KVR Audio

Numanoid · Post by **Numanoid** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 6:29 pm

I'm looking to buy a new compact laptop.

Is any of the Asus or Acer cheap laptops any good for sound?

polaris20 · Post by **polaris20** » Sun Mar 25, 2012 1:09 am

Numanoid wrote:I'm looking to buy a new compact laptop.

Is any of the Asus or Acer cheap laptops any good for sound?

Make sure you get something without an Atom processor. I'd get something that can take 4GB of RAM, and a decent proc, like an i5.

mod4 · Post by **mod4** » Sun Mar 25, 2012 3:40 pm

I had an old msi u100 which worked good but fan was noisy as hell.

Just got a motion le1700 core 2 duo 1.5 for £250 on ebay it runs well and almost silent.

Dont know about windows 7 or 8 , but the le1700 had vista installed.
it crashed all the time was slow and had a lot of processes running which i had to kill.
Wouldnt surprise me if windows 7 and 8 are the same, microsoft dont have a clue about
Resources.

Best to stick with xp and also read this about memory limits for microsoft os versions.
Most people dont realise 32 bit limits.

msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa366778(v=vs.85).aspx

Oh yeah noticed as well the le1700 has intel HD audio which means it can record stereo analog input at 192khz 32bits. Which is good.

wbrewer · Post by **wbrewer** » Wed Mar 28, 2012 10:54 am

I would definitely get an I5 with 4+ gigs of ram and Windows 7. I would not use XP because Windows 7 and even 8 blow it out of the water. I would also try to get an SSD and built in GFX card like Nvidia or the new Intel GFX. This is an awesome year for powerful, cheap laptops..

audiojunkie · Post by **audiojunkie** » Wed Mar 28, 2012 3:04 pm

I just picked up a new Inspiron 15 N5040 for $399 at Best Buy. It has an Intel i3 processor, 4Gb RAM, and 500Gb hard drive. The battery life is about 3-5 hours on average. I've only had it a week, but it seems to be the best thing available in the $400 price range.

It beats what I've been using -- my 6 year old Compaq with 512 mb RAM, AMD Sempron processor and 60Gb hard drive.

--Sean

mink11 · Post by **mink11** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 7:48 pm

I think it's better to safe money and looking for an refurbisht MacBook - its perfect for musicians

Johnny! · Post by **Johnny!** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 8:22 pm

it'll still be overpriced and probably lower-spec'd. my asus with sandy bridge quad core i7 / 8gigs of ddr3 works like a charm with audio. and it was well priced too.

mink11 · Post by **mink11** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 8:36 pm

The Users only read ever and ever the Specs on the different maschines. But there are also many quality differents of the Hardwarekomponents inside the Maschine. Sure there are problems on some MacBooks with broken hardware to, but all my friends are now using mac because of the high-quality hardware components and easy to use OS. Last never forget that the Resale bring more revenue than a lowcoast winPC in a few years later. and last the OS is much better than the resouces hungry windows.

karacha · Post by **karacha** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 9:07 pm

^

No, it's really not. A new PC, even a cheap one, will be much better then an old MacBook.

Also, Windows 7 is not resource hungry at all. These new laptops with i5 processors and 4+ GB of RAM are really good for the money. Much better for the $$ then an old Mac. I say this, and I actually do own a new MacBook pro. But an old, refurbished one?! No thanks.

Besides, what kind of Mac can you actually get for $400-$500?

Johnny! · Post by **Johnny!** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 9:08 pm

oh please stop it mink11. same chipsets, same cpu's, same memory chips. if you think Apple gets some superior quality parts then you're really naive (no offence). with 64bit windows 7 everything works perfectly well (the only advantage OSX has over Windows nowadays is the ability to hotplug midi controllers without restarting software). resource hungry? LOL
but i see where this is going, so i'm off here, no need for another mac vs pc war thread. just stop spreading stupid myths.

edit - yeah, as karacha says - you can get new and very powerful pc laptop for the price of macbook 1-2 generations behind current models (which aren't SO powerful anyway)

audiojunkie · Post by **audiojunkie** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 7:26 pm

audiojunkie wrote:I just picked up a new Inspiron 15 N5040 for $399 at Best Buy. It has an Intel i3 processor, 4Gb RAM, and 500Gb hard drive. The battery life is about 3-5 hours on average. I've only had it a week, but it seems to be the best thing available in the $400 price range.

It beats what I've been using -- my 6 year old Compaq with 512 mb RAM, AMD Sempron processor and 60Gb hard drive.

--Sean

I am posting to report that after trying to work with the above mentioned system for the past several days, I am going to admit defeat and return the system. I have experienced glitches with audio that I have not been able to clear up. Also, the touch pad's scrolling doesn't work well. At this point, even with excellent specs for the price, I am not willing to recommend this particular laptop.

FYI, I work in I.S. and have years of experience with working with computers. I've used the DPC latency checker, the latest bios & drivers, tried disabling different components, etc. It appears that this system just has bad drivers and a poorly built touchpad. Reviews abound with similar complaints.

So, in short, I'm looking for a sub-$400 laptop to replace my 6 year old Compaq. I know that there's not much for the price, but that's all I've got to work with, so if anyone has any good recommendations, please let me know!

Thanks,

--Sean

Best cheap Windows laptop for audio?