which laptop do you reccomend?

heyfreak · Post by **heyfreak** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 4:00 am

hey guys,

im thinking of buying a laptop so i can start doing live shows with ableton (5), a controller, and of course the laptop---

This laptop i would use it for using the programs Live, Logic, Reason, absynth, etc....

Ive been told that live works better on pc, that on Mac it tends to glitch,.,,,,
But anyhow, my decision is between a Toshiba, a Vaio, or a Powerbook......

can anyone help me with any info regarding which laptop i should get?...or tell me your personal expierience with any of these??....or maybe another one??

What are your suggestions???....
Any thoughts??

mada-x · Post by **mada-x** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 6:44 am

Same here...my laptop is on the fritz. I need to buy a new one. I will go the PC route. Any suggestions in the $1200-$1500 range. What processor speed is best for Ableton. Ableton puts a heavy load on my laptop CPU now. Normally I can only use one or two vst midi tracks with 8-10 audio tracks each with a 4 band eq and delay or reverb on a few of the tracks. This pushes the CPU on Ableton up to 60-70%. I feel this is much higher then it should be.

mikemc · Post by **mikemc** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 11:56 pm

Here's my suggestion: search for "Live 5 Performance Test" in the general forum. Look for the thread by Adam Jay of the same name. Look at all of the CPU types that provide better than 30% in that test (AMD 3000+ and above, various higher end Pentium). Then, go to various sites

http://hp.com http://gateway.com http://dell.com http://mtechlaptops.com and look at what they are getting for notebooks with those higher end CPUs close to your price range with 1GB of RAM and 60GB or more 7200 RPM drive. If you can't affort the RAM, go to 512MB where you can add more later if need be.

dazzer · Post by **dazzer** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 7:06 am

seeing as Logic is mac only unless you use an old version (5?) and the powerbooks are being discontinued, your only option will be a second hand powerbook or a new macbook

LeoMANXVII · Post by **LeoMANXVII** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 5:33 pm

i am interested in the mac book pro.
i know nothing about it, but it seems sick.

Inductive · Post by **Inductive** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 4:22 pm

Just dont buy a laptop from avertec. I would buy an e-machine over an averatec laptop if I could go back in time :[

Having a laptop crash on stage is bad, in one 2 hour set I had this one crash _5_ times. That was with a clean install and nothing but live installed. My 1.5 cents

DKushner · Post by **DKushner** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 6:40 pm

I just ordered an Alienware m7700

suspended childhood · Post by **suspended childhood** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 5:42 pm

If you get a Dell, get the Latitude Line (located under small business user on their page).

they are built better and Targetted to Business users. They also get better support.

The parts on the Latitude (when comparing to the Inspiron) are tried and tested, whereas the Inspirons are most likely parts from the vendor that gave Dell the best deal at the time of purchase.

The latest and greatest (not tried and tested) will be in the Inspiron, but the Latitude will work better.

Yes they have a laptop that looks very similar to the 15" powerbooks.

HiEnergy · Post by **HiEnergy** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 6:27 pm

My Toshiba Satellite M40X-112 still works fine with Live5 under WinXP Home.
Yet had to completely re-setup it once after it started glitching under Live.
Hope this won't occur any more.

Cheers
HiEnergy

wilxon · Post by **wilxon** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 3:13 pm

dont get a vaio, they are unstable and crap.

i reccommend toshiba and fujitsu seimens.

or a macbook pro.

shaneblyth · Post by **shaneblyth** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 9:04 pm

heyfreak wrote: Ive been told that live works better on pc, that on Mac it tends to glitch,.,,,,
But anyhow, my decision is between a Toshiba, a Vaio, or a Powerbook......

What are your suggestions???....
Any thoughts??

Glitch who told u that? the abes use mostly Macs and alot of other top musos use powerbooks with live onstage because they are very reliable and stable. I use a powerbook and never have it glitch or let me down.
Mine is a 1.5ghz 17" with a 7200rpm drive and 1 gig of ram. Anyway there are some good PC notebooks too. You do get what you pay for though. it is a fact of life. Yes the new Macbook pros are great but you have to be careful and make sure the apps you want to use and plugins etc are universal binaries as it ia such a new system. people are changing there apps over to universal at an alarming rate (over 1000 in 6 weeks !)
My suggestion is if you can take your time
it will be interesting to see how live 5.2 final goes on the macs etc and also when 6 comes out it will support dual core and dual processors so if you are in it for the long hall you might want to future proof yourself by going fo a dual core chip be it Mac or PC.. thats said you could pick up a powerbook second hand especially of it has a faster drive like mine and 1 gig ram and it does everything i want and has room ro spare, it's all about the music afterall

Ali Pascha · Post by **Ali Pascha** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 9:21 pm

My Vaio works perfectly (PCG-K215 P4 2,8) with Reason 3.0 and Live 5. IMO a bigger and better display (15") makes things easier. My IBook 1,2 Ghz 12" display sucks although I prefer the Mac OS for internet, fun etc..

wd8dky · Post by **wd8dky** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 1:29 pm

I am having excellent luck with my Dell Inspiron 6000, w/2Gb RAM & a 2.0GHz CPU.

daviec · Post by **daviec** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 2:21 pm

I got a Dell 9400. Dual core 1.86GHz, 2Gb memory, 100Gb 7200rpm HD, 1920x1200 17" WUXGA+ screen for £1099

It's been great with Ableton so far. I just need to wait on my soundcard and controller arriving.

rude_NHS · Post by **rude_NHS** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 12:32 pm

if you want one straight from the shop then i'd recommend the sony vaio's all the way. you can get a shit hot one for anywhere between 700-1000 quid, with an equal spec to the g4's and two thirds the price, or you could be the real daddy vaio for about 1000-1500, like there tiny 9inch jobs that fits in your coat pocket and have 80gig hard drives. phew.

however, even though i've never used one, macs are geared more towards multi media and are quite sturdy.

which laptop do you reccomend?

which laptop do you reccomend?

Re: which laptop do you reccomend?