisk which gives a nice easy way to find the largest files/folders, although MacOS built in viewer isn't bad.

I never had a use for third party apps that do what
native Apps already do.

 

[Steenamaroo]

Do you have everything in the Cloud?

No, I don't use cloud services.
I just put sample libraries, photo libraries, large media, games libraries, etc on an external drive.
Always have.

Keeps the OS drive lean and gives portability / cross system use if needed.

I never had a use for third party apps that do what
native Apps already do.

The built in tools are great for provided categories, at least on my MacOS version.
I use DaisyDisk once in a while (WinDirStat windows equivalent) because it scans the whole disk
and shows up areas the OS isn't going to highlight, like large caches or old installation downloads for certain apps, etc.
It will also scan external volumes which is very handy.

Wouldn't call it essential but I choose to live on a modest drive and like to keep things tidy.

 

[ecc83]

Hmm...read just a day ago that running disc checking software needlessly wears out SSDs? One of the top computer bods might care to weigh in?
But I agree about not using clouds. They are in fact of course multi-acre bit barns pushing up your lekky bill and gulping all your water.

Dave.

 

[Steenamaroo]

SSD wear is due to writing and erasing.
These tools are read-only.

 

[PorterhouseMusic]

lekky bill

^^^^