buying a laptop, need help from nerds

[Recessive Trait]

geeks, dorks, dweebs, whomever, i know i can find a large concentration of you right here.

i'm buying a laptop as i want to start doing "live" sets as opposed to just djing my original music. i know nothing about computers. the main difference seems to be the type of processor, and i wouldn't know one from another.

found one on a back-to-school sale in my area for what appears to be a good price, i just want to know if it's going to have enough power to do what i need it to do. (ie. run fl and massive for production, ableton for live sets)

also, if you have any good recommendations for a sound device, one which is good bang for low buck, i'd love some advice there too.

hopefully one of you nerds can help me. here's the specs for the laptop:

Featuring powerful Intel Pentium Dual Core processing and a brilliant 17.3" LED-backlit HD display, the HP G72-214CA is a great on the go companion. It's equipped with an HDMI output for easy connectivity to your HDTV. And it comes complete with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit edition.

Base Features

Approximate Battery Life

Dependent On Usage
Hard Drive Capacity

500 GB
Hard Drive Speed (Revolutions Per Minute

5400 rpm
LED Backlit Display

Yes
Optical Drive

8X DVD±R/RW DL SuperMulti With LightScribe
Processor Cores

2
Processor Speed

2.30GHz
Processor Type

Intel Pentium Dual Core T4500
RAM

4GB DDR2 (Exp Up To 8GB)
Screen Size

17.3 Inches
Graphics

Discrete Video Memory

No
Expandable Video Memory

No
Graphics Chipset

Intel GMA 4500M
Integrated Video Memory

Yes
Native Screen Resolution

1600 x 900
Upgradable Video System

No
Video Memory

Up to 1695MB Total
Audio

Audio Chipset

Altec Lansing
Audio Output

Stereo
Digital Input

No
Digital Output

No
Hardware Volume Control

No
Integrated Amplifier

No
Integrated Microphone

Yes
Microphone Input

Yes
Speaker Wattage

Information Not Available

[Dub_Fiend]

It's not a bad spec to be honest, as long as you don't go mental with the live effects and maybe stick to Ableton Live 7 or something you should be fine with it Macbooks are stable platforms for live sound if you can find a cheap one 2nd hand but they're usually about £500 or so off eBay and such, but yes 2.3GHz dual core and 4Gb of RAM should serve you well! Do you know how old it is? It might be best to do a fresh reformat of the operating system if the dude who owns it hasn't already done so just to give it a fresh pair of legs (so to speak)...


Dub Fiend

[Recessive Trait]

oh it's brand spanking. glad to hear it's good enough. thanks man.

[Crosby]

Sounds good, i would give it a fresh copy of vista and try not to install to much junk on it to keep it running steady for playing live

[Recessive Trait]

only going to use it for my own music, nothing else.

vista? it comes with windows 7 64-bit.

[Recessive Trait]

any recommended sound devices?

[Crosby]

Ah yeah, dunno why i put that.
Also clicked reply before you said it way new, never mind aha

[mks]

You would be able to run Live 8 just fine on that, and any other software too. One thing I would consider is to get 7200 rpm hard drive because it can read audio files faster, but it probably wouldn't be a deal breaker if you are getting it at a good price. Perhaps one of the more geekier people than me can shed some light on that.

EZ

[Recessive Trait]

what's better: a dual core or an i3 dual core processor?

i can get virtually the same machine but with a 7200rpm drive and an i3 for an extra $150. but the first one mentioned is a sweet $600 (canadian dollars, roughly equivalent to toilet paper elsewhere).

[Danger Co]

Go the fastest possible proccessor you can afford, i7 is the shit with at least 4gb ram. The 7200rpm hd is awesome if you use lots of audio files, means the computer can read/write faster. If your using heaps of vst's it's gonna chew cpu and the faster hd wont make it better.

Basically whenever buying a computer for music go for the fastest chip you can afford.

Edit: If you can only afford to get the i3, I'd go for that!

[Recessive Trait]

is this one overkill?:

The Gateway ID79C01H 17.3" laptop is a multimedia machine packed with premium performance and fabulous features in an extremely thin and light design. With powerful Intel Core i7 processer, 500GB hard drive, dedicated ATI Mobility graphics, and more, it keeps you productive, entertained and connected.

Base Features

Approximate Battery Life

Up to 2.0 Hours
Hard Drive Capacity

500GB
LED Backlit Display

Yes
Optical Drive

8X DVD DL SuperMulti
Processor Cores

4
Processor Speed

1.6 GHz
Processor Type

Intel Core i7-720QM
RAM

6 GB DDR3
Screen Size

17.3 Inches
Graphics

Discrete Video Memory

Yes
Expandable Video Memory

No
Graphics Chipset

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650
Integrated Video Memory

No
Native Screen Resolution

1600 x 900
Upgradable Video System

No
Video Memory

1024 MB
Audio

Audio Chipset

Mobile Intel HM55
Audio Output

Stereo
Digital Input

No
Digital Output

No
Hardware Volume Control

No
Integrated Amplifier

No
Integrated Microphone

Yes
Microphone Input

No
Speaker Wattage

2.0W
Speakers

Yes

[Recessive Trait]

how does the processor mentioned in the first post compare to an i3? because that $600 is really tempting. i3s in similar machines seem to be about $750, i found one for $700. but at that point i'm almost thinking, well, i found an i7 (see above post) for $1000, maybe it's better to just go all the way.

help please. i'm scared.

[collige]

Since laptops aren't very upgradeable, the best idea would be to get the faster processor you can right now.

2 hours of initial battery life is really shit though. I personally recommend get a macbook pro since the have great battery life and support and you can switch to a less powerful graphics card to save battery life. They're expensive, but worth it imo.

[AllNightDayDream]

I use reason, so the cpu usage is less, but i'd recommend going for the first one. Anything more than 2 cores is too much, and can potentially be worse. That's for much more intensive editing, like video editing or animation.

[ogunslinger]

get a netbook!

jk :p


anyways just get something with a 13 inch monitor/ fastest chip possible!

you can find used macbooks on craigslist for about 4-5 bills out here in cali, but idk if craigslist is used that much in canada!

[Erebus-7]

If youre getting it for live shit, you'll want a decent precessor, go quad core if possible and one of the new i3 i7 etc, and nothing below 2.0ghz speed, and yh 7200 hdd is poss, as someone said above, laptops are hard to upgrade so best to go all the way instead of getting a shit one and having to get a whole new system cause you cant upgrade a dodgy part of it

add my on aim if you want mate, i build computers so if you need any help just aim me, my email is smithy-13@hotmail.com

[erratech]

Maybe have a look on one of the ableton boards for laptops other people dont have problems with. There are all sorts of bottlenecks to speed and efficiency people run into, often because of dodgy chipsets etc. As well as the official ableton site theres abletondj i think and afew others. Do some solid research dude or you will regret it

[Recessive Trait]

so, is an i3 going to cut it? or should i just go for the gusto of the i7?

[deadly_habit]

i'd go with the i7 as it will be more beneficial in the long run

[Recessive Trait]

^the answer i feared.