Laptop suitable for audio production?

College Life
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<p>Hi…im new to the forums and have been reading for a few days now and finally decided to join. Question</p>

<p>Im into music/audio production. As of right now ive been using a refurbished gateway desktop with an AMD athlon 3400(64 bit) processor and 512 MB of ram since my freshman year of high school. I graduate from HS this June. I use several programs such a Reason 3 and FL Studio 8. To be honest the computer does what i need it to do, with some hiccups and some stalls, but it gets the job done. My father bought an Acer Spire 6930 in late 08. Its specs are Intel COre 2 Duo T5800, 4 GB Ram, 250gb HD, 16 inch screen. I love his laptop. It runs fast, we had a slight problem with the original and had it replaced, but other than that, it has been smooth sailing. That being said, if I can do my music on that old antiquated Gateway, even a pentium dual core would do the job. My cousin has a dell xps and he said it pretty nice, ive used it, and he uses it for audio production. He says that his system has 4 GB, but it never uses over 1.5 GB with even some pretty cpu/ram intensive audio productions. That being said, Im getting a laptop for the fall, ill be attending UK(University of Kentucky). My moms doesnt want to spend more than 1,000 on a laptop, which gives me decent range of what i can configure/buy. No macs…</p>

<p>Hard Drive size isnt an issue, but from what ive heard, i’d like to get something with a 7200 rpm speed. Ive decided to stay away from AMD processors, and would like to get Intel Core 2 Duo, minimum 2.0ghz. I dont want to go larger than 17 inches, b/c my cousin says even his 15.4 inch is a lil on the heavy side at times. So 15.4-15.6/14 inches is my ideal size. DVD burner is pretty much standard, and i prefer built in wifi for library use. Other than that ive have no preferences. I could care less about graphics, as i dont game and dont plan to. Brands Dell…but kinda want to stay away, Acer, Levono, Asus, Gateway, HP, Toshiba…any others.</p>

<p>Thanks for any help.</p>

2

<p>Recommendation:</p>

<p>1) Wait. Computers always get cheaper.
2) Buy the schools’ recommended configuration. They usual offer a student deal. Recommended configuration is also important because the school’s IT help desk can help with ANY problem with the computer.
3) I have no recommendation for you on hard disk size. Raw audio files can be pretty big. Since you have been doing it for a while, you should know your hard disk needs.
4) If you are buying it with Windows Vista, get Home Premium, not Home Basic.
5) Min of 2 GB of main memory, preferably 4 GB. Any one program may not use more than 1.5gb, but if you have more than one program open … Also, programs will grow in need over time.
6) External hard drive for regular backups (might be able to use your desktop for this).
7) External monitor - Use your current monitor.</p>

<p>If you have the extra cash:
8) Docking station (port replicator) for one cable connection for full size: Keyboard, mouse, network cable, printer, etc.
9) One of the new quad core chips might be interesting for you. Even if your audio programs can’t take advantage of it now, it won’t be too far off when they can use the additional cores.</p>

<p>I think you can get a decent laptop for around $500, and a good one for under $1,000. Taking parts from your desktop will save you a few bucks.</p>

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<p>My son has a Rain computer that is supposedly optimized for recording and audio. So far, he’s been very happy with it.</p>

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<p>Well ive been looking and searching and levono seems to have some pretty solid laptops for good prices. I figure i can get an external hard drive and some ram…so im not worried. </p>

<p>The rain computers are too expensive for what they do.</p>