Finding the right laptop

[jorge]

Apologies if this is the wrong place or too much of a self-serving post.

I am currently looking to by a new laptop for music production because my other one got a really bad virus and was pretty terrible in the first place. Ive got about £500 (perhaps a bit more) to spend and I use ableton 9 if that makes any difference. I was previously using an acer 6650 or something like that but the fan was so bad that it would only work with an extra fan underneath, even just to watch youtube videos.

I am happy to use this purely for music production and so i dont care about any other features really.

Hope someone can help!

thanks

[Genevieve]

Why a laptop? I'm only saying this cuz 500 pounds can get you a very high performing desktop that'll work for years, while a laptop's gonna run into problems sooner.

[jorge]

Yeah you reckon?

It did cross my mind, also I just finished uni so portability isnt much of an issue now. I will have to move it up to manchester in a month though.

Also I just started doing a bit of a live set with a singer on my laptop, but now were living far away from each other it may not be possible

Any recomendations for desktops then?

[Genevieve]

Build your own :p this'll take some effort/reading to get the parts (not a lot, though), but when you have them it's a breeze. I recently posted a video tutorial showing which parts you need and how to assemble them, I could link those here if you want them. It's not hard and very little can go wrong. I did my first build last year and I don't think I'll ever do anything else again.

Just try to think of how much better your homebuilt will be compared to a laptop from the same price range.

[Mad_EP]

+1 on spending £500 on a desktop over a laptop (unless a laptop is absolutely required)

Portability is great, but usually it is at the price of durability & stability. My laptop has served me well for 5+ years now... but I can see it showing its signs of age. My 12+ year old tower works as well now as it did when it was my primary machine.

[jorge]

yes yes, please post the vids

Thanks a lot for the advice man, will definetly be looking into this. I dont really know anything about the workings of a computer though, or what I would need to make a good one for music, but I guess the info is all out there.

edit: yep i think i am convinced, especially cos my laptops havent lasted me longer than a few years, any ideas on sites to buy stuff from?

[Genevieve]

For a pc specifically aimed at music production, try to get at least 4 gb of RAM, but 8 is probably recommended (if you do get one with 8 gb of RAM, make sure you get a 64 bit version of your OS, rather than the standard 32).

Also get a large hard drive or preferably 2 of them. One will be dedicated to your OS and applications, the other to plugins and your sample library.

And last but not least, have a good processor! When I built mine, they went from i3s (least performance), to i5 (average performance) to i7 (high performance). You could get away with getting a high quality i5, or just go for an i7. And make sure that your processor fits your motherboard. An AMD processor will fit an AMD compatible motherboard and a pentium will fit a pentium.

A good amount of USB ports is nice too.

I didn't get a graphics card, I'm still using the stock one of my motherboard. If you're NOT into gaming or video editing, you should do this as well. Saves a lot of money.

I bought everything from Dutch sites so I don't know. A UK user could fill you in on that :0 After you've got all your parts just post them here for someone to review them to see if they fit.

[MikeyOhh]

Ebuyer is decent for PC components

[AxeD]

I built a desktop a few years back without any tutorials, except on placing the cpu.
Yea, 500 probably isn't going to get you a good laptop.

[mthrfnk]

I've been building PC's for a while now, my current one is pretty damn good for production - cost me like £500 a few years ago and I've probably added £200's worth of upgrades since then (my favourite upgrade was to a soundproofed & dust filtered case - so worth it). I'd recommend a PC over a laptop, I've always run into CPU issues with my laptop(s).

If you're in the UK check out Scan - they have "deal of the days", sometimes you can get a mobo/cpu/ram bundle for nice and cheap.

[chekov]

this is actually the exact thread i need atm, except i need a laptop for uni so shan these desktops (also i already got an ok desktop at home)

also got a budget of ~£500 and i only really need it for ableton, serato and uni shit

thinking about getting this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lenovo-Ideapad- ... rds=Lenovo

[fragments]

Just to +1 desktop and building your own...

I'd installed various computer parts in desktops before I built my own, but really had no experience. The big things are to invest in proper anti static tools (though I was a dumb ass and built mine on the living room floor lol) and source your parts to make sure everything is compatible with the processor/motherboard. I easily found this info by googling it.

I've been running the same desktop for about 5-6 years and the only thing I did was upgrade the RAM recently. The only time I've had a problem is running a bunch of high CPU analog modeling plug ins at once. Otherwise I've never maxed it.

[jorge]

thanks a lot for all the advice and links everyone, very much appreciated.

chekov that looks very nice. My girlfriend just got a lenovo and it seems very good, doesnt get too hot and you can pour liquid on it.

TBH im quite tempted just to get that. I would love to have one of these badboy homemade machines but I know so little about any of it and I havent had a computer for a few weeks now and im itching to make some tunes; not so much to fiddle about with finding all the necessary parts and then put them together. But if i trust genevieve it isnt all that hard.

Ill think it over. But genevieve this laptop seems to have pretty much everything you were recomending for a desktop doesnt it?
havent heard much good about windows 8 but neither have I for any other windows really, and vista and 7 were fine for me. Also just seen the laptop has only 2.9 GHz does that make much difference?

I hate choosing between things I dont know anything about!

But I guess that I would be able to get a higher spec desktop for the same price and without any unnecessary extras right? I would pay someone a tenner if they make a shopping list of all the neccesary items for a badboy music making computer for 500 quid

[Genevieve]

The parts on these pre-assembled things usually aren't as quality. One 8 gigs of ram isn't the same as the other. If you're looking for a laptop on the side like chekov is then it's dope. But for your main workhorse you'll want something with more endurance.

I'm sure if you googled a little, like 'best desktop for under 600 pounds', you could find a recent listing of the best parts.

[jorge]

OK great, yeah ill give it a go. Thanks again for all the help

[Genevieve]

No prob. Let us all know how it goes. :0

[jorge]

So im currently on scan, looking at their bundles http://www.scan.co.uk/value-hardware-bundles which come fully made (perhaps taking some of the fun out of it)

any tips on intel vs amd?

the highest spec AMD is Scan VB25a at 485.39 but seems to be marketed at gamers, no mention of graphics card tho so proabably just marketing

the highest spec intel is about a hundred more (without the best cooling fan) Scan VB25i

Think i might stretch to that.

Any thoughts?

[fragments]

I'm running a 4 core AMD chip (Phenom XII Black Edition) in my studio desktop and it's still kicking ass.

[chekov]

chekov that looks very nice. My girlfriend just got a lenovo and it seems very good, doesnt get too hot and you can pour liquid on it.

good to know haha, cheers

[fragments]

Forgot to mention...if you are buying a laptop by one of the "common" companies I'd recommend Lenovo or Asus.