Notebook reccomendations?

[tjradiohead]

Im looking for a notebook to run all my music apps (ableton, cubase, VSTi's etc) as i have finally given in and admitted that my 1.2ghz iBook cant quite hack it.

Anyone got any reccomendations? Whats this pentium M/ celeron etc all about? Being a desktop user, im lost with the mobile technologies and weary of gimmicks and Ghz readings, ala celeron.

I dont really need too much storage space either, as most recording will be done on an external drive.

Any help is much appreciated

 

[StarMonkey]

Its power per watt not Ghz anymore power consumption is the big thing, Ghz doesn't mean as much anymore due to other features taking processing away from the CPU.
Celeron is a cut down Pentium M.
Centrino is a platform comprising a Pentium M, wireless chipset and chipset controller.
Yonah is dual core centrino and low power (the new Apples use these and the new breed of laptops).
Pentium M/Centrino for power and decent price, Celeron for budget (not high power apps), Yonah for dual core centrino (best of the best).
Notebook manufacturer is difficult, such a large range. Most manufacturers are pretty good now. Any price range?

StarMonkey

 

[Dankeech]

tjradiohead,
Don't get yourself a laptop witha cut-down chip (i.e: Celeron) You will need plenty of fast, low-latency memory (I'd say at least 1Gb for Cubase). Ensure you have a serial-ata HDD, not a 'pata' / IDE one.

Are you sure you want a laptop? You could build a desktop pc which would far outstrip the laptop for the price.

Graphics card not very important.

Laptop sound cards are normally very basic, so I would suggest an external module.

Note that Carillon systems are normally excellent and are designed with music-production purely in mind. You will pay quite a high price for one of these, but everything about the system has been designed to give high performance with cubase etc.

You should think about getting an external sound module if getting a standard laptop.

Don't know what your budget is, but these Carillon laptops would be ace.

http://www.carillondirect.com/clnweb/laptop.jsp?country=UK

If going the branded route, I'd tend to avoid HP Compaq. IBM are pretty sweet, Sony even better, though may cost you more and cost more for future repairs.

Would avoid the lesser-known makes such as Acer/Advent/Packard Bell or anything normally found in PC world, plus from experience staff tend to bs about the laptops, though that may just be my local store ('Oh, you will need a £20 gold-plated USB cable as it transfers data faster' <?!?>)

Fujitsu have been pretty good recently, but Carillon is your best option if you can afford the price.

Dan

 

[pave]

Was watching the gadget show last night,they tested 3 mid range laptops,£699 to £799,i think the sony viao was one of them,the laptop from gateway came out on top,not sure of the model number,perhaps someone took more notice anyway,hope this bit of info helps

 

[tjradiohead]

Thanks for the info guys, just checked out carrilon... 2 grand?? im only amateur

Was hoping to spend about £600 tops really. Also, a small screen would be a bonus, i like my little 12" iBook.

 

[tjradiohead]

Oh, and i already have an external module, got myself a mackie spike.

 

[Dankeech]

Think you're likely loking at 2nd hand for what you need.
£600 is PC-World lesser-known-brand budget.
Not sure how much of an upgrade you would get for this.

Perhaps a Fujitsu Amilo D 1450 for £650 at pc world?
I'm happy with my Amilo D 1845 2.6Ghz one I have. It's basically a desktop replacement and sure this one would be similiar.

Screen is lovely on mine, sound is pretty standard
All works fast and very happy with it.

Hope this helps.

 

[StarMonkey]

Nows a good time for finding some Centrino's for around £600 as the Yonah (dual centrino) is replacing it in new laptops about now.
Check ebuyer.co.uk they have some good offers on sometimes.

StarMonkey

 

[Dankeech]

Nows a good time for finding some Centrino's for around £600 as the Yonah (dual centrino) is replacing it in new laptops about now.
Check ebuyer.co.uk they have some good offers on sometimes.

StarMonkey

I agree, ebuyer is defo one of the best places for a good deal.

Centrino refers to:
Has wireless network card
Has advanced power management
Has processor-stepping technology (cpu during non-intensive use steps down to lower speed, and jumps back up when needed)
Has intel 945 chipset

With your requirements you won't specifically need to go for a Centrino-certified laptop, but bear in mind these are good systems and the hardware os solid and reliable.
Also means won't cane the battery too.

Dan.

 

[The Dude]

Hi mate,

I run live 5.0.2 and cubase/fruityloopz on my Dell lappy without any worries at all.... using an external soundcard obv., but processing-wise all seems just fine.

CPU is an intel PM 1.7ghz, 512mb RAM, running to an Maudio FW410 and all works a treat.

I wouldn't worry too much about spec unless you're gonna go really crazy with the thing...

 

[nwgarratt]

I can recommend Acers for budget laptops and still have some high spec. I saw that crap Gadget Show article and I have got all their spec recommendations in a £580 Acer laptop.

This is the one I got (now £539) .

http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/572_263974.html

 

[pave]

Was waiting for a comment about the gadget show,well done your acer seems the way to go

 

[Dankeech]

Hi mate,

I run live 5.0.2 and cubase/fruityloopz on my Dell lappy without any worries at all.... using an external soundcard obv., but processing-wise all seems just fine.

CPU is an intel PM 1.7ghz, 512mb RAM, running to an Maudio FW410 and all works a treat.

I wouldn't worry too much about spec unless you're gonna go really crazy with the thing...

Spec you need depends entirely on how many audio tracks you will be running at same time etc.
The above spec may be fine or may not even nearly be enough.
Depends which plugins you will be using etc, plugins such as Korg Legacy collection & Absynth tend to take major processing power.

Fruit Loops with many audio tracks only tends to run with little power, plugins are a concern though.

Just bear this in mind.
If you get a chance to borrow a laptop from a friend first to test if spec is ok, it would be of great benefit on deciding the spec you need.
Dan.