Laptop recommendation, SONOMA (PCI Express)??

jlarrucea · Post by **jlarrucea** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 10:15 pm

Hi,

Sorry for another post about laptop recommendations...
I want to buy a laptop just for audio and I have to choose between:

Intel® 915GM + ICH6 chipset (SONOMA)
Intel® Pentium® M 760 2.00GHz (2MB)
1024MB DDR2 533Mhz
80.0GB (7200rpm)
Intel GMA 900 128MB SMA PCI Express

Intel® 855PM + ICH4-M chipset
Intel® Pentium® M 755 2.0GHz (2MB/Dothan)
1024MB DDR 333Mhz
80.0GB (7200rpm)
ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 256MB

First one's (SONOMA) performance should be better (DDR2 memory, 533Mhz buffer) but I have read that the Intel PCI Express graphic card gives much problems with audio applications.. Which one should be better for audio??? Any other recommendation (is 1024 MB RAM enough)??

Any recommendation should be greatly appreciated!!!!

subterFUSE · Post by **subterFUSE** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 12:24 am

1024 RAM is enough.

More important than RAM is your hard drive speed.

Try to get 7200 rpm, if you can. High-end PC laptops offer 7200 rpm drives now.... you can even get them in RAID config.

jlarrucea · Post by **jlarrucea** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 6:45 am

Thanks for the info.

What about the audio problems with the Intel PCI Express graphics card of the SONOMA chipsets in laptops?? Any experience with it?

Thanks again!!

djmjd · Post by **djmjd** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 8:43 am

Oh good, I don't have to make a new laptop thread! =p

I have been looking at different laptops for the past few months (while I continue to fail to save money) and here's what I've come up with.

http://www.alienware.com/product_detail ... KU-DEFAULT

As a gamer, first place I looked was alienware, and it is a -nice- machine, but as subterFUSE pointed out, overpriced. And so I was pointed to my next destination.

http://www.discountpcsales.com/cgi-bin/ ... MTECHD900T

The M-Tech looked like a nice alternative. But then I stumbled upon this site...

http://www.pcaudiolabs.com/daws_laptop.asp

Laptops designed for audio! Seemed perfect. And if I can ever save up enough money, I'll probably get one of these.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/category/c890

Saw these also, but look really expensive.

So...

Questions for the more experienced:

Do I need a 17" monitor? Seems like going with the 15" saves a reasonable amount of cash.

Anything wrong with this configuration? (from pcaudiolabs.com)

Pentium 4 3.0 GHz 800MHz FSB 1MB L2 cache
Intel 915P + ICH6 Chipset
1024 MB 533MHz DDR2 [Exp. 2048 MB]
15.4" WSXGA+ Active Matrix
Drive Bay #1: 60.0GB Hard Drive (7200rpm)
Drive Bay #2: 8X DVD/24X CD-RW Combo Drive
Drive Bay #3: options below
Firewire: Yes (2x 4 pin, Texas Instruments chipset)
PCMCIA: Yes (Type II, Texas Instruments chipset)
USB 2.0: Yes (4 ports)
Floppy: Yes (external)
Graphics: ATi X800 w/ 256MB RAM
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition

Thanks!

rikhyray · Post by **rikhyray** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 12:18 pm

Forget any P4 notebook ( I currently use one) heavy, hot, noisy ( more or less depending on brand) you will never be able to use it on batteries for any sensible time or record anything with a mic.. Centrino are definitely better for music and everything else.