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what is the best laptop for doing music and playing live?
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psyaudionamics
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
38
Posts :
546
Posted : Apr 28, 2006 01:00
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Brother get a dell.. honestly they kick ass!!!!!!!!!
I have one and never gives me problems peace |
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solconnection
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
11
Posts :
46
Posted : Apr 28, 2006 08:36
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On 2006-04-27 18:12, Dharma Lab wrote:
1) Buy the fastest processor you can afford. ...
etc etc etc snip
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thankyou very much mate, you have given me a lot of good advice to think about.
just out of interest, can you use the same pci/agp/ram cards in laptops as you do in desktops?
have a nice day
-Dan
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koalakube
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
48
Posts :
437
Posted : Apr 28, 2006 10:40
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On 2006-04-27 21:05, Aeon wrote:
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On 2006-04-27 00:16, Triton wrote:
man get powerbook with intel processor....
soon they will be running windoze xp mac edition... so u will have both plataforms in one computer
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Lol.....kind of true ;-)
I had few laptops and i gigged/produced music on most of them.The most recent i had ,have been a Toshiba and a Sony.
In my experience,when you get a decent specs,it doesnt really matter the brand.I reckon it is more important to set WIn XP properly.(not needed if you opt for a mac)
I would personally stay away from Texas Instrument firewire controllers,I had some compatibilty issues in the past (especially with Maduio 410 firwire)
Two computers for the price of three!
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z1P^
Megalopsy
Started Topics :
28
Posts :
535
Posted : Apr 28, 2006 14:08
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On 2006-04-27 18:12, Dharma Lab wrote:
Dan,
I can give you some guidelines, but lots of times you don't actually know until you try your setup out.
1) Buy the fastest processor you can afford. You can always add more RAM, a larger hard drive, or a better soundcard, but in general you cannot upgrade the processor (and if you can, your going to have to pay someone to do it).
2) Buy an Intel Centrino processor. As I stated earlier, they run much cooler. DO not get the celeron versions. Look at the model #'s, and try to get one with a 1 MB or larger L2 cache. Any non-celeron centrino will probably have 1 - 2 MB L2 cache. I have not used any of the mobile AMD processors, but AMD has been notorious for inadequate overheating safety, so I would stay away from it.
...[continued]
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i have to disagree on this...
first and crucial issue when buying any workstation is the cpu/chipset/mem... the relation between this items,
its true that the memories can always be upgraded, mostly in physical size, but if you dont buy a dual channel chipset, such as the 915p or the 945 from Intel...
you'll never be able to upgrade to dualchannel... i wanted to make this clear cauz there are a lot of systems with desktop cpus (P4 of more than 3ghz) but with single channel chipsets
which go way under the specs we need for sound production.
thanks brotheres, hope it helped!
 (www) DarkPrisma.com.ar/ ~ FranticNoise.com.ar/ ~ Megalopsy.com.ar/ ~
providing shamanic euphoria until the end of the days! |
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e-motion
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
71
Posts :
933
Posted : Apr 28, 2006 14:20
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hmm how do i know if i have that? i bought recently (in febuary) an amd64 3200+, motherboard is an nvidia nforce 4 and i never heard about that  i checked the nvidia website and couldn't find anything. sorry for stealing the thread, it's a PC not a laptop  |
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ZerreX
Started Topics :
1
Posts :
5
Posted : Apr 28, 2006 14:21
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Hi there, just want to add another opinion.
I did not read anything about IBM/Lenovo.
Well ok they are not the cheapest, but if you go on parties or openairs and plan on using your laptop to play live or dj, you should be aware that a party is a rough enviromnent for your hardware. So I would recommend buying the hardiest stuff you can get.
IBM constructs pretty tough laptops.
Oh and also be sure to have an integrated Firewire device, at least 1 gig of ram (more is better), for the cpu I would recommend at least a 1.6ghz (better if core duo, cause vst architechture and sound processing will be one of the first things running superior on more cores (its great to get running the threads parralel).
A good resolution on you screen is always a pro , cause you will have a better overview and can get more stuff visible at once.
For the harddrive:
The feature of ibm laptops to prevent your harddrive from headcrashing by having a sensor built in that senses vibrations/impacts can be good AND bad. You will have to configure it correctly so that it wont disable your harddrive on every single bassdrum , but for example a subbass sweep on a decent soundsystem is known to be able to crash about any harddrive. so there it would be good to temp. disable it... play around with you settings  ...
Yeah and most IMPORTANT:
Have a keen eye on temperature levels / ability of controlling the cooling architechture of your laptop.
A club can be a quite hostile environment to your laptop, as its humid and quite hot. So your laptop will have to cope with that , too...
Hope this is a bit informative,
ZerreX
P.S. Oh and btw. a little built in light in the top of your screen instead of a webcam , is really nice little gymmick to have ...
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z1P^
Megalopsy
Started Topics :
28
Posts :
535
Posted : Apr 28, 2006 15:07
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On 2006-04-28 14:20, e-motion wrote:
hmm how do i know if i have that? i bought recently (in febuary) an amd64 3200+, motherboard is an nvidia nforce 4 and i never heard about that i checked the nvidia website and couldn't find anything. sorry for stealing the thread, it's a PC not a laptop
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yeah
nforce chipsets feature the dual channel architecture since the nforce3...
cheerz
(www) DarkPrisma.com.ar/ ~ FranticNoise.com.ar/ ~ Megalopsy.com.ar/ ~
providing shamanic euphoria until the end of the days! |
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FluoSamsara (Oxygen)
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
84
Posts :
1164
Posted : Apr 28, 2006 16:18
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My two cents...
DON´T GET P4!! I´ve had a P4 3.4ghz and it got so so hot sometimes it would turn off automatically to prevent burning (security system).P4 speeds at these moment are way too hot for a laptop n my opinion (not to mention the noise!!) I couldn´t have it on my lap or it would burn my legs!
I now got a centrino 1.8 and I find it to perform even better....
And about brands...I´m also a toshiba guy like some ppl in here as I noticed....
boomz
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Dharma Lab
Started Topics :
8
Posts :
342
Posted : Apr 28, 2006 18:20
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On 2006-04-28 14:08, z1P^ wrote:
[i have to disagree on this...
first and crucial issue when buying any workstation is the cpu/chipset/mem... the relation between this items,
its true that the memories can always be upgraded, mostly in physical size, but if you dont buy a dual channel chipset, such as the 915p or the 945 from Intel...
you'll never be able to upgrade to dualchannel... i wanted to make this clear cauz there are a lot of systems with desktop cpus (P4 of more than 3ghz) but with single channel chipsets
which go way under the specs we need for sound production.
thanks brotheres, hope it helped!
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A very valid point. I didn't want to get too technical, and so perhaps that is why I avoided talking about north bridges, etc. I disagree with your assessment that single channel memory architecture is under spec for music production. A faster frontside bus translates to a faster machine, but I seriously doubt anyone is really running into the brickwall limit of that bus for most operations. Not to metion, many specs are really misleading, because they are burst/peak speeds, and far from real world sustained speeds. For many devices, expect half the max speed they tell you. I agree that a DDR is better, but people have been making music for quite sometime without it.
Dan, to answer your questions about RAM, no laptop RAM is a completely different size & socket than desktop pc RAM.
Keep The Faith,
Christian K. |
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e-motion
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
71
Posts :
933
Posted : Apr 29, 2006 14:41
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thanks zip, i can rest now  |
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Get-a-fix
Getafix
Started Topics :
147
Posts :
1441
Posted : Apr 29, 2006 15:13
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I'm just curious will the new Centrino dual core processors with 667MHz FSB offer any significant performance difference when compared with a regular centrino with 533MHz FSB?
http://www.soundcloud.com/getafixmusic |
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Elad
Tsabeat/Sattel Battle
Started Topics :
158
Posts :
5306
Posted : Apr 29, 2006 17:51
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On 2006-04-26 20:04, Dharma Lab wrote:
I've been working in computer hardware & software for 8 years now, and the best laptop I've used is a toshiba. Used to recommend Dell's first, but their quality & customer service has definitely slipped in the last few years.
I HIGHLY recommend you get a centrino processor, they are much cooler than a regular pentium or pentium M. (Overheating processors is the #1 reason for laptop failure in my experience). NEVER buy any Celeron version of a pentium processor, as they are the cheaper version (i.e. slower).
My Echo indigo audio card works wonderfully. I've tried 3 seperate m-aduio cards, and had serious trouble with all of them.
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so.. thats the one in your hatch ? 
www.sattelbattle.com
http://yoavweinberg.weebly.com/ |
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Yuli
Retired
Started Topics :
40
Posts :
1660
Posted : Apr 29, 2006 20:05
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On 2006-04-29 15:13, S-Cube wrote:
I'm just curious will the new Centrino dual core processors with 667MHz FSB offer any significant performance difference when compared with a regular centrino with 533MHz FSB?
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Well to my great surprise the one I have is faster then my studio desktop that runs AMD64 Dual Core 4200 with Striping on 2 SATA drives and 2 Gig dual channel RAM
I was pretty shocked when I saw that the lappy is actually faster, so yeah I believe it is faster and far more stable than the single core CPU's
A man with a "master plan" is often a woman |
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z1P^
Megalopsy
Started Topics :
28
Posts :
535
Posted : May 3, 2006 16:58
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Quote:
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On 2006-04-28 18:20, Dharma Lab wrote:
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On 2006-04-28 14:08, z1P^ wrote:
[i have to disagree on this...
first and crucial issue when buying any workstation is the cpu/chipset/mem... the relation between this items,
its true that the memories can always be upgraded, mostly in physical size, but if you dont buy a dual channel chipset, such as the 915p or the 945 from Intel...
you'll never be able to upgrade to dualchannel... i wanted to make this clear cauz there are a lot of systems with desktop cpus (P4 of more than 3ghz) but with single channel chipsets
which go way under the specs we need for sound production.
thanks brotheres, hope it helped!
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A very valid point. I didn't want to get too technical, and so perhaps that is why I avoided talking about north bridges, etc. I disagree with your assessment that single channel memory architecture is under spec for music production. A faster frontside bus translates to a faster machine, but I seriously doubt anyone is really running into the brickwall limit of that bus for most operations. Not to metion, many specs are really misleading, because they are burst/peak speeds, and far from real world sustained speeds. For many devices, expect half the max speed they tell you. I agree that a DDR is better, but people have been making music for quite sometime without it.
Dan, to answer your questions about RAM, no laptop RAM is a completely different size & socket than desktop pc RAM.
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totally agree... the thing is what kind of music you want to do.. but yeah, i exagerated! its me the only sick bastard with so many midi lanes, automations and plugins! heh
cheerz brothers!
(www) DarkPrisma.com.ar/ ~ FranticNoise.com.ar/ ~ Megalopsy.com.ar/ ~
providing shamanic euphoria until the end of the days! |
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Jikkenteki
Jikkenteki
Started Topics :
20
Posts :
356
Posted : May 3, 2006 18:39
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I have an older Toshiba Dynabook G5 (not to be confused with the Mac G5) that has been running solid for like 5 years now with no major issues to report. For my live sets I run Ableton Live 4 with an Echo Indigo card and two USB midi controllers (a UC-33 and a PCR-M1) and I'm pretty happy with the set up.
New Album: Jikkenteki - Flights Of Infinity
Available for free at http://www.ektoplazm.com/free-music/jikkenteki-flights-of-infinity/
PAR-2 Productions http://www.par-2.com |
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