Laptop production- some advice from the heads please?

[skully]

I want to produce using a laptop coz im sick of having two computers, one for producing and one for serato. just want to be able to do it all one machine FSS!

Im still learning so want something that will handle new software, but I dont need teh latest most expensive mindblowing set up. Solid without going overboard yeah?

can you please recomend a:

Laptop

Soundcard

Software

Thanks!

[filthy_]

15" macbook pro
apogee duet
logic studio 9

all can be purchased with one trip to the apple store

[bigfootspartan]

If you have your heart set on an apple machine then definitely check the apple online store for refurbished models. I've seen some iMacs that were 350 off the original price, with the same warranty and everything.

[skully]

Really good advice there, cheers lads.

I think I'll go with that, good idea about refurbished models too, didnt even know about it.

[filthy_]

Really good advice there, cheers lads.

I think I'll go with that, good idea about refurbished models too, didnt even know about it.

refurbished macs are great options. if you currently have a computer that you seldom use and would like to get rid of, im pretty sure you can trade it in to apple (recycle i believe). im not 100% on if it needs to be an apple machine or not so dont quote me on it.

[skully]

heh heh they'd probaly make ME pay if gave them my dell with vista on it

[joeroxor]

Get a thinkpad from Lenovo. Quality of a Mac, half the price and it's PC. http://shop.lenovo.com/us/products/prof ... u-id=learn

[lodestone]

Not to knock the apple fans but......

i've been pricing out laptops myself. I've been building pcs for a long time and work in tech support. go mac if you don't want to deal with too much tweaking stuff on the machine. super easy to use, super expensive to replace anything. the parts last a long time but also cost a shitload if anything breaks. PC wise if you can work a screw driver and can figure out how to ground yourself so you don't fry your parts you can replace/upgrade most things yourself, including laptops. you don't need to buy the most expensive new shit and you don't want to buy stuff that's too out dated. Laptop wise it's better to buy something with the specs you want, for desktops you can save a shitload by using an old case, buying new parts and building it yourself.



motherboard that supports more ram then what comes with the machine. in the future you're probably going to want to expand your memory, so buy a laptop you can actually do that on. most new laptop motherboards support up to 8 gigs of ram across 2 slots.

quad core proccesser (something around 2ghz preferably) - this is going to cost you but will pay off the most in the long run. dual core is typically enough for most people but if you go that route get something fairly fast. you can always overclock to get more speed out of your system but overclocking causes extra heat and on a laptop that's bad, so get something more powerful then what you need right now.

4 gigs ddr3 ram -minimum for a newer machine running windows 7, it's going to use a gig just for the operating system. but it's 64 bit and can support a fuck ton of ram. windows xp is GENERALLY 32 bit and will support much less ram. you can only use up to 3.8 gigs of your total ram on a 32 bit machine. you probaly won't need more then 4 gigs either way. if you want a thousand instances of massive/photoshop running at the same time more will help.

hard drive - size is whatever you want really. get something around 7200rpm. you can always get an external hard drive or use another laptop drive as an external.

video cards - meh. laptops typically have not so good integrated video cards. unless you're trying to play FPS don't even worry about it.

for a decent PC laptop with specs like this you're looking at around $600-$800. a machine like this should be enough to last you 5 years as long as you don't spill shit or drop it. and you're getting room to expand your RAM. Refurbished is good. Wait it out and look for deals.


so, get a good proccesser, get a good motherboard, enough ram for now, only use legit software and stop downloading porn movies. run defrag, update your virus stuff on the reg. treat your computer like a car. leave the house and go get a girl. your PC and your dick will thank you.

[Kaiden]

Lodestone nailed it except for that if you're using a 32 bit DAW like Ableton Live, it can only make use of 4gb of ram even on a 64 bit OS. 4gb with room to upgrade is probably the way to go.