Ableton Forum

Looking for recommendations for a new Windows laptop that will perform well with my FW410 and echo IndigoDJ. I've had great luck with Sony but an currently using a Dell and it is crap - lots of clicking and popping any time I use a Firewire or USB or PCCard audio interface (I've tried everything).

Anyone purchased a recent laptop in the $1500-2000 range that they're very happy with? I'd prefer something that has the power but isn't HUGE and has a nice long battery life.

Thanks - will now troll the forums for other posts like mine.

Sony Vaio SZ ( best battery life, I miss that) and IBM Thinkpad are your only options for PCMCIA> Indigo use. Some Samsungs have it too but wont work with audio and Dell you dont want ( and you are right).

Hi,

I recommend you IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad T61, very good laptop, I use it with RME Firewire card (Fireface400) and Native Instrument USB card (Audio kontrol 1), no problem !
The best for Firewire is PCMCIA with texas instrument chipset (no ricoh chipset..)

Totally disagree with the Dell haters. I have had 5 Dell computers, all of them solid workhorses and am running Live 7 successfully on my most recent desktop and when I'm not using that it runs very well on my laptop. My Dell laptop is now nearly 4 years old and can still keep up with Live 7. I also use an Echo Indigo IO (same card as the DJ but without the second out) and an Alesis IO14 firewire interface with no problems. Finding a modern PC with a PCMCIA slot is more difficult though, it's an outdated interface now. (unfortunately, as it is much more reliable than firewire or USB).

The issue is probably down to your firewire chipset, most PC laptops nowadays have poor firewire chipsets and even Apple Macs went from using the best (Texas Instruments) to a lesser, cheaper version (the Agere).

I also think that Lenovo laptops are good, but you pay a premium for them and it is debatable as to how much extra value that premium will bring you. But I wouldn't discourage you from buying one, so long as you can afford it.

The best laptop in the 2000 dollar price range is definately a Mac Book Pro anyway. None of the Vista issues and having to deal with an obsolete o/s which XP will be very soon. Solid features, good performance, FW800 etc. PC Laptops are just designed for email, web browsing and mobile Microsoft Office. Mac laptops are better for audio and MIDI applications because Mac OSX is better suited to it.

No Dell hating here. My studio desktops have always been Dell and I've had great luck. Not so with the laptops, particularly as you indicate in areas of USB and Firewire chipsets. Since the onboard audio card doesn't exhibit the problem and I've tried many USB, Firewire and PCCard audio interfaces with this particular Inspiron, I'm now reluctant to repeat this problem with another Dell. I'm even a bit of a Dell fanboi and if you weren't doing audio I'd tell you to buy a Dell if you're looking for a Window machine.

Will look at USB / Firewire chipsets more closely. So the TI is good... any others?

I'm not married to my echo Indigo so I'd abandon PCCard if necessary.

I'm using Dell Vostro 1510, Core 2 Duo T8100, 4GbDDR, 250Gb HDD and it basically kicks serious ass! I love it.

Same here with my insppiron 6000, works well with both emu 1616m (cardbus) and m-audio fastrack pro (usb), not tried any firewire interfaces with it though
Mate of mine has a dell latitude D830 that he uses with a 1616m for DJing, no problems there either (in fact it's superb, much more powerful than my machine.)

leedsquietman wrote:Totally disagree with the Dell haters. I have had 5 Dell computers, all of them solid workhorses and am running Live 7 successfully on my most recent desktop and when I'm not using that it runs very well on my laptop. My Dell laptop is now nearly 4 years old and can still keep up with Live 7.

+1 Got a Dell D630 with a C2D 2.4, faster as hell, built to industrial business standards, so it can take abuse, totally rock solid...NEVER a crash or a bluescreen with L7. I run the Native Instruments Audio Kontrol 1, and there are no issues, very low latency. Even has a hardware ON/OFF switch for all networking, so you can be assured of zero audio pops and clicks due to peripherals like network and wireless cards.

I got the lappie plus the Audio kontrol for $950.