new laptop specs

[b7uzer]

Hi, my good old laptop starts to show its age.
i haven't been following pc technology developments recently. Thinking to upgrade.
What are the min specs i should look for?
I'm running Cubase and things like Kontact libraries. Guess i should look for max ram and fastest hdds, what are current minimums?
Thanks!

[psmacmur]

I'm in the same boat; my SSD is throwing S.M.A.R.T. warnings, so the end is nigh. My biggest specs dilemma is whether to go with 1080p, for max compatibility with older plugins, or 4k, for more pixels.

[Drogers]

Not all software supports 4K settings. If it's not supported then the text/buttons will be 1/4 size. If the laptop has a good graphics card like a GTX, the drivers will support switching the display into 1080p resolution, but that defeats the purpose of paying extra for a 4K display. I just upgraded and went with the 1080 display and saved $150. Probably in 3 years when I upgrade again the software will be ready for 4K.

[jpmfuk]

a 1080 gaming laptop will do the job nicely. they usually are modular enough to upgrade to SSD and save some on initial cost. also the I7 chip is not ULP, has more threads and is not set up to slow down when you really need the CPU. they're damn good for just about everything else too. an asus GL502VM.. something like that.
I switched to SSD for the main drive and put in a M2 NVME card for the system drive.

[DodgingRain]

I'd agree on the gaming laptop. The biggest issue you need to worry about it cooling and gaming laptops are generally better there than others.

Spec's to start with:
- 6th gen intel processor, make sure its QUAD CORE and not dual core.
- 500gb ssd, 1TB or larger secondary drive (some laptops like mine will allow 3 internal drives with 2 being ssd)
- If you want portability try to get a laptop with a sound blaster chip so you get a reasonable ASIO driver and don't have to carry around your audio interface all the time.
- make sure your good on external ports
- any decent laptop should allow you to get it with 32gb of ram, sometimes 64gb
- STAY AWAY from Microsoft surface series, they don't handle heat well when you push them for extended periods of time. There are work arounds like usb fans but best to just skip a surface entirely.
- 4k display only if it looks better than the non-4k display option. 4K is a headache sometimes so I generally run mine at 1080p even through it's 4k since the 1080p display on the laptop I wanted was crap compared to the 4k which shows colors far better.

I use an alien 15 gaming laptop from early 2016 which isn't the thinnest laptop but it has serious power for doing audio work and appropriate cooling to prevent the cpu clocks from throttling down. And it overclocks so I can run the 4 cores at over 4Ghz continuously without a problem.

[b7uzer]

Thanks a lot for all comments, much appreciated!
I'll be looking for a gaming laptop, preferably with two hdds.
SSD for OS and a second drive for samples and stuff.
Another solution could be a desktop setup and keeping my old laptop as a portable backup.

Happy New Year everyone!