About to drop $2500 on a laptop. Any red flags?

GroverGrooves · Post by **GroverGrooves** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 5:00 am

Hi,

I'm about to order a new AMD laptop like the one in this link...

http://www.xtremenotebooks.com/index.ph ... del_id=860

I'll be getting it with an Athlon 64 DTR 3700 and 2 GB memory.

Anyone see any red flags. I'll be using it exclusively for audio, mostly Live. Anything wrong with this brand? This vendor? Are AMDs still considered good for audio?

Thanks for the help!

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 6:44 am

its a great machine, absolutely
only red flag i see is the 8 cell battery.

if you can hang with a 15.4" laptop, check out HP's Pavilion Z6000 at hpshopping.com
there's a 12-cell battery option.

Machinate · Post by **Machinate** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 6:48 am

-but does that come with the same background image?

rsagevik · Post by **rsagevik** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 7:45 am

My Zepto Znote4200 (2ghz, 1 gig ram) performs great, and runs on batteries for 4-5 hours.
You can check them out at Zepto.com. Its only a 15" display though..

blakejarrell · Post by **blakejarrell** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 12:10 pm

i have a dell inspiron 9300 (2 ghz, 1gb sddram, 60gb hd @ 7200 rpm, 300gb external, etc etc) runs ableton like a champ the only hang up is i dont have a great soundcard...yet.

hambone1 · Post by **hambone1** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 2:59 pm

17"G4 1.67GHz Powerbook, or hang on for the G5 Powerbooks.

GroverGrooves · Post by **GroverGrooves** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 4:02 pm

Thanks guys. I'm not too worried about battery life, as there will always be a plug handy where I'll be performing. I just don't want to have to worry about Live grinding to a halt when I add reverb to a track.

AMD is still considered a good way to go though, yes?

mikemc · Post by **mikemc** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 4:02 pm

It's a strong configuration at a good price. The extreme gaming package incldes the belkin speedpad, which several on this board have given high marks.

Not a red flag, but maybe something to research: you could do better on processor, I think: I would price similar configs with an AMD 4000+. Your price point is good for a high end system. I have heard some good advice, which is to never spend more than $USD 3K on a system, because you will take a significant value hit when the next gen of boxes comes out.

mikemc · Post by **mikemc** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 4:42 pm

sorry about the double post, wouldn't let me edit ... ? .. ..

AMD ranks high on the performance test chart. I find that pushing the 85% CPU util mark will cause a set to stumble, and the most likely cause of high CPU util is lengthy effects chains. With that config, you should be able to fill your 17" display monitor wall to wall with tracks and still run comfortably under 70% even with some heavy effects use on some tracks. I know because I've done it on a 3400+ with 1GB RAM.

drush · Post by **drush** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 4:49 pm

GroverGrooves wrote:I just don't want to have to worry about Live grinding to a halt when I add reverb to a track.

it won't!

anonymouse · Post by **anonymouse** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 6:21 pm

is it a widescreen laptop?

nothing nicer than having Live on the left half and Reaktor/Bidule/etc on the right

GroverGrooves · Post by **GroverGrooves** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 6:35 am

Yeah. Widescreen. Can't wait. Hurry up Paypal! (Don't understand why it takes 3-4 days to get money from Paypal to my regular account).

Grover

ethios4 · Post by **ethios4** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 8:07 pm

Have you checked Discount Laptops?
3700+ Athlon64 17"
2GB 400 / 60GB 7200 HDD
8-cell battery
$2115

GroverGrooves · Post by **GroverGrooves** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 1:44 am

$300 for the warranty. $80 for the DVD +-RW

AndrewDuke · Post by **AndrewDuke** » Fri Apr 29, 2005 5:41 pm

i haven't checked the specs on what you're interested in, but regardless of the laptop you buy, don't overlook the importance of fans and exhausting. if it has a tiny little fan exhaust, it's going to overheat super easy (as was the problem with my compaq presario). you can't have too much fan exhaust area. my toshiba satellite has two big fans on the bottom and an exhaust area on the back and it always stays super cooled. my .o2 cdn. andrew

About to drop $2500 on a laptop. Any red flags?

About to drop $2500 on a laptop. Any red flags?

fans and exhaust on laptops