Laptop alternatives (Microsoft Surface etc.)?

[PRYAM]

Hi everyone, Has anyone experience of using Live on a Microsoft Surface (or similar) and any recommendations/observations if so?

Thanks a lot.

[Patrice_Peyret]

Ableton is perfectly fine with any modern Windows 10 laptop. I have not tried to use it via the touch screen interface though (I still use a mouse and keyboard)

I run Ableton Live on a Surface Book. The only word of caution I would have is that some midi controllers (like the Akai MPK249) seem to be having issues with the USB 3 ports on a lot of recent laptops. It shouldn't be the case because a device that was designed in the days of USB 2.0 should also work when connected to a USB 3.0 port, but it seems that the Windows drivers for a lot of midi controllers have not been properly debugged.

If the midi controller you intend to use is portable, I would recommend bringing it to a Microsoft store to verify that it will work with the various laptops they have on display.

Vice-versa, if you buy your laptop first and then decide to buy a midi controller, go to the nearest music store with your laptop and try various midi controllers in the store to make sure the one you want to buy will work.

That's it. USB 3 possibly an issue, but not with all midi controllers.

[LeftHandSuzukiMethod]

I've been having issues with audio latency while recording on my Surface Book i7 with performance base, any tips on how to get this problem reduced to a manageable point? I'm a recent MacBook Pro convert and am hoping the change to windows I wasn't a catastrophic mistake! Thanks in advance for any help.

[Stromkraft]

I've been having issues with audio latency while recording on my Surface Book i7 with performance base, any tips on how to get this problem reduced to a manageable point? I'm a recent MacBook Pro convert and am hoping the change to windows I wasn't a catastrophic mistake! Thanks in advance for any help.

You don't mention your audio interface nor your buffer settings, which would have been helpful. I think the mistake may have been moving from a quadcore (if you had a 15") to a duocore. Unless one relies on hardware instruments I think using a duocore is a mistake when it comes to music production. It will of course take you somewhere, but Live quite often needs all the CPU it can get.

[Stromkraft]

Ableton is perfectly fine with any modern Windows 10 laptop. I have not tried to use it via the touch screen interface though (I still use a mouse and keyboard)

I think that blanket statement is both naive and frivolous. All Windows machines are not optimal for music production.