Laptop experts

[PrideTrombone]

Ok, so I'm thinking about getting a laptop that I'd be able to use at work and at home. I do some music writing, so this would mainly be used as a mobile workstation to do all that. The thing is I'd also want to be able to use Pro Tools, a music notation program, and a sound set for the notation program.

On the system requirements, it says that you need a Pentium 4/Athlon 2.4+ GHz or better, but doesn't give a computing speed for the new Duo Core processors, Athlon, etc. What kind of comparable processors would I need to be looking at if I was going with one of these other chipsets?

[apusooner]

get a mac if you are going to use music programs. that's what all the guys in LA use. well, at least the studios i've been to at least. i'm sure there are some that don't.

Isn't protools usually used for recording instead of notation?
i would also suggest looking into digital performer.

[apusooner]

also, i'm not an expert. at all.

[SoonerBorn68]

From my experience (I've bought 3 laptops this year) whatever you get make sure it has an actual video card in it & not a chipset. I bought an Averatec 3700 with a 12" screen & thought it was great until I tried to load one of my favorite games & it wouldn't play because of the video limitations.

My latest is an Emachine with a AMD Turion 64, 80 gig HD, 512 RAM (expandable to 2gigs) with an ATI 200 Radeon video card. It's also got a double layer DVDRW. So far so good. I bought it on clearance at WM for less than $500.

[PrideTuba]

If you want a mac, check out the macbook pro's they are really nice and you can load windows on them too. If you want to stick with pc's, i hate dell, absolutely hate them, so ide check out sony vaio.

[BeetDigger]

The title of this thread is very misleading.

[sanantoniosooner]

The title of this thread is very misleading.

You're a pole dancer anyway.

What do you care?

[BeetDigger]

You're a pole dancer anyway.

What do you care?

Not true. I have nothing against Czech's, Russians and even Germans.

[sanantoniosooner]

Not true. I have nothing against Czech's, Russians and even Germans.

That's why you don't know anything about lapdancing.

You'd have something against them then.

[OCUDad]

If you want a mac, check out the macbook pro's they are really nice and you can load windows on them too. If you want to stick with pc's, i hate dell, absolutely hate them, so ide check out sony vaio.

I'll echo the sentiment that Dells are cr*p. Plus their support stinks. I've been very happy with my Sony VAIO; Sony doesn't throw as much extraneous software on their machines as Dell and others seem to do.

[GottaHavePride]

PC: Sony Vaio or IBM Thikpad.

or (I hate to say it) get a Mac. Their laptops are friggin' sweet, and I think Pro Tools is a Mac-based program anyway.

[mrowl]

Check out the MacBook Pro, it has a video card, if you need the graphics, but it sounds like you don't.

Then the Macbook with the 2.0 core 2 duo with at least 1GB of ram will work.

Stay away from the vaio, if you have a problem with it, a huge pain in the *** to fix.

And IBM hasn't made laptops in years. forgetaboutit

[Sooner_Havok]

I would have say get a mac! I have had mine for more than a year now and I is the BEST computer I have ever owned. Plus, the garage band, the music software that comes preinstalled on mac, is better than almost any PC music software around

[King Crimson]

i'd get a mac even though the powerbook i used to have was a bad machine.....the proverbial lemon. i bought a Dell a couple years back mostly because i needed a machine and had about 1200 bucks to spend and it was just more bang for the buck than macs at the time......and i've used both so it was no biggie. but i think i'll go back to mac next time around.

but if i didn't have both a mac and pc at my office....and based merely on the machines i have bought and paid for.....the Dell has been *by far* the better machine. the powerbook (G3) just did all kinds of screwy stuff all the time. i think it was just bad luck, but you know after dropping almost 2 grand on it.....it got pretty old, pretty fast.

[mrowl]

And right now the apple website has some great prices on refurbs.

[GottaHavePride]

Or if you really want a PC and are willing to spend money... http://www.maingear.com/products-notebook.shtml

[soonerboomer93]

dell generally has some good priced refurbs

and any duo core processor is more then powerful enough for that software application. Infact it might even be designed to utilize a duo core processor.

[OCUDad]

Stay away from the vaio, if you have a problem with it, a huge pain in the *** to fix.

And IBM hasn't made laptops in years. forgetaboutit

I'l respectfully disagree with both those statements -- sort of.

I have had very few problems with my Sony, but when I had a minor issue shortly after I purchased it, they were very quick to respond and fix it to my satisfaction. Perhaps others' mileage has varied.

And IBM stopped "making" laptops only in the sense that they sold that division to Lenovo. Lenovo still makes Thinkpads, brands them as IBM/Lenovo, and they are excellent machines. They are the laptop of choice in many larger companies due to their sturdiness and stability. It's just harder to get a discount on them than it is on other brands.

[mrowl]

I'l respectfully disagree with both those statements -- sort of.

I have had very few problems with my Sony, but when I had a minor issue shortly after I purchased it, they were very quick to respond and fix it to my satisfaction. Perhaps others' mileage has varied.

Sonys problem is design over function. that made it difficult (when I was in tech support) to fix any of their computer products.

And IBM stopped "making" laptops only in the sense that they sold that division to Lenovo. Lenovo still makes Thinkpads, brands them as IBM/Lenovo, and they are excellent machines. They are the laptop of choice in many larger companies due to their sturdiness and stability. It's just harder to get a discount on them than it is on other brands.

True, but the company I worked for at the time that change happened, stopped buying the first day that IBM was not in control.