Ableton Forum

Hello,



Can anyone suggest a good lap top for making music on the go.
I am looking at a few possibilities. Either an Acer, Dell, Sony Viao, Toshiba and Alienware. But which is best?
Plus is a 5400RPM drive good enough and which is better, a USB interface or firewire?
USB is supposed to be faster, that much I know. I already own a Tascam US-122 which is quite good but the best I can get out of it is 13ms Latency which is acceptable but I'd like a bit better in terms of latency.
Finally can anyone recommend a good 2 octave keyboard. USB powered.
Would a lap top have enough power to run an audio interface and keyboard?

Thanks in advance for your response(s)

I recommend Ti or i Book with Motu or MAudio audio gear

Looks good, sounds better

format

Sony Vaio Z1 (Centrino 1.4 - the newer ones are even faster: 1.7 Centrino) + RME hammerfall

Sony VAIOs look good but God help you if you get a lemon. Sony technical support is horrible and they don't honor their warranties. Better to get a AlBook or used TiBook and an Applecare warranty if you want something reliable.

-Alex

The VAIOs are great, but they come with a lot of software pre-installed, which I consider unnecessary clutter. Macs make great DAWs, but you'll pay a great deal for the same level of performance you can get with a carefully selected PC. Live is also far more efficient on PC. I would lean towards Dell.

I might add that I've had very satisfying experiences with Sony warranty support.

Going to pick up my 17" 3.2 GHZ 800FSB Toshiba tonight. Will keep everyone posted.

Ducktail