Windows Laptops with 4TB Internal SSD

[TS-12]

are there any Windows Laptops with 4TB Internal SSD ?
I'm thinking of switching from MacBook with M1 Max chip to Windows laptop. My laptop has 4TB SSD, but searching online I could only find 2TB Maximum windows laptops. I definitely don't want to use external SSD.

[Spin Boyz]

Just curious, why the change to Windows? I've thinking of switching to a Mac.

[BONES]

You can always buy a gaming laptop and put one in yourself, although you can probably find one with 2 x 2TB drives pre-installed. Interestingly, I've never seen Apple offering 4TB of storage on any Mac. The current MB Pro (M3) on their site maxes out at 2TB.

[AcrossTheSky]

Hp Zbook fury 17 g7 or g8 has room for 4 x nvme or 2 x nvme + 1 ssd or possibly newer 16" zbook g9 or g10 (check spec) - powerful machines...

[ghettosynth]

Unlikely (in a reasonably priced machine), it's not a common use case. It's relatively easy to switch drives, but it's a little bit technical so if you're not comfortable with that just buy a laptop with the smallest drive and everything else that you want, buy a 4TB drive from Amazon, and take them both to a tech to have the drive swap done.

One thing to make sure that you know before you buy is the form factor of the SSD. I have an ASUS that I'd like to upgrade but it has a 2230 1TB. The (physically) smaller drives are more expensive per TB and so it's not worth it to me, well, last time I checked. Most of my laptops have 2280 drives which are cheap.

[ghettosynth]

Hp Zbook fury 17 g7 or g8 has room for 4 x nvme or 2 x nvme + 1 ssd or possibly newer 16" zbook g9 or g10 (check spec) - powerful machines...

Wow, that's a beast. You're gonna need a substantial lap for those. I'll give you that there fast and upgradable, but also thick and heavy. I've found that I'm really sensitive to both size and weight for my laptops if I really need them to be laptops.

[AcrossTheSky]

Hp Zbook fury 17 g7 or g8 has room for 4 x nvme or 2 x nvme + 1 ssd or possibly newer 16" zbook g9 or g10 (check spec) - powerful machines...

Wow, that's a beast. You're gonna need a substantial lap for those. I'll give you that there fast and upgradable, but also thick and heavy. I've found that I'm really sensitive to both size and weight for my laptops if I really need them to be laptops.

sure - the 17" G8 is heavy -& I like that its super silent 90% of the time and the screen size is perfect - no problems running Daws at all.. hope you'll find one with enough power to run what you want !

[ghettosynth]

Hp Zbook fury 17 g7 or g8 has room for 4 x nvme or 2 x nvme + 1 ssd or possibly newer 16" zbook g9 or g10 (check spec) - powerful machines...

Wow, that's a beast. You're gonna need a substantial lap for those. I'll give you that there fast and upgradable, but also thick and heavy. I've found that I'm really sensitive to both size and weight for my laptops if I really need them to be laptops.

sure - the 17" G8 is heavy -& I like that its super silent 90% of the time and the screen size is perfect - no problems running Daws at all.. hope you'll find one with enough power to run what you want !

For me, no laptop screen is suitable for use with a DAW. They're all too small. 27" is the smallest screen that I'll work with for any length of time. I use micro desktops these days for DAW work.

[BONES]

I use mine with a 27" monitor at home but on stage, at rehearsal or when I am on holidays, my tired, old eyes have no problem working with its 13" screen. None at all.

I've found that I'm really sensitive to both size and weight for my laptops if I really need them to be laptops.

You know, I've owned probably more than a dozen laptops since I bought my first one in 2006 and I can't recall ever even trying to use one my actual lap. For us, as musicians, if you play live or use a rehearsal or recording studio outside your home, a laptop makes a lot more sense than a desktop and it mostly doesn't matter how big and/or heavy it is.

The furthest I ever have to carry my laptop is to and from the car. Try carrying your desktop, keyboard, monitor and mouse the same distance and see which you prefer.

[ghettosynth]

I use mine with a 27" monitor at home but on stage, at rehearsal or when I am on holidays, my tired, old eyes have no problem working with its 13" screen. None at all.

I've found that I'm really sensitive to both size and weight for my laptops if I really need them to be laptops.

You know, I've owned probably more than a dozen laptops since I bought my first one in 2006 and I can't recall ever even trying to use one my actual lap. For us, as musicians, if you play live or use a rehearsal or recording studio outside your home, a laptop makes a lot more sense than a desktop and it mostly doesn't matter how big and/or heavy it is.

The furthest I ever have to carry my laptop is to and from the car. Try carrying your desktop, keyboard, monitor and mouse the same distance and see which you prefer.

That was a joke, I don't use them on my lap either. I do carry them in my backpack and there is a substantial difference in how the laptop interacts with other stuff in the bag based on size. I buy 14" or smaller laptops, but I don't use them (much) for music. I have to carry my work laptop quite some distance.

I have a NUC in my euororack that is dedicated to Maschine. No problem using that on stage. It has a five inch LCD, that's fine in that limited context. That's not what I'm talking about. I would never take a DAW on stage. To me, that's not "playing live," you might as well just DJ your tracks.

[jdnz]

Hp Zbook fury 17 g7 or g8 has room for 4 x nvme or 2 x nvme + 1 ssd or possibly newer 16" zbook g9 or g10 (check spec) - powerful machines...

we're using the fury g9 and power g10 at work

the fury is nice if you need a pile of storage, a heavy duty gpu etc - but apart from the cost you also pay a weight penalty - it's like lugging around a laptop from about 2010!!!

the power g10 is a nice compromise - not really any heavier than an elitebook g10, but dual nvme slots, discrete graphics ( limited to the lower tdp nvidia offerings unlike the fury ), H series cpu ( as opposed the U in the elitebook ), and a price competitive with a similar spec macbook

[BONES]

Again, weight is not necessarily an issue, depending on your reason for wanting a laptop.

I do carry them in my backpack and there is a substantial difference in how the laptop interacts with other stuff in the bag based on size.

Buy a better bag. I went through more than half-a-dozen before I found the right one. You want one where the laptop has it's own compartment, which I'd have thought was most of 'em.

I buy 14" or smaller laptops, but I don't use them (much) for music.

I use mine for everything - work (which is more demanding than anything else) and music. I tried having separate machines for studio and stage but it created way too many hassles, so now I'm back to a single laptop for everything.

I would never take a DAW on stage. To me, that's not "playing live," you might as well just DJ your tracks.

You could say the same about having a band - if you aren't playing the drums and the bass and the guitar and the keys, what's the point? Plenty of very successful bands use backing tracks. I don't see any viable alternative, other than having 5 or 6 keyboard players on stage to cover all the parts and that would likely be just as boring as a laptop. And at least our laptop is actually doing everything live - nothing pre-rendered - where most of the big name acts we've supported have everything mixed down to audio tracks. One of them, probably the most commercially successful of them all, just had a CD-R with all their backing on it, playing from the FoH desk. They still managed to put on a helluva show.

I have a NUC in my euororack that is dedicated to Maschine. No problem using that on stage. It has a five inch LCD, that's fine in that limited context.

Yeah but NUCs are a lot more expensive than laptops and nowhere near as useful.

[ghettosynth]

nm

[TS-12]

Just curious, why the change to Windows? I've thinking of switching to a Mac.

I'm just thinking about it haven't decided yet.
There are so many issues, here are the ones I can remember right now:
1. Ability to run outdated 32bit plugins on windows.
2. Cubase has weird glitch on Mac that no one knows how to solve: https://forums.steinberg.net/t/midi-alw ... /891292/10
3. Roland Cloud plugins down work well on M1 Macs for some users.
4. Mouse cursor and strolling is so much better on windows. In Cubase scrolling is either too slow or too fast. ( this is the biggest reason for me ) apple mouse works decently but has extremely uncomfortable shape and doesn't have scroll wheel so it's unusable for me.
5. Hard to pick compatible external display for MacBook. Has to be 4K or higher and even than not all 4K monitors work well, often the images and text are blurry

[ghettosynth]

Hp Zbook fury 17 g7 or g8 has room for 4 x nvme or 2 x nvme + 1 ssd or possibly newer 16" zbook g9 or g10 (check spec) - powerful machines...

we're using the fury g9 and power g10 at work

the fury is nice if you need a pile of storage, a heavy duty gpu etc - but apart from the cost you also pay a weight penalty - it's like lugging around a laptop from about 2010!!!

Yeah, it is like a laptop from 2010. Starting at 5+ pounds, LOL! That's fine if you're just taking it in to a show or something, but that would get tedious after a while.