Tractkion Afficinados - Laptop Recommendations ?

[headquest]

HP Pavilion zv5160, p4 2.8GHz, 512MB, 15" WXGA ATI Mobility Radeon 9100 IGP, Hitachi 60G 4200rpm ATA6.

I get excellent performance under Tracktion.

However, no matter what computer you get, you will need to "tune" XP, which means getting rid of all unneeded services and processes, and turning off all that "eye candy". Go have a look at http://www.musicxp.net/, and also search K-v-R for "optimize".

Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo D, similar spec to you. For the record though, I've done virtually no "tuning" in Windows XP at all... I know we're all supposed to, of course, but the truth is I never found I needed to yet...

Tracktion works a dream on my system - never crahsed once yet. Also - wothout problems - Reason 2.5 and Ableton Live. Used to use Cubase SX on it too. The laptop didn't mind, but I did tehe

Also at work I use 6 Dell Inspiron notebooks - with Pentium M processors (Centrino). If I were buying for myself tommorrow I would definitely go for a Centrino chip - the Dells are much quieter (mine has a noisy fan, but it doesn't effect the sound because I only record keyboards (audio, direct) and use MIDI.

[_oswald]

I'm leaning towards the folllowing:
Dell Inspiron 600m
Acer Travelmate 3200
Acer Aspire 2120

Truth be told, if it came down to a great deal on a P4 or a good deal on a Centrino, I'll probably go with the P4 because I don't plan on this rig taking the place of the current studio rig (mainly because I'd like to get a UAD-1 card and the cost of getting a Magma Chasis is just a bit... up there) but to serve as a sketchpad for my ideas.

My only problem with Acer is that their 'authorized retailers' are so far, a pain to deal with. I've called two in my area and might have to move on to calling the third to get some useful information...

All I want are some damn price quotes. Is that too much to ask?

[headquest]

I'm leaning towards the folllowing:
Dell Inspiron 600m
Acer Travelmate 3200
Acer Aspire 2120

I'd look at the Sony Vaio range as well, for 2 reasons:

1. They have great screens - much clearer than any other Laptop I've seen (a special technology only Sony have developed)

2. They've started including Mastering Software as part of the deal - and it's based on the Sony Oxford stuff.

Maybe worth a look?

[_oswald]

I'm leaning towards the folllowing:
Dell Inspiron 600m
Acer Travelmate 3200
Acer Aspire 2120

I'd look at the Sony Vaio range as well, for 2 reasons:

1. They have great screens - much clearer than any other Laptop I've seen (a special technology only Sony have developed)

2. They've started including Mastering Software as part of the deal - and it's based on the Sony Oxford stuff.

Maybe worth a look?

I did and I found them to be quite a ways out of what I'm willing to spend. Their cheapest VAIO model is the A130 which runs for $1,199.99 and that's with a Celeron processor.

At most, I'd be willing to spend about $1,300.00 (again, this laptop is a sketchpad, it's not intended to be the power-house King of the studio).

[malamut]

Oswald,

if your budget is that limited, I recommend that you have a look at ebay. I've just checked at ebay Germany, and I've seen quite a lot of good notebook computers which have current bids around $600 and will surely be sold for less than $1000.

Even if you don't want to be the king of the studio, you *do* want to have a notebook which is well-suited for doing musical work, right? You won't find such a computer /new/ for far less than $2000. 'Power-house king' notebooks start somewhere around $4000. But you can find good machines for less than $1000 in the second-hand market.

Don't do anything stupid! I own a Dell computer myself, and I know their advantages, but the Inspiron 600m is not well-suited for music, and neither are their competitors.

Good luck,
malamut