tracking?
are there any laptops that are dependable for recording initial tracks? what do you folks swear by? i’d hate to have to buy a desktop and a laptop, that means less bass gear.
no help from you here jdet - I track on a desktop mix on my laptop.
Hi J,
I love my little acer aspire 3680.
It cost 450 bucks at wall mart.
I bought a soundblaster 24bit slot card for it. You could do that with multi trac as well.
Or mini jack headphone out to line in works fine. I think I’ve worked a dozen tracks with no problems.
Intel Celeron M processor 440
1.86 Ghz, 533 Mhz, 1mb L2 cache
Intel graphics media accelerator 950
80 gig hd
dvd cd rewrite combo
512 ram upgraded to 2gig
I prefer this one over my other laptop because of it’s lightness and vista
Can’t beat it for 450!
thanks. my wife is finding lapps at reasonable prices, so i may be able to get a desktop as well and not AIG (also known as ‘break the bank’).
I have an Asus M50vm 2.56 ghz intel dual core, 4 gig of ram. I use it to do vocals because my main PC is too loud. I use the UX2 Tone Port by Line 6 with it (USB). I do have to turn up the latency a little more than my main system but it does the job good. I paid $1400 CND. I’m sure once I get Windows 7 on it it will work even better. I changed out the 5400RPM drive and put in 7200RPM drive and that made a big difference, also I dumped Vista home that came with it and installed WinXP on it too. Those 2 items ended the stuttering I was having when I first got it.
I would suggest if you use a Laptop get a 7200 RPM drive in it, this will help it a great deal. Oh, ya disable the WIFI/Wireless, very bad, causes dropouts, at least on my unit it does.
PACO 
Laptops are a problem when it comes to audio. Because you cannot set the IRQ or ajust what the designers have chosen to combine. I think on of the first things would be an understanding between you and the store that the computer could be returned if it will not work for you. A lot of the information that might help is buried someplace in the specs in a language that only experts can really understand. I do know that if you are using firewire, try to get TI chips. I think the next time I go that route, I will opt for a USB interface - seem to have fewer problems. I have read in other forums that HP uses the right chips and combinations for audio recording, but who really knows they change models all the time. I have a Lenovo Intel pen 4 and with everything turned off except the PCMCIA cardbus I can use my MOTU 896 with a TI firewire card - and it took me quit a while to get it set up.
One suggestion for a noisy desktop computer - set it up to run remotely from the laptop. I alsp have quieted mine down by using Sonata case with Antec quiet powersupply and Zenman processor fan.
BAx
I forgot to mention:
be certain to get a computer with a separate video card - not shared memory.
One of the worst offenders on a laptop is the shared video, they also tend to share modem and network drivers. I found that using an “outrigger” monitor with my laptop caused my recordings to spike and stutter, so get a screen that is large enough for you and has a video card with sufficient memory to drive it.
since i’ll be getting enough money in this first installment to get a laptop for the missus and a desktop for me, plus fretless bass, bass rig, 12-string acoustic electric, audio interface, new window/tires for the beater truck, and 8 front-row tickets to casting crowns for my worship team, i’ll probably get both computers, since all this laptop stuff to remember at the store seems like more trouble than a moose on the interstate for someone as non-tech inclined as me.
or i could just use that money to finance ange’s studio costs. hmm…
That would earn you an Executive Producer handle! 
Make ya famous!
if i were famous, people would expect me to be able to ‘executively produce’ their albums. i’m not going to blow out my back every time some backstreet boys knock off wants to pretend they’re recording ‘artists.’
hope you have fun pickin’ out your new stuff. Gonna be nie for you to have some better tools to work with!
That’s good news!
i’m definitely looking forward to it, but it reminds me that i never want to go through that blown-out back thing again. not worth the money (although now that surgery has done its magic, i’ll take the money).
Well?
Late to the party…
I’ve done some recording on my laptop. An entry level Dell Inspiron 1525. Couple of years old. 2Gb RAM. 1.7GHz Pentium dual core. Vista Home Premium.
I’ve been using a Tascam US-1641 USB interface and done several live sessions of several hours each with 12-14 tracks. No problemo.
Since Vista doesn’t support hardware profiles like XP, I created a new login, and wrote a script to stop all the unnecessary services etc, including wireless, AV, etc, etc.
Works a treat.
laptop will come later. we just moved and for some reason, it cost a small fortune. i’ve moved plenty (this was move #28) and it never seemed to cost this much. even cross-country.