17" hp or 14" vaio?

[nickels]

I have recently purchased 2 notebook computers and I am trying to decide between them. I figured I would solicit you guys for your opinion since the laptops were purchased to be used with Ableton Live. I would really appreciate any feedback/opinions you all can give. Here are the 2 choices:

1) HP Pavilion ZD7000
-17" wide aspect ratio screen
-P4 3.2Ghz w/ HT
-512MB Ram
-128MB Nvidia chip
-3 USB, 1 1394, 2 PCMCIA
-9lbs

or


2) Sony Vaio S260
-13.3" wide aspect ratio screen
-PM 1.7GhZ (has 2MB L2 Cache)
-512MB Ram
-64MB ATI chip
-2 USB, 1 1394, 1 PCMCIA
-4lbs

I am torn, b/c there are advantages and disadvantages to each setup. Obviously the HP has more power, but it's HEAVY!! The sony is way more portable, better battery life, but has a smaller screen. Performance seems to be fairly close with the tests I have performed thus far. Closer than I expected. I am just wondering if you guys think it's worth it to lug a big ass 9lb, 17" around? Does the extra viewing area make THAT big of a difference or is overall portability more of an issue? I know when touring the lighter the load the BETTER! I am gently leaning toward the Sony Vaio, b/c of this fact, but I am a bit worried the screen size might be a pain in the ass in a dark club. What do you all think?

[rikhyray]

I used 14`` Vaio till last week. just change to 16``one. I know there are people using even smaller displays but I dont want to know why and how. Comparing to any hardware even the biggest notebook is nothing, think of MPCs specially 4000, Kurzweils etc.
I would keep HP.

[forge]

the difference in raw power and versatility is too great to ignore!

the Vaio would always be just your laptop but the HP would be everything - there's nothing you would need with that one, enough ports, kickass video, I'm still pretty pleased with my athlon 2200+ you must be able to to do awesome stuff with a machine like that and you'd never be split and feel you need to used a desktop for anything, but I get the feeling there'd always be something a bit irritating about the Vaio

That said my 15" NB is big enough for me, couldn't imagine going bigger

[nickels]

I hear both of you guys, but you don't think the 9lb vs 4lbs is an issue? Not to mention the extra size of the power supply on the HP and the overall size of it?

Last time I toured Europe, size was a HUGE issue with my band. I am a deejay so keep in mind I will be lugging this laptop, 2 turntables, iPod, audio interface, mixer, headphones, kaos pad, midi controller, monitor and some back up vinyl (I use Final Scratch 2). I am just a bit worried about the size issue, b/c I have so much stuff already.

Plus, what about a laptop stand? Do you guys know of one sturdy enough for a 10lb 17" notebook? What do most people use for laptop stands?

[rikhyray]

I definitely prefer bigger laptop, specially on stage, it is physically more stable. I use Quiiklok workstation, laptop is on the extension, good for cooling. I think you HP has numeric pad which is very useful for DAW. 17``is anyway the best for Live.

[nickels]

One other question.... How does Ableton react to recording/playing off of 4200 rpm laptop harddrives? Is anyone out there using a Vaio with 4200rpm or another lappy with a similar hd?

I think the HP has a 5400 rpm drive.

[forge]

One other question.... How does Ableton react to recording/playing off of 4200 rpm laptop harddrives? Is anyone out there using a Vaio with 4200rpm or another lappy with a similar hd?

I think the HP has a 5400 rpm drive.

5400 should be fine

but you'd be better of using the ram function no matter what drive as it has gotta be better all round using your ram than accessing a hard drive on the fly - no moving parts for one thing, then there's the reduced heat internally - if you have 1 GB of Ram that's a hell of alot of samples, even 512 would carry you a fair way (what's a full track 80MB? you could always switch ram on and off as you start mixing in tracks if you use it more in a DJ context)

[rikhyray]

I did use. up from 6 tracks there could occure problems though I had up to 14 tracks. There are many people here who use 5400 without problems.

[nickels]

I did use. up from 6 tracks there could occure problems though I had up to 14 tracks. There are many people here who use 5400 without problems.

Wait, so you had a Sony Vaio (what model #)? Or a 4200RPM Harddrive? Or both? Are you saying that you experienced issues beyond 14 tracks? Audio and midi or all 14 tracks audio?

If you don't use your Vaio anymore, what do you use?

[nickels]

Here are some real life performance tests I just performed from another post http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12375.

1) 23-26%
2) Sony Vaio S260 laptop
3) Win XP Home
4) Pentium M 1.7gHz
5) 512MB Ram
6) Stock
7) 4200 RPM

and

1) 24-28%
2) HP Pavilion ZD7000 laptop
3) WinXP Pro SP2
4) Pentium 4 3.2Ghz
5) 512MB Ram
6) Stock
7) 5400 RPM

...............................................

I just did another test for the hard drives of these 2 laptops by loading up as many audio tracks as each one could hold in Ableton. Here is what I found....

1) Sony
-can play about 22 audio tracks before hd drop outs occur (cpu reads 6% at this point)
-has a 4200rpm, 8mb buffer hard drive
-can view 8 full size audio tracks without scrolling

2) HP
-can play about 39 audio tracks before the hd drop outs occur (cpu reads 13% at this point)
-has a 5400rpm, 16mb buffer hard drive
-can view 11 full size audio tracks at a time without scrolling

[forge]

Here are some real life performance tests I just performed from another post http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12375.

1) 23-26%
2) Sony Vaio S260 laptop
3) Win XP Home
4) Pentium M 1.7gHz
5) 512MB Ram
6) Stock
7) 4200 RPM

and

1) 24-28%
2) HP Pavilion ZD7000 laptop
3) WinXP Pro SP2
4) Pentium 4 3.2Ghz
5) 512MB Ram
6) Stock
7) 5400 RPM

...............................................

I just did another test for the hard drives of these 2 laptops by loading up as many audio tracks as each one could hold in Ableton. Here is what I found....

1) Sony
-can play about 22 audio tracks before hd drop outs occur (cpu reads 6% at this point)
-has a 4200rpm, 8mb buffer hard drive
-can view 8 full size audio tracks without scrolling

2) HP
-can play about 39 audio tracks before the hd drop outs occur (cpu reads 13% at this point)
-has a 5400rpm, 16mb buffer hard drive
-can view 11 full size audio tracks at a time without scrolling

wow - pretty impressive - I wouldn't have thought the 1.7 M would bea t a 3.2 P4 but there you go! guess that makes pentium M/centrino effectively double the GHz value in P4 terms!? Didnt think it was that much

[rikhyray]

I used Sony 1.2 G P3. Now have Vaio GTR 816M , I wanted to get Centrino or AMD 64 but couldnt resist the 16`` best display there is, can get 18 track in session and even better inarranger (40?). Now I realised that widescreen is better in session, but regular screen is better for arragement at least for me, can see all the tracks, open envelopes, have editor, all this without scrolling. After your test I wonder if I really need to change the drive. I hate the hassle of changing drives, just did all this installations in last days. Have to do some test what is really 4200 limit.