Will I be alright with this notebook? Toshiba/presonus

[palmettobum]

First of all, bear with me, because this is my first post and I still have a lot to learn. My situation:

I am trying to set up a SUPER-BUDGET home / band practice multi channel recording option. I have decided, as many first timers do, to go the firestudio / laptop / headphone monitor route. Firestudio is on the way, so don't try to talk me out of it damnit.

But I was in Office Depot the other day and picked this notebook up for $400. Granted it was a slight impulse buy, but the price was right.

Toshiba Satellite A205-S5843 15 4 Widescreen Notebook Computer With Intel Pentium Dual-Core Processor T2370 by Office Depot

• 15.4"-diagonal widescreen WXGA (1280 x 800) TruBrite LCD screen
• Intel Pentium dual-core processor T2370 operating at 1.73GHz
• 1MB L2 cache
• Up to 533MHz frontside bus
• 2GB of PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM memory, the maximum capacity (no further expansion)

I THINK it is upgradable to 3GB RAM-NEVERMIND-ITS NOT!, which I certainly will install. However, my main concerns are the speed of the processor and the lack of firewire ports. It has only ONE (i.LINK) 4-pin firewire jack, I don't know the speed. I have a feeling this could be an issue..?

So basically, I will probably want to record 10-15 channels simultaneously at some point. Did I make a mistake on this one, and what EXACTLY would you guys recommend? I am a PC guy... and I can still return this notebook for a full refund.

Also, I would appreciate any suggestions on a good headphone monitor, budget headphones, and insight into what other accessories I will most certainly need in the future, other than mics and cables.

Thank you, thank you.


will keep this thread updated with my progress...

cheers!

-pb

[Phillystylec]

the only things I would look out for on this are

1. the FW Chipset and if it has issues with the presonus
2. since it's only a 4pin connector you cannot bus power the firestudio. Meaning you'll have to use a wall wart for it. (I am pretty sure about this but could be wrong.
3. Vista driver issues.

[rokuez]

Originally Posted by Phillystylec

the only things I would look out for on this are

1. the FW Chipset and if it has issues with the presonus
2. since it's only a 4pin connector you cannot bus power the firestudio. Meaning you'll have to use a wall wart for it. (I am pretty sure about this but could be wrong.
3. Vista driver issues.

I would look for an XP notebook. Vista is going to be the new windows ME. in 2010 M$ is slated to release a new O/S that is not backwards compatible.

[palmettobum]

So the specs at least are ok?

I mean, my thoughts are:

a. hang on to this decent pc for a couple of years.

b. throw 1200 at something nice, and then buy another bargain pc in a couple of years.

If i can pull it off, I guess I will.


what are chipset compatibility issues?

thanx.

[Matthew Presley]

That sounds like my Toshiba. Almost exactly.

I can say that my FireStudio card work the same if not better on this notebook than my XP based system.

I am having a weird hibernation issue. But if you are using this for a DAW you'll probably disable that crap anyway. I would on mine, but this is a work box and I need the battery life.

good luck

[ricknaqvi]

Hi PB,

Please email us at techsupport@presonus.com and we'll be glad to get your system specs and make sure there are no known component conflicts.

The main thing is to get a Firewire Card that works. So far, these have been the most reliable for us.

ADS Pyro1394a

SmartTech EC13942

The second thing I would recommend is a decent firewire hard drive for recording. You can daisy chain this to the Firestudio's 2nd Firewire port.

Please email me and let me know how the rig is working for you.

Kind Regards,

[palmettobum]

very cool, thanks! That is some great advice, and some top notch service!