I'm still in the market for a notebook; any suggestions?

[adventurepants_]

Hey guys - yeah, actually it's not just FireWire interfaces that I've had this problem with, but USB ones as well. That's what makes it so strange. I currently own a USB 2.0 and a FireWire audio interface and they've both exhibited the issue I mentioned, on multiple laptops. It must just be cheap components. =\

MacBook Pros are expensive, you're right. They START at $2,000? LOL Crazy...

DELL is a great company, I mean, they are super-affordable, they offer lots of configuration options of the latest technologies, and I really like the BIOS they use (which usually offers a lot of changeable options). If only they didn't use such cheaply-made components! I'm pretty sure that the 1420 that I'm about to try will do the same thing, but I thought I would give it a try. It might arrive by the end of this week...

i would suspect its more about configuration than hardware. most new laptops come overloaded with bloatware, and very resource hungry suites like nortons and mcaffees. tune it and tweak it, and id be surprised if you had the same problems with USB interfaces.









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[compositeone]

DELL is a great company, I mean, they are super-affordable, they offer lots of configuration options of the latest technologies, and I really like the BIOS they use (which usually offers a lot of changeable options). If only they didn't use such cheaply-made components! I'm pretty sure that the 1420 that I'm about to try will do the same thing, but I thought I would give it a try. It might arrive by the end of this week...

I have been using a Firewire interface with an old Dell Latitude for 18 months now without any trouble at all.

I'm currently looking for something more powerful though and I'm leaning towards getting a Mac and boot camping it up.

[dn83]

Well, that's a good suggestion, but I tried that and many other things. You can check out the post I wrote about it, but yes, I did a fresh OS install, installing only Windows and the necessary drivers. I'm not an expert, but trust me, I tried eliminating everything.

Older notebooks seem to be fine yeah, it's the newer one's that are the problem.

[dn83]

Well, the idea of putting Windows on a MacBook does appeal to me somewhat, but there are some things that I'm not sure of. For example - the Mac keyboard is different. There's no Delete key - only backspace, so how would you, for example, perform the CTRL+ALT+DEL function?

As a side note, I've spotted a couple of Asus notebooks that look like good options, but I'm just curious if they would exhibit the same random crackle noise issue as other notebooks. Anyone using an Asus?

[djadonis206]

I have a Sony which I love but my next purchase will be a desktop

I have too much stuff in one basket

but, I would recommend a macbook as well - I've been using virtual pc a lot for school and I think bootcamp is viable and the macbooks are well priced

get a macbook

[inmazevo]

Well, the idea of putting Windows on a MacBook does appeal to me somewhat, but there are some things that I'm not sure of. For example - the Mac keyboard is different. There's not Delete key - only backspace, so how would you, for example, perform the CTRL+ALT+DEL function?

Easy: CTRL+ALT+DEL
There IS a delete key on Macbooks.

- zevo

[dinchak]

check out the asus notebooks, at gentechpc.com you can customize one with 2gb ram, 7200 rpm drive, good video card, dual core 2.6ghz or so, for under $1000. i own the asus s96j, it's about the same as described above and cost me $1300 a year and a half ago. i'm running the m-audio projectmix board via it's firewire and it works flawlessly, as has every other device i've plugged into it, including all sorts of midi controllers, usb sound cards, m-audio fw410, etc. the s96s they have looks really close to what i have and are even more affordable.

[dn83]

Well, the idea of putting Windows on a MacBook does appeal to me somewhat, but there are some things that I'm not sure of. For example - the Mac keyboard is different. There's not Delete key - only backspace, so how would you, for example, perform the CTRL+ALT+DEL function?

Easy: CTRL+ALT+DEL
There IS a delete key on Macbooks.

- zevo

Hmm..yeah, there's a key that says "delete", but it functions as a backspace button, doesn't it? And also, if when running Windows, this key in fact switches to perform an actual delete function, then how does one perform a backspace function? Haha...?

[dn83]

check out the asus notebooks, at gentechpc.com you can customize one with 2gb ram, 7200 rpm drive, good video card, dual core 2.6ghz or so, for under $1000. i own the asus s96j, it's about the same as described above and cost me $1300 a year and a half ago. i'm running the m-audio projectmix board via it's firewire and it works flawlessly, as has every other device i've plugged into it, including all sorts of midi controllers, usb sound cards, m-audio fw410, etc. the s96s they have looks really close to what i have and are even more affordable.

Hey, thanks a lot! I'll check it out!

[inmazevo]

Well, the idea of putting Windows on a MacBook does appeal to me somewhat, but there are some things that I'm not sure of. For example - the Mac keyboard is different. There's not Delete key - only backspace, so how would you, for example, perform the CTRL+ALT+DEL function?

Easy: CTRL+ALT+DEL
There IS a delete key on Macbooks.

- zevo

Hmm..yeah, there's a key that says "delete", but it functions as a backspace button, doesn't it? And also, if when running Windows, this key in fact switches to perform an actual delete function, then how does one perform a backspace function? Haha...?

Indeed, Apple is weird here. But, then again, it took them 5 years to make a multi-button mouse for OS X.

But, I'm pretty sure it works for CTRL+ALT+DEL when running under Windows, if you want to use that functionality.

I'll check it for you. I'm not at the machine right now, but I'm pretty sure I've hit that to get to the Task Manager, etc. Pretty sure.

For just deleting things, it still works once you get used to it. I don't even notice anymore. I don't have problems deleting things with it.

For example, in a text editor, you can highlight what you want to delete and hit it, or reverse your thinking: where delete starts at the beginning of a word/sentence, the apple version starts at the end.
As another example, if you are not in a text editor... say, roaming through files... delete functions as you'd expect: hightlight, and delete.

Basically, it's a backspace in text editors, and delete everywhere else.

It used to really bug me, but not it's just a different way of doing things.

Take care,
- zevo

[snakedogman]

does anyone know what kind of firewire chipset IBM Thinkpads use?
Anyone using one for Live use?

I've bought a Thinkpad R61 a while ago but haven't tested it with audio interface yet (ran out of money ). I've tried out Live on it for a bit but obviously the built-in soundcard doesn't perform too well.
Other than that I think it's an amazing laptop. The one I got is a 15" with a 1680x1050 display (which is amazing. Whatever laptop you're gonna get, I recommend going for the highest display resolution possible). It feels great too, very sturdy and a great feel to the keyboard and buttons (better than the macbooks imo). You have to like the matte black industrial look though (which I do) cause it's not as flash and shiny as most other laptops.

If you want a similarly specced macbook, you're looking at 700-800 euro's more as well. (this one was about 1050). The macbooks will be a little bit faster but I has less screen resolution. Also the thinkpads have some cool extra's like a cardreader and fingerprint reader. It came preinstalled with Vista but with a bit of searching for the right drivers I now have XP running on it without problems.

http://www.centralpoint.nl/frame.php?ur ... _Wide.html

[leedsquietman]

Thinkpads are now made by Lenovo. They tend to use better quality components than some other PC manufacturers, their cost is consequently a bit higher in most cases. They used to almost always use TI chipsets for firewire when IBM owned them, don't know if this is still the case since Lenovo took them over.

I personally would not go for the basic macbook - weak integrated graphics that suck out system ram, screen too small for my failing eyesight, lower spec HD speed and capacity, etc. Fine for e-mailing and web surfing but you would not regret getting the macbook pro in a year's time whereas you might wish you'd stumped up the extra cash for the MBP.

There are customizable PCs that would be good choices too. So long as you get XP and not Vista and the firewire chipset is TI and preferably 6 pin (a rarity in the PC world).

[leedsquietman]

Thinkpads are now made by Lenovo. They tend to use better quality components than some other PC manufacturers, their cost is consequently a bit higher in most cases. They used to almost always use TI chipsets for firewire when IBM owned them, don't know if this is still the case since Lenovo took them over.

I personally would not go for the basic macbook - weak integrated graphics that suck out system ram, screen too small for my failing eyesight, lower spec HD speed and capacity, etc. Fine for e-mailing and web surfing but you would not regret getting the macbook pro in a year's time whereas you might wish you'd stumped up the extra cash for the MBP.

There are customizable PCs that would be good choices too. So long as you get XP and not Vista and the firewire chipset is TI and preferably 6 pin (a rarity in the PC world).

[gavscope]

personally, i would get one of these-
http://www.shop-sonica.com/pd_livetracker1.cfm

or

build an asus c90s from gentech, cheaper and faster

[dn83]

Easy: CTRL+ALT+DEL
There IS a delete key on Macbooks.

- zevo

Hmm..yeah, there's a key that says "delete", but it functions as a backspace button, doesn't it? And also, if when running Windows, this key in fact switches to perform an actual delete function, then how does one perform a backspace function? Haha...?

Indeed, Apple is weird here. But, then again, it took them 5 years to make a multi-button mouse for OS X.

But, I'm pretty sure it works for CTRL+ALT+DEL when running under Windows, if you want to use that functionality.



[...]



It used to really bug me, but not it's just a different way of doing things.

Take care,
- zevo

Ahhh, I see - interesting, thanks!