 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Forums - Computer music & technology
Subject: laptop vs desktop
Viewing all 6 messages - View by pages of 10: 1
Original Message 1/6 25-Dec-01 @ 02:46 AM - laptop vs desktop
klive303
Posts: 1
Link?: No link
File?: No file
We've just recently came across with an extra $2000 USD and my wife is letting me spend it on a new computer as an xmas gift.
Should I get a laptop or a desktop? I will be using Sonar, Reason, Reaktor, and a few more soft synths. I won't do any hard disk recording. My main concern is low latency. I want to get as many voices as possible with Reaktor.
I've look into the Dell Inspiron 8100 laptop. Would the slow harddrive (4200 rpm) increase latency and lower the amount of voices from Reaktor? It comes with the ESS Maestro PCI Audio soundcard. Is that good enough for running bunch of softsynths? Or do I need to get a better sound card? Like the RME or the Emagic EMI 2/6. But the Emagic is USB, can I really run softsynth with usb?
If a laptop isn't good enough for what I want to do, what kind of desktop should I go for. AMD or Pentium 4? Which soundcards, motherbroad, cpu should I go for?
One more question before I go. How do you get dual boot to work? I mean under which OS? Do I need an extra software for that?
Please please please, help me here. I’ve spent the whole xmas weekend during research online, so far I’ve gotten more questions than answers. So I finally resorted to asking you smart and helpful people for help. Thanks people for all your help in advance. If you have $2000, what would you do?
Should I get a laptop or a desktop? I will be using Sonar, Reason, Reaktor, and a few more soft synths. I won't do any hard disk recording. My main concern is low latency. I want to get as many voices as possible with Reaktor.
I've look into the Dell Inspiron 8100 laptop. Would the slow harddrive (4200 rpm) increase latency and lower the amount of voices from Reaktor? It comes with the ESS Maestro PCI Audio soundcard. Is that good enough for running bunch of softsynths? Or do I need to get a better sound card? Like the RME or the Emagic EMI 2/6. But the Emagic is USB, can I really run softsynth with usb?
If a laptop isn't good enough for what I want to do, what kind of desktop should I go for. AMD or Pentium 4? Which soundcards, motherbroad, cpu should I go for?
One more question before I go. How do you get dual boot to work? I mean under which OS? Do I need an extra software for that?
Please please please, help me here. I’ve spent the whole xmas weekend during research online, so far I’ve gotten more questions than answers. So I finally resorted to asking you smart and helpful people for help. Thanks people for all your help in advance. If you have $2000, what would you do?
Message 2/6 25-Dec-01 @ 11:46 AM - RE: laptop vs desktop
this is from dells website... thats what i would do.. but probably not dell... tere are cheaper places like your local store... or ibuy.com..
make sure you get a ata 7200rpm (ibm deskstars are good) For cdr plextors are good......
try to get a geforce2 mx400 with dual moniotr support, so you can run the programs on two screes.. trust me its awesome, makes it easier with multiple windows... Dont get a soundcard.. most pc stores dont have asio soundcards except the sb audigy, stay away from that.. i would get a midiman, or echo.. depends what you need, for stereo in and out and digital outs both midiman and echo mia are good (but midiman has built in midi ports.. and if you going to use all soft 1 in/1out is all you need echo mia doesnt have midi ports), they go for 150- $
Get at least 17" monitors, flat trinitrons rock.. the bigger the better, and if you get the dual head display card get two of them...
Ram is cheap, get at least 256.. but i would get 512... make sure its not slow ram.. motherboard, i would get asus anything really... cpu get the fastest you can afford ( you dont have to get the fastest one, anyrthing above 1.2 gh should do fine)
the one is from dell website... dont buy it! the reason i would get a custom build is the you dont have to get the soundcard and crappy speakers+ crappy software you dont need.... but the setup down there is pretty sweet, other thing is windows xp.... some audio progs dont run with it... but idont know, haven used xp...
just to give you an idea... about getting a laptop... i dont know...
Dell Dimension 4400 Series
Dimension® 4400 Series,Pentium® 4 Processor at 1.8 GHz
Qty: 1
Price: $2,007.00
Date: Tuesday, December 25, 2001 5:20:49 AM CDT
Catalog Number: 29 19
Dell Dimension 4400 Series: Dimension® 4400 Series,Pentium® 4 Processor at 1.8 GHz D4418W [220-5296]
Memory: SAVE $90! 512MB DDR SDRAM 512MP [461-3706]
Keyboard: Dell® Enhanced Quiet Key Keyboard EQK [310-2753]
Monitors: 17 in (16.0 in viewable,.24-.25AG) P792 FD Triniton® Monitor P792 [320-7896]
Video Cards: 64MB NVIDIA GeForce2 MX 4X AGP Graphics Card with TV-Out 64NVMX [320-0164]
Hard Drive: 80GB Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drive 80 [340-3274]
Floppy Drive: 3.5 in Floppy Drive 3 [340-1927]
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition¹² WHXP [420-3079] [313-7222]
Mouse: MS IntelliMouse® IM [310-2757]
Network Card: 3COM® PCI 10/100 Remote Wake Up Network Card 3C9WOL [430-5600]
Modem: 56K Telephony Modem for Windows 56KWSXP [313-0717]
DVD ROM or CD-ROM Drive: 16X DVD ROM Drive with Software Decoding 16DVD [313-0743] [313-2559]
Sound Card: SB Live! Digital Sound Card SB1024 [313-1488]
Speakers: Harman Kardon Speakers HK [313-1479]
Software Bundles: Upgrade to Microsoft® Office Small Business w/EducateU (sku 412-1603) XPESBM [412-1603] [412-0093]
Norton Antivirus®: Norton Antivirus® 2002, 90-day introductory offer NAV2002 [412-5623]
Digital Music: Dell Jukebox powered by MusicMatch 6.0 for XP JUKEXP [412-3809]
Digital Imaging Software: Image Expert®2000 for XP,Dell Edition DPSXP [412-3807]
Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options: 3Yr Ltd. Warranty- 3Yrs At-Home Service + Lifetime Phone Support S3OS [950-1272] [950-3339] [950-4270]
Internet Access Services: 6 Months of DellNet® by MSN Internet Access Included MSN6XP [412-3800] [412-3805]
CD-RW DRIVE FOR 2nd Bay: 24x/10x/40x CD-RW Drive with Roxio's Easy CD Creator® 24CDRW2 [313-0728]
Price
Sub-total: $2,007.00
Shipping: 3 --
Tax: 4 --
Total Price: --
make sure you get a ata 7200rpm (ibm deskstars are good) For cdr plextors are good......
try to get a geforce2 mx400 with dual moniotr support, so you can run the programs on two screes.. trust me its awesome, makes it easier with multiple windows... Dont get a soundcard.. most pc stores dont have asio soundcards except the sb audigy, stay away from that.. i would get a midiman, or echo.. depends what you need, for stereo in and out and digital outs both midiman and echo mia are good (but midiman has built in midi ports.. and if you going to use all soft 1 in/1out is all you need echo mia doesnt have midi ports), they go for 150- $
Get at least 17" monitors, flat trinitrons rock.. the bigger the better, and if you get the dual head display card get two of them...
Ram is cheap, get at least 256.. but i would get 512... make sure its not slow ram.. motherboard, i would get asus anything really... cpu get the fastest you can afford ( you dont have to get the fastest one, anyrthing above 1.2 gh should do fine)
the one is from dell website... dont buy it! the reason i would get a custom build is the you dont have to get the soundcard and crappy speakers+ crappy software you dont need.... but the setup down there is pretty sweet, other thing is windows xp.... some audio progs dont run with it... but idont know, haven used xp...
just to give you an idea... about getting a laptop... i dont know...
Dell Dimension 4400 Series
Dimension® 4400 Series,Pentium® 4 Processor at 1.8 GHz
Qty: 1
Price: $2,007.00
Date: Tuesday, December 25, 2001 5:20:49 AM CDT
Catalog Number: 29 19
Dell Dimension 4400 Series: Dimension® 4400 Series,Pentium® 4 Processor at 1.8 GHz D4418W [220-5296]
Memory: SAVE $90! 512MB DDR SDRAM 512MP [461-3706]
Keyboard: Dell® Enhanced Quiet Key Keyboard EQK [310-2753]
Monitors: 17 in (16.0 in viewable,.24-.25AG) P792 FD Triniton® Monitor P792 [320-7896]
Video Cards: 64MB NVIDIA GeForce2 MX 4X AGP Graphics Card with TV-Out 64NVMX [320-0164]
Hard Drive: 80GB Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drive 80 [340-3274]
Floppy Drive: 3.5 in Floppy Drive 3 [340-1927]
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition¹² WHXP [420-3079] [313-7222]
Mouse: MS IntelliMouse® IM [310-2757]
Network Card: 3COM® PCI 10/100 Remote Wake Up Network Card 3C9WOL [430-5600]
Modem: 56K Telephony Modem for Windows 56KWSXP [313-0717]
DVD ROM or CD-ROM Drive: 16X DVD ROM Drive with Software Decoding 16DVD [313-0743] [313-2559]
Sound Card: SB Live! Digital Sound Card SB1024 [313-1488]
Speakers: Harman Kardon Speakers HK [313-1479]
Software Bundles: Upgrade to Microsoft® Office Small Business w/EducateU (sku 412-1603) XPESBM [412-1603] [412-0093]
Norton Antivirus®: Norton Antivirus® 2002, 90-day introductory offer NAV2002 [412-5623]
Digital Music: Dell Jukebox powered by MusicMatch 6.0 for XP JUKEXP [412-3809]
Digital Imaging Software: Image Expert®2000 for XP,Dell Edition DPSXP [412-3807]
Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options: 3Yr Ltd. Warranty- 3Yrs At-Home Service + Lifetime Phone Support S3OS [950-1272] [950-3339] [950-4270]
Internet Access Services: 6 Months of DellNet® by MSN Internet Access Included MSN6XP [412-3800] [412-3805]
CD-RW DRIVE FOR 2nd Bay: 24x/10x/40x CD-RW Drive with Roxio's Easy CD Creator® 24CDRW2 [313-0728]
Price
Sub-total: $2,007.00
Shipping: 3 --
Tax: 4 --
Total Price: --
Message 3/6 25-Dec-01 @ 11:53 AM - RE: laptop vs desktop
or got this link and customize this one without the soundcard and the speakers and switch to a dual head display video card...
Message 4/6 25-Dec-01 @ 06:29 PM - RE: laptop vs desktop
www.prorec.com
roll your own 2001"
Iwill KK266 Mobo ($93 at pricewatch!)
AMD T-Bird 1.4g processor ($99!)
512 megs RAM ($59 for one stick at www.star-components.com. They have drives too for great prices)
Vid card: you dont NEED dual monitors. thats just a huge luxury really....get 8 or 16 megs and youll be fine. I run a 4meg AGP card and all is well
the rec'd system at pro.rec is about $450 or so minus monitor, tax, shipping and soundcard...
oh..a burner, too...
I dont think a laptop is the best idea really. you just get such a better system for so much less if you buy a desktop or build one yourself
roll your own 2001"
Iwill KK266 Mobo ($93 at pricewatch!)
AMD T-Bird 1.4g processor ($99!)
512 megs RAM ($59 for one stick at www.star-components.com. They have drives too for great prices)
Vid card: you dont NEED dual monitors. thats just a huge luxury really....get 8 or 16 megs and youll be fine. I run a 4meg AGP card and all is well
the rec'd system at pro.rec is about $450 or so minus monitor, tax, shipping and soundcard...
oh..a burner, too...
I dont think a laptop is the best idea really. you just get such a better system for so much less if you buy a desktop or build one yourself
Message 5/6 26-Dec-01 @ 05:02 PM - RE: laptop vs desktop
Agreed with Influx. The Roll your Own at ProRec is the way to go. Tested, solid, stable, and there are a lot of people over at ProRec that can help you if something isn't working right.
-Craig
-Craig
Message 6/6 26-Dec-01 @ 06:54 PM - RE: laptop vs desktop
I use www.pricewatch.com for findin good prices
Viewing all 6 messages - View by pages of 10: 1
There are 6 total messages for this topic
Reply to Thread
You need to register/login to use the forum.
Click here to Signup or Login !
[you'll be brought right back to this point after signing up]
Back to Forum
