Ableton Forum

I am finally going to buy a new laptop because ableton doesn't run as fast as I would like. My price range is up to ~1,000$ (if that's even necesary?). Do any of you have any recommendations? Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

Fine then guys, I'll throw the dog a bone...

MacBook.

There. I said it.

Prepare for the PC guys to chime in & bust my balls.

macbook.

Nothing wrong with reccomending a Mac.

If going PC, I reccomend Lenovo. Thinkpads are the best, built really solid, but are probably more expensive than you are looking for. You can get an i7 ideapad right now for around a thousand bucks though at the right places.

+1 for Lenovo Thinkpad. Best laptop ive had, included the Power Book. (pre Macbook Pro, with g4 cpu) The new macs are pretty rad! Still, Thinkpad kicks some very serious ass. Its your friend if your on a budget, and if you want maximum futures and maximum build quality. Its not as pretty as a mac, but it aint ugly either.

Also check alienware solid platform good specs

ze2be wrote:+1 for Lenovo Thinkpad. Best laptop ive had, included the Power Book. (pre Macbook Pro, with g4 cpu) The new macs are pretty rad! Still, Thinkpad kicks some very serious ass. Its your friend if your on a budget, and if you want maximum futures and maximum build quality. Its not as pretty as a mac, but it aint ugly either.

-1 for firewire chip though although Live runs very smoothly on my T400.

After posting for a while and trying to decide what I should get, it seems like the concencus is that Macbook Pro is the best. I think you can run Ableton Live with just a macbook but it doesn't have firewire and the Macbook Pro does.

EliasG wrote:After posting for a while and trying to decide what I should get, it seems like the concencus is that Macbook Pro is the best. I think you can run Ableton Live with just a macbook but it doesn't have firewire and the Macbook Pro does.

If your going to use it for music only, PCs are VERY stable. I got a mini firewire on my 12" Thinkpad, plus ive added a 6 pin, 3 socket firewire pcmcia card, with bus power. 3 usb ports. And it can take more beating then a macbook pro. its half the cost. Youll get more software to PCs too. But if your music buddies use macs, go for it! Most of mine use PCs.


edit: 6 pin, not 5 pin.

ze2be wrote:

EliasG wrote:After posting for a while and trying to decide what I should get, it seems like the concencus is that Macbook Pro is the best. I think you can run Ableton Live with just a macbook but it doesn't have firewire and the Macbook Pro does.

If your going to use it for music only, PCs are VERY stable. I got a mini firewire on my 12" Thinkpad, plus ive added a 5 pin, 3 socket firewire pcmcia card, with bus power. 3 usb ports. And it can take more beating then a macbook pro. its half the cost. Youll get more software to PCs too. But if your music buddies use macs, go for it! Most of mine use PCs.

Sorry off topic but what audio interface are you using? I'm in the process of buying one.

BoxDJ wrote:Sorry off topic but what audio interface are you using? I'm in the process of buying one.

Mackie Onyx (fw), Motu ultralight (fw), and Echo Indigo DJ. (pcmcia)

BoxDJ wrote:

ze2be wrote:+1 for Lenovo Thinkpad. Best laptop ive had, included the Power Book. (pre Macbook Pro, with g4 cpu) The new macs are pretty rad! Still, Thinkpad kicks some very serious ass. Its your friend if your on a budget, and if you want maximum futures and maximum build quality. Its not as pretty as a mac, but it aint ugly either.

-1 for firewire chip though although Live runs very smoothly on my T400.

I have and highly recommend a Lenovo Thinkpad T500.

It has firewire, 4 pin though, right on front. SATA on the side. Thing kicks ass. In fact I have had no stability issues with Live 8 on it. Wish I could say the same for my desktop.
Lenovo sells SIIG firewire cards if you need 6 pin for about 60 bucks USD and of course you can buy one on the web too.
Another thing to consider... the thing is built like a truck... an off road truck. It literally has a roll cage built into the enclosure.

I bought a really nice Asus recently that works great as my music PC. It was a gaming PC which handles everything Live can throw at it and more.

i use both mac and pc and if your on a budget i would go for win 7 64 bit pc laptop.Much much more for your money and an excellent operating system

ze2be wrote:

BoxDJ wrote:Sorry off topic but what audio interface are you using? I'm in the process of buying one.

Mackie Onyx (fw), Motu ultralight (fw), and Echo Indigo DJ. (pcmcia)

Ricoh Firewire chip right? How does the MOTU Ultralite perform on your laptop? I'm looking for low latency and decent sound quality.