Hey guys.

I am in the market to find a new laptop for a friends business.

He needs it for party functions to play music through his new sound gear he is going to buy. He needs a decent size hard drive (for music) and at least one gig of memory, plus a decent processor.

It basically needs to be able to run mixing programs/play music/ Store lots of data and be very reliable. He wants a laptop due to the size and convenience.

I have had a look through the brands, but since I have never bought a laptop myself, I can't decide on what the best option would be.

Any ideas would be great. Money really isn't an issue but somewhere around 2k would be nice.

Dell.

Asus. Better warranty.

pains me to say it
but dell

Apple Macbook 2.0 w/1.25G ram is around 2K

I'd look at Macbooks if you're shopping for a newb that isn't going to know any better, but if you need a PC I have to second Dells.

I don't mean to be picky but you'd be thirding it Trog.

We have Dell laptops at work and they seem to do the trick fine.

Anyone know how good the standard audio out is on the dells? I guess it would vary with the model but a general idea would be ace. With a view to have to hooked up to a portable stereo.

last edited by mission at 15:51:11 05/Oct/06

Ive got 3 dell laptops and they all work great so yeah, dell

I've got a dell, and just finished getting a Dell for a friend.. couldnt recommend them more. Havent noticed any issues with the audio out personally, just hooked up a 3.5mm stereo cable to my stereo and it works a treat.

dell ftw. my work dell laptop is a champ

your an idiot if your dont buy a mac for that price and those reasons.

sheesh if you desperately need to run XP put it on the mac, boot camp or straight native. but mac OSX is far better for all the things u mentioned he needs.

Also the new macbooks are better value for money then any dell. (ps dont however use the mac store to upgrade ram etc, this is still expensive and most items can be had third party for 1/2 the price.)

Still think a Macbook: it has reason, loops, garageband, most of the major music software and hardware packages out there are geared towards macs; integrates well with multimedia applications as well; you can boot natively into xp if you really want; it's reliable; easy; everything just works; it's cool; and excellent resale value.

Forget about recent/shader games though; I can get Rome Total War and gaems of that calibre to work under XP on a Macbook, but you'll have go an extra K if you want something beefier.

He might want to get a Decent PCMICA sound card. Unless there is a half decent laptop with good onboard stereo? Particularly if he is going to use it to DJ.

just before I relocated o/s I was looking into laptops, I went with ASUS for the 2 year global warranty

That plus I got a sweet deal, 17", dual 2gb duo core, 100gb hard drive, 2gb ram, 512mb gfx card (x1600) for a tick over $3k

So far it hasn't skipped a beat adn it rox my sox.

only problem is the size of the f***er and weight - getting it onto carry on luggage + another bag while terroist crap was on at heathrow was a drama - but it's essentially a desktop replacement so its all good!!

Thanks for the ideas ppl. I had a look through Dells laptops and there winning on the price factor ATM.

Any music he plays off it will be going through a powerful amp, so I am pretty sure onboard sound will be fine. Its just a question of finding the right price and model.

I would prolly prefer scouting out a model I like at harvey norman or something and then getting the best price for it.

Im more talking about that onboard sound is sometimes kinda s***ty, amp usually just increases the volume. If he wants to record his own music then he will definately need something a bit better than the onboard recording stuff. (This is just what a semi-producer friend has told me)

I would look at a Dell but would also look at a good quality USB sound card for it. the onboard sound is not brilliant for quality sound.

also get an external drive for storage. don't use the internal disk. You can get some redundant external drive caddies now days. If it is business then rocking up to a party with a faulty storage device is never good.

Drive Box:
4 x 250Gb Sata with Raid support:
http://www.auspcmarket.com.au/show_product_info.php?input[product_code]=AL-N4100BCOMBO250&input[category_id]=1363

Sound:
http://www.auspcmarket.com.au/show_product_info.php?input[product_code]=MU-CR0588&input[category_id]=102




last edited by CaPt0 at 08:24:04 06/Oct/06

macbook 2ghz $1299 + $300 (2x1024mb 667mhz ddr2) - $50 (sell existing ram) + $220 (120gb notebook sata HDD) - $50 (sell existing HDD) + $249 applecare 3yrs.

Total = $1968 + $30 (for store to install components)
= $1998 (better machine, smaller, lighter, better looking, quailty parts, excellent service, dual boot OS, OSX with ilife standard, etc etc etc)

show me a better dell for cheaper
PS less with student discount and who cant get that

last edited by Anono at 08:30:10 06/Oct/06

edit silly fresh install reset my link back to US store soz. still macbook is a better buy if the laptop needs to be moved around alot. better build quality and smaller/lighter.

last edited by Anono at 14:08:29 06/Oct/06

An.. where are you getting those prices?

As for this
----
Still think a Macbook: it has reason, loops, garageband, most of the major music software and hardware packages out there are geared towards macs
----

Steinberg and Reason are built for Windows and work fine, Ableton build for Windows, and if your seriously a pro, MAX/Msp is on windows as well.

You will need a PCMCIA sound card to do live music and a really good one that uses ASIO drivers - speak to Snakeman, he does live stuff on a laptop.

Anono, looks to me like you pulled the US prices.

As for the MacBook, just make sure you're aware that it doesnt have a PCMCIA or ExpressCard slot - the MBP only has an ExpressCard/34 slot.

last edited by Raven at 10:10:40 06/Oct/06

We use Dell laptops exclusively at work.

Heartily recommended!

Its probably too late but im really happy with my 12" dell XPS. It has a lot of grunt and a Creative HD Audigy sound card.

He needs a decent size hard drive (for music)

he needs a yum-cha braded network hdd did you say?

He might want to get a Decent PCMICA sound card

he needs optical-out sound did you say?


it sounds like he needs a few old $5.oo Pentium 2 PCs with generic soundcards that have optical-out (that will hook into decent audio gear). Unless he's gaming, an old P4 ~2gig Centreno for about $300 should -easily- do him for access to his data. You've given a rough idea of what your needs are - but I would'nt spend more than $650.


I'm basing this off a DJ I ran into earlier this year who runs his entire show off an old amp, a P3-500 notebook and a network drive.


I wouldn't pay more than $1500 for a new Dell lappy with a memory upgrade. BRING ON THE WHITEBOOKS!!

haha dell

dell arent bad but if i were a DJ i would get something with a sturdier fabrication and not with that cheap plastic