Ableton Forum

well here is the basics, i want to get a new laptop. i am in college, 100% paying for it myself, money is VERY tight.

I want to purchase ableton 8 suite when it comes out, but I also need a laptop that I can use to do simple live performances around campus (i have a nice pa, preamp, and amp) as well as my apt.

i am looking at getting just a basic 500$ toshiba that is dual core, 3GBs of ram, and a 250GB HD. the other option is a basic macbook that is around $1200 through my school.

i won't be doing too much at this point live so i don't really need anything THAT powerful, but having too much power isn't a bad thing. I plan on getting a macbook pro at some point over the next few years, but this pc desktop thing is killing me, i need something portable that i can take to the laptop to work on beats/song ideas.

i have money, its just i want to make sure i make the right decision. if i just got the toshiba, then i would save the money needed to purchase ableton 8, and since i plan on getting a new midi controller (prob. the apc 40) i need to make sure i can afford all this shit.

any feeback would be great, sorry for the sloppy writing.

i would get the toshiba.

I have a 2008 toshiba satellite A215

it shipped with vista, 1 GB RAM, the processor is 64bit.

I immediately took vista off and put XP 64bit on and immediately noticed a difference in performance. I then upgraded to 4 gigs of ram (it only reads 3.56 something) and now its lightning fast. Just make sure the hardware you are purchasing has 64 bit drivers available.

I use an Edirol FA-101 and get 33ms overal latency.

Personally, I would look into getting a refurbished or used Macbook or MBP.
You can get a refurbished Macbook for around $700-800, or buy a used one for even less.
A good friend just got an open-box Macbook from Best Buy for $700, with the year warranty, etc.
Ram is dirt cheap, you can get 4gb for around $50, and hard drives are also cheap and very easy to swap in the Macbooks.

be careful tho as the older macbooks can only take 2gb ram max. Mind you I only have 2gb in mine and its fine...