Does anyone know if any of the laptops from probably the biggest online retailer (I love the jungle ) would be suitable as a music laptop? I'm currently trying to weigh up about 10 different scenarios and was wondering if any of these laptops would have a TI chipset.

--------------------
Hail Hail and up the VSTs

Laptop makers seem to be phasing out firewire on this generation of laptops. I've not seen any in a while with a dedicated T.I. onboard so if you do find one report back, cause your not the only one looking for them!

--------------------
ScanProAudio & 3XS Audio Systems
ScanProAudio Blog

Not only FW ports Pete but Express card slots as well.

I was not bothered about FW when I was looking at laptops (it almost never supplies power and so is bog useless in a field!) but I would have liked a slot, which of course also solves the FW problem.

I admit I was resticted by wonga, £400 tops so I do not know if I would have found a slot past that price? I am quite happy so far with my HP G6 1170sa. Cubase E6 went in like paint but I have yet to "stress" it at all but in anycase, my machine had to be a GP "family" device, any musical capability being a bonus. I must say however that I am impressed with the sound from the headphone/line out feeding my Tannoy 5a's.

Dave.

Cheers lads.

Pete, it really is hard to fathom what exactly is going on with so much choice.

I am trying to decide on a multitude of levels on how to proceed. I have been looking at desktop PCs and laptops. Space is a premium that is why I'm even considering a laptop.

I have been checking out Scan (and Rain also) for both, and this is just me trying to check out the whole playing field. Ideally will go with yourselves at Scan or Rain because I have been very impressed by the user reviews of both companies to date but the price, while I'm sure is competitive for the support and audio tweaks, is a bit more than I am hoping hence why I'm checking out consumer models too.

--------------------
Hail Hail and up the VSTs

Quote Dee:

---

I have been checking out Scan (and Rain also) for both, and this is just me trying to check out the whole playing field. Ideally will go with yourselves at Scan or Rain because I have been very impressed by the user reviews of both companies to date but the price, while I'm sure is competitive for the support and audio tweaks, is a bit more than I am hoping hence why I'm checking out consumer models too.

---

Hi Dee!

The very best of luck to you, but perhaps reading the intro to my SOS October 2010 review of a Scan laptop will put things into more perspective for you:

"It’s always been tricky to find a laptop computer that can be guaranteed to work well with a wide variety of audio interfaces, but since Core i5/i7-based machines have appeared it’s become a nightmare. Compatibility with Firewire audio interfaces hit an all-time low when Texas Instrument Firewire controller chips were abandoned on modern laptop motherboards, while arcana such as CPU throttling schemes, graphic drivers and limited BIOS options for the power-saving ‘C-states’ have all resulted in music forums awash with reports of unresolvable audio drop-outs, glitching, intermittent connections and the like — even with USB interfaces.

I know several professional DAW builders who have spent weeks researching and abandoning one laptop model after another in their quest to find one offering reliable, low-latency audio. "

The rest of my review is here if you're interested, but I suspect that sets the picture for you

www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct10/articles/scan-3xs-intel-sp17.htm


Martin

--------------------
YewTreeMagic

Thanks a million Martin That pretty much sums up what I knew deep down to be the case. With SO many variables and SO many laptops to choose from, if you want a hassle free music experience ultimately it is best to pay a little extra and get from the main music retailers eg., Rain and Scan.

Cheers for your help.

--------------------
Hail Hail and up the VSTs

My pleasure - glad it helped


Martin

--------------------
YewTreeMagic

Dee,
You mentioned space requirements as a factor against a desktop? Well consider that the baseunit/kbd of a laptop is pretty obtrusive if you have any decent screen acreage, power cable trails much of the time.

A desktop carcass can be put waaaay out of the way and mouse and kbd put on 3-4mtr usb extensions,(or use a wireless jobby,£15.00 PCWorld) a civilized sized monitor can be wall mounted, more deskspace, mouse is better than a pad (ymmv) and better seeing?

Dave.

Hi Dave, I'm actually looking in to doing this at the minute. I'll have to do something along these lines and hopefully will get a few bits and pieces that I need to pick up before heading home from work today and then try and arrange the jigsaw this afternoon.

--------------------
Hail Hail and up the VSTs

Quote Martin Walker:

---

The very best of luck to you, but perhaps reading the intro to my SOS October 2010 review of a Scan laptop will put things into more perspective for you:

"It’s always been tricky to find a laptop computer that can be guaranteed to work well with a wide variety of audio interfaces, but since Core i5/i7-based machines have appeared it’s become a nightmare. Compatibility with Firewire audio interfaces hit an all-time low when Texas Instrument Firewire controller chips were abandoned on modern laptop motherboards, while arcana such as CPU throttling schemes, graphic drivers and limited BIOS options for the power-saving ‘C-states’ have all resulted in music forums awash with reports of unresolvable audio drop-outs, glitching, intermittent connections and the like — even with USB interfaces.

---

There's an interesting line in the news section of PC Pro this month, from the Intel Developer Forum, that caught my eye -
"Ivy Bridge (Sandy Bridge's successor) also supports configurable thermal design power (TDP), allowing manufacturers to use the same chips in both low-power and high-performance devices"

The problem we have is no longer CPU power as such, but getting that power to the road. Intel has completely shifted its focus to low-power devices, where the battery is king, which is all very well but all i've ever wanted from Intel (and Microsoft for that matter) is the ability to turn off anything that will restrict the CPU running at its fastest. Just a button or BIOS setting will do it - maybe this TDP feature will be what we're looking for - who knows.

But with firewire and expresscard slots disappearing you kinda get the feeling that no one's listening to our tiny section of the market.

--------------------
PC-Music.com hints, tips & reviews
Rain Computers UK - Creative Audio PC's

A thought from left field...
How about bolting on a stonking Peltier heat pump?

If it don't get hot it can't throttle back???

Dave.

Not necessarily Dave, since it's not just temperature being monitored

Nowadays all these clever monitoring algorithms can throttle your CPU performance automatically with a few seconds of maximum power not being required, and then your audio could glitch when you need it again


Martin

--------------------
YewTreeMagic