What's the optimal laptop for Live

sebastian_renix · Post by **sebastian_renix** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 1:32 pm

I've been a happy Mac user for years but now that my main audio application is Live and it runs WAY better on PC, I decided to purchase a PC laptop just to run Live along with some of my soft synths (which also happen to run better on PC).

My question to this forum is, "What laptop should I get?" I really need help with this since I don't know anything about PC's. It would be great if your replies could include brand, CPU, and any custom configurations for optimizing audio. Also, the Pentium M is out now--I would love some opinions on whether to go with a P4 or M so just include that in a CPU recommendation.

Once again, I will be using this laptop exclusively for audio applications.
Thank you so much!
-Dave

drumroll57 · Post by **drumroll57** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 2:19 pm

Same situation as you...

I got a Dell Latitude 800 with Centrino 1.7 GHz, 1 Gig of RAM, 60 Gig 7200 RPM HD, 1000-base Ethernet NIC, DVD+RW, Win XP professional.

What's good about it:

- wicked fast. No joke. That Centrino chipset is fantastic and runs cool.
- has built-in bay for second hard drive, which you can buy as 7200 RPM!
- robust as hell, lots of ports, this is true 'desktop-replacement'.
- Firewire chipset seems to play nice so far. No glitches or artifacts on audio when using external drive.
- Great connectivity, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Gigabyte Ethernet and so on.
- Comes with port replicator and TWO power supplies, for easy home / travel swap.

What's NOT so good about it:

- bulky (think Harley-Davidson)
- screen resolution for UXGA is making things a bit small-ish to the eye.
- unlike my Mac, I have occasionally gotten a BOS (blue screen of death) from Windows XP, mostly when doing 'stand-by' (sleep mode).
- pricey. You will spend around $4K by the time you get all of the accessories, audio interface, etc...

Conclusion:

I am a Mac guy. really; this pains me to admit it, but...

How can you go wrong with something like this? It does the job and never made me look back. You might want to consider a Sony, might be a tad slimmer and slightly lighter in weight?

There is NOTHING available from Apple that currently gives me this amount of power on the road, except if I was willing to trod around between gigs with an X-Serve G5. (LOL!..)

It all depends if your current budget can justify such an investment. It would seem to me that getting something with the Centrino chipset is really a good bet for the near future. (1-2 years)

D.

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 8:55 pm

I highly recommend the HP ZV5000Z Pavilion laptop.

they just added the Athlon 64 3700 as a processor option, i don't know of a faster cpu in a mobile computer.

here's what you can get for $1403 after $50 Rebate

HP Pavilion zv5000z series customize notebook
- Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Home Edition
- AMD Athlon(TM) 64 3700+
- 15.4" WXGA Widescreen (1280x800)
- 64MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(TM) 4 440 Go +1394 & 5-in-1
- 512MB DDR SDRAM (1x512MB)
- 40 GB 4200 RPM Hard Drive
- DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive
- 802.11b Wireless LAN
- 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

the only pitfall is the 4200rpm drive. they dont have any faster options, if you were to upgrade that yourself to a 7200rpm (its quite easy), then i'd suggest downgrading to the 30GB 4200rpm for $50 less. and buying a 60GB 7200rpm Hitachi for $170. Thats what i did.
also, sometimes you can find coupon codes for HPshopping.com @ Techbargains.com , i was REAL fortunate to find a $100 off coupon code when i bought mine with Athlon 64 3000. There's alot of customizing you can do, the above is just an example of what you get for $1400. These things are built like tanks!

rikhyray · Post by **rikhyray** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 9:17 pm

The problem with desktop replacements is the the fan noise, I ebayed my 2 something Giga Vaio because it was driving me nuts ( I work 12 and more hours daily with my music pc), not to say that you cannot record anything acoustic in the same room ( how to remotely operate a laptop?). Since it was pre Centrino days I got P3 Vaio which works unter 50% in the recent test. I will buy Centrino soon, though till now I dont feel limited yet. Though there are interesting Dells, Samsungs, IBMs I will probably get Vaio since I had good experience with them, means no problems of any kind and they are the only ones optimised for audio/video and unlike those UK specialised notebooks, I have worldwide service which may be valuable when you are on tour.

drumroll57 · Post by **drumroll57** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 9:29 pm

rikhyray wrote:The problem with desktop replacements is the the fan noise.

Centrino, here I come. After months of use, the other day, the fan finally came on for 2 minutes, and it was like..... WOW!! So, that's what the fan sounds like.

Machine is dead quiet, coz' cooler processor!

As for worldwide service, that's obviously a very slick thing to think about!

D.

Chris J · Post by **Chris J** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 10:19 pm

fan noise is an interesting subject, Adam Jay how do you rate your Athlon 3000+ in that department ?
as anyone compared a centrino laptop with an Athlon ? Are centrinos using the fan less and therefore quieter ?

atom_b · Post by **atom_b** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 10:47 pm

Oh, yeah, Centrinos really are fast, heat and so fan noise is no problem at all. I am working with my Vaio A197-XP (1.8GHz Dothan!, 1Gb RAM) almost exclusively now, the good old 3GHz DAW of mine only serves UAD1 effects and files.

When on stage or in rehersal or in even more complex situations like studio work the 19 inch 1920x1200 screen of the Vaio is absolutely beyond doubt the best you can have (good eyesight required).

This piece of laptop additionally is configured very well and is usable as a full flavored daw almost out of the box, only some services and virus protection to turn of, plug in your multiface and...

And, believe it or not, it outperforms my DAW easily. Oh, and it looks good, really good...

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 10:50 pm

Chris J wrote:fan noise is an interesting subject, Adam Jay how do you rate your Athlon 3000+ in that department ?
as anyone compared a centrino laptop with an Athlon ? Are centrinos using the fan less and therefore quieter ?

what fan noise?

seriously.

my old G4 12" Powerbook was louder than this laptop. And this has the Athlon 64 3000 DTR (means Desktop Replacement). Its extraordinarily quiet, no joke. I took this bad boy apart last month. it uses 2 fans actually, 1 intake and 1 exhaust, and a sort of heat-pipe style dual heatsink.

here's some of the pics...
with the heatsink off...

with the heatsink on...

the wierd thing is when the processor is being stressed, you can feel heat flying out of the vents. but you dont hear it. and its better to feel it outside of the computer than IN the computer, its quite an effecient system.

Chris J · Post by **Chris J** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 1:39 am

thanks !
great idea to have taken pictures while open

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 2:10 am

yea the main reason i took it apart was to see how much i could upgrade it myself. and was surpised to know it only took a screw driver and loosening about 10 screws to get to the processor socket.

i'm gonna wait for the Athlon 64 3700 processors to come down in price. Right now they're dipping just below $500 for OEM chips. as soon as its about $250 (give it a year or year and a half) - its upgrade time!

but if you do buy the HP laptop, i'd get the 3700 processor from HP.
where the price difference from HP is only $200.. the actual price difference of the chips themselves is nearly $300, so its actually a very well priced upgrade.

of course taking such a laptop apart in such a manor is voiding your warranty... i've always done this so its no big deal to me. =)

matias · Post by **matias** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 5:12 am

no such thing as a good stable laptop/PC......all were made with crashing in mind....

that said..... rackmounting a stable PC/Powerbooks/Sony Vaio's are all good.... (Rackmounting a pc n using a tft screen is cheaper, bulkier but nice n stable) i use it for gigs...no probs yet

Matias

FaX-01 · Post by **FaX-01** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 5:14 am

My P20 is ridiculously quiet also.
Though my next laptop will probably be a 2.0ghz Dothan .
Especially for portability and battery life etc etc ....

Amberience · Post by **Amberience** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 5:16 am

Just a question.... why bother with a Centrino over a Athlon 64 ???

Just another question

... What is the GHZ speed of a 1.5 Centrino and how does it compare to other cpu's ??

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 6:31 am

matias wrote:no such thing as a good stable laptop/PC......all were made with crashing in mind....

that said..... rackmounting a stable PC/Powerbooks/Sony Vaio's are all good.... (Rackmounting a pc n using a tft screen is cheaper, bulkier but nice n stable) i use it for gigs...no probs yet

there's so much bipolarity in that post, i'm not even going to bother.

sebastian_renix · Post by **sebastian_renix** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 7:11 am

Thanks for the advice so far. Anyone else out there with experience using different laptops--maybe you've got friends whose laptops you've compared with your own. It seems to be clear that the Centrino runs cooler than the P4, but is it as powerful? Also, about the Athlon 64, it sounds really great and I'm definitely in favor of supporting AMD over Intel. Does anyone know of other manufacturers who use AMD chips besides HP/Compaq?

What's the optimal laptop for Live

What's the optimal laptop for Live

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