 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Forums - Computer music & technology
Subject: who uses which laptop
Original Message 1/22 17-Sep-03 @ 11:06 AM - who uses which laptop
I know that laptops have been discussed here in the past, but in light of changing technology and falling costs, lets find out who's using which laptop and whether its doing what it should. My particular budget is restrictive so lower end machine users comments would be welcomed!
Thanks.
Thanks.
Message 2/22 18-Sep-03 @ 12:03 AM - RE: who uses which laptop
Been using a Toshiba Satellite 2755DCD P3 600 for three years with little problems. I two seperate drives, one for Admin stuff and testing and an all audio drive. If an audio app is reasonably stable on the Admin drive I'll consider installing it onto the audio drive for further eval. You should be able to pick one up used pretty cheap.
Message 3/22 18-Sep-03 @ 04:42 PM - RE: who uses which laptop
after months of obsessive research I also chose a toshiba satellite (M15-S405). it works beautifully. it has 1.4 centrino, CD-RW, firewire etc. so it was not cheap. what can I say I'm as pleased as punch.
Message 4/22 19-Sep-03 @ 05:57 AM - RE: who uses which laptop
I haver a newer setup running now but my old one was a ibm p3 450 with 256mb ram and an emagic esi 2/6. It worked quite well for running logic and a number of softsamplers. Voices were never a problem unless there were some heavy filters running, it disk streamed quite well off an external drive and the latency wasn't that bad (12ms). If I had too many plugins running I'd have to bounce to disk to lighten the load. Quite nice for composing really. Oh, and stable as f@ck.
Message 5/22 19-Sep-03 @ 11:10 AM - RE: who uses which laptop
Thanks for the info guys! I'm still pondering my options but am considering either a Compaq Evo or a Fujitsu Amilo A. Both I think are 'end of line' products which still have an adequate spec but are a little cheaper than the most up-to-date units. I've heard some vague rumours about problems with memory bandwidth on the integrated ATI RADEON IGP320M chipset. hmmmm
the_silver_fox
the_silver_fox
Message 6/22 19-Sep-03 @ 06:38 PM - RE: who uses which laptop
I've heard a lot about dedicated video memory making a big difference, if that's what you're talking about.
Message 7/22 22-Sep-03 @ 08:53 AM - RE: who uses which laptop
Yeah, I think it all boils down to integrated graphics chips and how they affect performance when taking system memory. If anyone has any feedback on their use of integrated graphics on a laptop I'd be happy to hear it.
Although my intention is to buy a laptop as a mobile sketch pad to run minimal Cubase VST and something like Reason I'd still like it to be relatively solid.
Plazldyllic - how is your satellite set up??
Although my intention is to buy a laptop as a mobile sketch pad to run minimal Cubase VST and something like Reason I'd still like it to be relatively solid.
Plazldyllic - how is your satellite set up??
Message 8/22 23-Sep-03 @ 04:01 PM - RE: who uses which laptop
I originally intended to get a desktop in addition to the laptop, which was intened for whe I was on the road. After giving it some thought I decided to use the lapatop to control everything.
The lappy's onboard USB is used for my US428. The serial port connects to a MIDSport 8x8. A cardbus USB2 adaptor is used for a second 8x8. An adaptec 1480 cardbus SCSI adapter connects my SCSI stuff: Orb drive, CDR-w, CDR, and E5000 and K2000VP. Part of the reason this works so well is that I have a lot of hardware so a good bit of work is done using MIDI only. Or so I thought...
Here's the rub. I have been evaluating more than a few softsynths and plugin FX on the same lappy. It definatly pushes the envelope, I have to render each synth and effected audio track as I work but it IS working. Latency is the real issue here. I can't play softsynths in real time BUT I decided to test them anyway, as "best" I could.
On a personal note, the cool side effect of the above latency situation is that I have begun to think in very different terms regarding composition, terms more in line with what originally got me interested in synthesizers (see my track postings). If I had one of today's top of the line blazing fast computers I'm not sure I would be experiencing this. Considering that I was beginning to lose my inspiration, only having access to an obsolete, underpowered computer has been a good thing.
The lappy's onboard USB is used for my US428. The serial port connects to a MIDSport 8x8. A cardbus USB2 adaptor is used for a second 8x8. An adaptec 1480 cardbus SCSI adapter connects my SCSI stuff: Orb drive, CDR-w, CDR, and E5000 and K2000VP. Part of the reason this works so well is that I have a lot of hardware so a good bit of work is done using MIDI only. Or so I thought...
Here's the rub. I have been evaluating more than a few softsynths and plugin FX on the same lappy. It definatly pushes the envelope, I have to render each synth and effected audio track as I work but it IS working. Latency is the real issue here. I can't play softsynths in real time BUT I decided to test them anyway, as "best" I could.
On a personal note, the cool side effect of the above latency situation is that I have begun to think in very different terms regarding composition, terms more in line with what originally got me interested in synthesizers (see my track postings). If I had one of today's top of the line blazing fast computers I'm not sure I would be experiencing this. Considering that I was beginning to lose my inspiration, only having access to an obsolete, underpowered computer has been a good thing.
Message 9/22 02-Oct-03 @ 06:25 PM - RE: who uses which laptop
[image file]
knowa- I got questions about your toshiba lappy:
can you gimme a quick rundown on what sequencer,
softsynths, plug-ins you are using? What kind of
performance are you getting? latency? conflicts? which
os?
Are you using any kind of breakout box for audio or just
the stock outs on the laptop?
hmm, that's about it for now. That toshiba looks really
nice BTW. Please give me any other info you think
might be helpful. I'm considering trading my virus b for a
laptop, or just sell it to help fund my laptop.
Message 10/22 02-Oct-03 @ 08:30 PM - RE: who uses which laptop
yo bradelectro.
XP Home
usually run reason 2.5, audiomulch .913, soundforge 5 and recylcle 2 all at once. no problems at all. I usually record into SF with reason and mulch running in the background. don't use too many vst plugs and no vsti. I have used FL Studio with Crystal, ReFx Claw, Kt Granulator on it too, no problems.
soundcard--I've been waiting for the Indigo I/O since 1485 AD. until it finally ships, I'm using the built in soundcard which is pretty bad. 36 ms latency, any lower and it crackles. the sound quality is fine though. the vocals and guitars on on 'ESL' and rapping (me!)on 'NK vs BGMB' at link above were recorded throught the built in.
I have not had one crash in the about 4 months that I've owned it. but I'm playing my first show with it this weekend so it will probably happen then.
I have no internet, games or virus-checker software on it. I only did a few system tweaks like disabling windows sounds. I think this is the key to stability--don't fck around with it. I'm very very happy.
XP Home
usually run reason 2.5, audiomulch .913, soundforge 5 and recylcle 2 all at once. no problems at all. I usually record into SF with reason and mulch running in the background. don't use too many vst plugs and no vsti. I have used FL Studio with Crystal, ReFx Claw, Kt Granulator on it too, no problems.
soundcard--I've been waiting for the Indigo I/O since 1485 AD. until it finally ships, I'm using the built in soundcard which is pretty bad. 36 ms latency, any lower and it crackles. the sound quality is fine though. the vocals and guitars on on 'ESL' and rapping (me!)on 'NK vs BGMB' at link above were recorded throught the built in.
I have not had one crash in the about 4 months that I've owned it. but I'm playing my first show with it this weekend so it will probably happen then.
I have no internet, games or virus-checker software on it. I only did a few system tweaks like disabling windows sounds. I think this is the key to stability--don't fck around with it. I'm very very happy.
Pages: 1 2 3
There are 22 total messages for this topic
Reply to Thread
You need to register/login to use the forum.
Click here to Signup or Login !
[you'll be brought right back to this point after signing up]
Back to Forum
