Laptop for production via ableton 8. Price: 500-700(ish)?

[smccarthy945]

Get a Lenovo T410 (not 410s) or a

Lenovo - Laptop computers - ThinkPad T410

Or an X201:

Lenovo - Laptop computers - ThinkPad X Series


They are a little over your budget but they are worth it. You have to get a top tier laptop to be able to get solid performance. You can't go to Walmart or Best Buy and buy a $500 machine and expect it to work.

The Lenovo's are at a decent price point and will tear through music production. I currently use the X201 and it can handle anything I throw at it.

After that, but a Focusrite Sapphire 6 USB interface which you should be able to pick up at Guitar Center on sale for $150.

You will have a solid setup and laptop at that point. Don't underprice your laptop because you will end up miserable.

Originally Posted by Lynxx

Hello!

I'm interested in investing in a laptop for music production. I currently use my cheap, 300 dollar ACER desktop with Ableton 8, and the performance is definitely lacking; it can't handle very many tracks (6-8), and running a live instrument through it causes unbearable lag. Plus, I can't use it live, which is something I'm going to be doing relatively soon.

So I come to you--the gearslutz of the world--to ask for some buying advice. I want a computer that can handle a decent number of tracks without any noticeable lag. And I'm guessing that having a nice sound-card is important as well? I'm not to well versed in the world of hardware, so some pointers would be nice.

I was looking at this:

Newegg.com - Recertified: ASUS G Series G72GX-RBBX05 NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo P8700(2.53GHz) 17.3" 6GB DDR2 Memory 500GB HDD DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M

It's a gaming computer; six gigs of ram and 2.53GHz processor seems pretty good for 700ish. But as I said, I'm not too sure.

inb4 "buy a mac". Sorry guys, I can't afford it. 1000 is just too unrealistic right now. Plus, I have a soft, squishy spot in my heart for PC's.

Thanks guys!

[Lynxx]

What makes the Lenovos so good? The specs seem a little lacking for the price. I'm not doubting you, I'd just like to know WHY these are better? Better sound card?

Thanks!

[Dysanfel]

Originally Posted by Lynxx

inb4 "buy a mac". Sorry guys, I can't afford it. 1000 is just too unrealistic right now. Plus, I have a soft, squishy spot in my heart for PC's.

Thanks guys!

You can buy a MacBook on ebay for way under $1000, and closer to $600. There aren't any refurbs on Apple.com right now, but there will be soon.

Install Windows 7 on it.

[jcschild]

+1 on that...

[Lynxx]

Originally Posted by Dysanfel

You can buy a MacBook on ebay for way under $1000, and closer to $600. There aren't any refurbs on Apple.com right now, but there will be soon.

Install Windows 7 on it.

Alright, Alright. I'll look into it. The only qualm I have with buying something used via eBay, is the lack of a warranty.

But other than that, there are a bunch of different macbooks on ebay; is there a certain year / make / model that's better than others? Or maybe one that I should stay away from?

And does the solidity that comes with an Apple computer carry over when I'm using a non-Apple OS i.e., Windows 7?

Sorry if these are super-basic questions, and thanks for the answers

[BlckJesus]

I've been doing a bunch of research on music laptops ever since my hp crapped out. This is what have come to understand (correct me if I'm wrong):

If you are looking for a windows laptop then lenovos are definitely the way to go. A lot of other pc manufacturers cut corners on certain components (for example: wrong chipsets causing issues with fw and usb devices and improperly grounded ac adapters).

As for if you got a MacBook, you would see better performance by using osx but could also run windows at pretty much the same performance as a pc with similar specs. So that comes down to if you want to get used laptop or not because of your price range.

[dorr]

Hi guys! What laptop 15" do you suggest me for live performance with Ableton + an audio interface USB (no mac)? I've read good things about Lenovo and HP... but I can't spend 1000$/€ or 2000$/€!

Budget: 500-700€

Let me your advice! thanks

[dorr]

no one?

[dorr]

I've find an used (like new!) Macbook Pro 15" i7 at 800€? Is that normal price for that kind of laptop? Or I should be worried?

[dorr]

Hi guys, in your opinion this macbook is good for ableton?

Intel i7 quad core 2,2 GHz (october 2011) + RAM 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333MHz + HDD Serial ATA 500GB (5400 rpm)

let me know

[Matt Edwards]

You will want to max the RAM, I think the limit is 8 on that model, but if it's able, go to 16.

Harddrive needs to be at least 7200 rpm, or get an ssd.

[dorr]

Originally Posted by Matt Edwards

You will want to max the RAM, I think the limit is 8 on that model, but if it's able, go to 16.

Harddrive needs to be at least 7200 rpm, or get an ssd.

Consider that now I'm using ableton on this PC : Amd dual core 3Ghz with RAM 4GB, and it goes very well. With that macbook it will goes better?

[Ambience]

Originally Posted by dorr

Consider that now I'm using ableton on this PC : Amd dual core 3Ghz with RAM 4GB, and it goes very well. With that macbook it will goes better?

Right now the only specs you should get is a macbook pro is quad core i7. With 8 gb ram. With that you it is DEFINITELY an upgrade. You will see vast improvement

[dorr]

Originally Posted by Ambience

Right now the only specs you should get is a macbook pro is quad core i7. With 8 gb ram. With that you it is DEFINITELY an upgrade. You will see vast improvement

Then that macbook is pretty good! the hard disk at 5400 rpm could be a serious problem?

[dorr]

Originally Posted by Paul in SoCal

Buying a mac to run Win 7 is a complete waste of money. There are many PC laptops that are good for audio production and offer a much better bang for the bucks. Get a used/refurbished HP Envy or ProBook. Something like this is way better than a used MBP for the same price:

HP ENVY 15 15.6" 1080P i7-2670QM 2.2GHZ 6GB 1600Mhz 500GB 1GB ATI HD7690M LAPTOP | eBay

We're talking quad-core i7 Sandy Bridge, decent GPU @ 1920x1080. If you get a used/refurbished MBP with these specs, you'll be paying at the very least twice as much.

Remember that computers are tools and not fashion statements.

No one said that I run Win7 on a mac! I will pay that mac for about 1200€...
Many stores on ebay don't ship outside USA (like the one you posted) and here there aren't good prices like that

is this better than that mac?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-ENVY-15-6...item46033ee00d