KVR Audio

MacButch · Post by **MacButch** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 5:28 am

Hi all,

I'm considering purchasing this laptop for music production (and some software development). It's really aimed at gamers, I guess, so I'm a little concerned about noise. Has anyone used this for music production? Did you find it noisy? Any experience with Firewire or USB sound cards?

Alternately are there other laptops you would recommend instead?

many thanks,

mark

Shane Sanders · Post by **Shane Sanders** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 5:44 am

MacButch wrote:Hi all,

I'm considering purchasing this laptop for music production (and some software development). It's really aimed at gamers, I guess, so I'm a little concerned about noise. Has anyone used this for music production? Did you find it noisy? Any experience with Firewire or USB sound cards?

Alternately are there other laptops you would recommend instead?

many thanks,

mark

hey Mark. You may get more responses if you post in the "Hardware, Setup, and System Configuration" section since those with an interest in this type of thing will more likely be hanging out in that area.

You might wanna check out some of the deals at http://www.powernotebooks.com/

I've purchased from them before. My friend had an Alienware machine and it was fine but the monitor wasn't as crisp as what I purchased from PowerNotebooks.

MacButch · Post by **MacButch** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 6:58 am

Thanks Shane,

You know? I could have sworn I'd posted in 'Hardware, Setup etc' that was certainly what I'd intended to do... Is there a way to move it now? Posting twice is probably even worse form than posting in the wrong place

Thanks for the link I'll check out PowerNotebooks.

cheers,

mark

OzoneJunkie · Post by **OzoneJunkie** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 5:34 pm

Is that notebook using a Pentium, or Pentium m (mobile)? Personally, think you're better off with an "m" - much longer battery life. Just make sure you turn off the powersaving feature in windows when running on battery, otherwise it will step down the CPU speed, and you won't get the horsepower you want/expect.

coldmachine · Post by **coldmachine** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 5:44 pm

My mobile setup is a 7700 with an Indigo card. Flawless operation. I use 2 Alienware laptops and 2 Red-Sub desktops and never had an issue. The 7700s run hot but are well fanned. If you put it on your lap youd need a skin graft. Battery life is about 40min.

DevonB · Post by **DevonB** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 5:45 pm

I reviewed the Alienware MJ12M 7700 for Recording Magazine a few months back. It wasn't the quietest laptop on the market. Very nice desktop replacement though.

Devon

coldmachine · Post by **coldmachine** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 5:59 pm

I assume you mean accoustic noise rather than internal?

MacButch · Post by **MacButch** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 8:59 pm

Thanks for all the replies!

@Devon, do you know the differences between the MJ12M vs the Area-51m? I'm guessing they're at least pretty similar, I'll see if I can find your review on the net.

coldmachine wrote:I assume you mean accoustic noise rather than internal?

@coldmachine, I definitely mean acoustic noise, I'm assuming the on-board audio is rubbish. I was planning on getting the Line6 TonePort ux2 for mobile sound (as my PodXT works pretty well and the toneport very well soundcard - if a little limited).

@OzoneJunkie, The Area51m uses a Pentium 4 3.6Ghz, I *think* that it's actually a desktop processor (not entirely sure of that). You're absolutely right about the battery life but I'm willing to sacrifice that for performance.

siriusbliss · Post by **siriusbliss** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 2:06 am

I have an older Area-51m and am getting ready to upgrade to the 7700. My current Alienware DOES run hot, and tends to get noisy when the fans kick in, so I keep it off in the distance while recording with mics. Otherwise it's a great portable desktop (of sorts), and handles heavy apps. just fine.

Greg

RME Multiface/HDSP/Cardbus,
Samplitude 8.21, Acid Pro, Magix Movie Edit Pro

tk421 · Post by **tk421** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 2:54 am

I have the 5620 model and I love it. The fan is a bit loud. It has the desktop processor. I do not knowif that is an option anymore. My wife has a G4 laptop, and the monitor looks weak compared to my Alienware.

My only complaints are battery life stinks and they are A LOT cheaper than when I got mine. Now that Alienware has more competition for gaming laptops, there are more choices. If I were to get a new one I would also consider the Dell XPS laptop.

John Vulich · Post by **John Vulich** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 3:10 am

You might want to check out the Sager 9890. It's basically a less expensive version of the same machine minus the stupid looking Alienware lid...

http://www.pctorque.com/sager-9890-gaming-computers.php

Sager NP 9890

Alienware m7700

John Vulich · Post by **John Vulich** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 3:11 am

Oh yeah, personally I think you are better off with a Pentium M machine.

MacButch · Post by **MacButch** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 5:08 am

John Vulich wrote:Oh yeah, personally I think you are better off with a Pentium M machine.

So would a Dell Inspiron 9300 by more like it do you think? It would be less powerful but definitely have more battery life etc... Or if you have other suggestions I'm up for other ideas...

John Vulich · Post by **John Vulich** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 5:34 am

MacButch wrote:
John Vulich wrote:Oh yeah, personally I think you are better off with a Pentium M machine.
So would a Dell Inspiron 9300 by more like it do you think? It would be less powerful but definitely have more battery life etc... Or if you have other suggestions I'm up for other ideas...

Not sure about Dell but I've owned 4 Toshibas and been very happy with all of them. Sager also makes Centrino notebooks. The 2.0ghz+ Centrino chips are very powerful and I would imagine are pretty close to the 3.8ghz P4 machines in performance. However they will run cooler, have better battery life and most importantly be more quieter.

Alan · Post by **Alan** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 5:52 pm

A friend of mine recently purchased a Gateway MX7515 with a AMD Mobile Athlon 64 4000 and 1gz of DDR,Ati RX480 chipset and Ati Radeon X600 graphics.I'm setting it up for DAW for him and so far it's silent,cool and powerful.I'll be testing it with his DAW hardware(Presonus FireBox) and Sonar 5 and some plugs/VSTi's later this week.So far it looks like a solid buy for $1,200.00 . I'm a little surprised as the only other laptops Iv'e setup were Intel based Sony Vaio's which were pretty crappy in all respects compared to this particular Gateway.Anyway,we'll see as the week march's on.

Alienware Area-51m 7700