Dell laptop for audio daw?

[dim light]

I need to setup a mobile rig - firewire ad/da and I'm thinking of buying a Dell laptop. Anyone using this config with good result?

Thanks!

Any other brands that works good etc - tips are welcome!

[Zwinter]

It really depends on what DAW you will be running. Can you fill everyone in on what DAW you are using?

[dim light]

Oh true man - sorry!

I'm using Nuendo 3.

[WilliamFF]

Sure ! Get a DELL XPS model and fill it up with as much RAM and CPU power as you can !

DELL did a smart thing a while ago teaming up with the Alienware cats. If you don't want to order a laptop from a specialist ( Carillion, Frost etc...), I'd say get a DELL

[dim light]

The XPS is ****ing awesome looking but too much for my needs... The Dell Inspiron 9400 seems good - what do you think?

I need a good firewire ad 8 channels - The rosetta cost too much and RME only have the 400 and 800 fireface - and I don't want the extra pre's and stuff... Any suggestions? Thanks!

[Fredrik]

How about the macbook?

[BeerHunter]

Just don't buy a Latitude D410, D505, D510, D600, D610, D800 or D810, an Inspiron 510M, 600M, 6000, 8600, 9200, 9300, XPS Gen 2, a Dell Precision M20 or M70 until they get their battery mess sorted.



Actually, I'm pretty sure that Dell has gotten their act together but I still think of this whenever I hear Dell Laptop. YMMV

[WilliamFF]

DELL Inspiron is fine, jus make sure you put at least 2 gb of ram in it !! Get a 7200 rpm disc ( probably just about 30-40 $ more ) and you should be sweet.

Good 8 channel firewire ad ?? umm...that's tough. There's a few decent ones out there though..

[dim light]

Beerhunter! Thanks for the info - that sucks! I sometimes leave the puter on over night... Thanks!

WilliamFF:

I'm a little scared about buying the hot road version of inspiron - I don't know if the better graphic cards have fans? And 7200 is that really necessary? I'm no going to mix or work on the laptop - just recording! I have had great success with 5200 tracking more than 10 tracks. I need the puter to be really silent because I'm also recording upright piano etc. How is the fan noise on the dells? Thanks again man.

[WilliamFF]

You don't gain that much HD performance going from 5200 to 7200 rpm, but you gain a little, and the extra cost is quite small. Just a suggestion.

well, the DELL models are not the most quiet of laptops...In my experience, all the big brand models ( Coompaq, HP, DELL etc ) are quite noisy...I have a COMPAL ( Thats COMPAL, not COMPAQ ! ) CL 56 thats virually silent, compared to my DELL and HP machines... (I see the CL 56 has just gotten a big brother, the CL 70, and the CL 80 ?? I havent tested these myself, but heres a review : http://www.notebookreview.com/defaul...w=Compal+HEL80

( Btw, several of the "Audio PC" shops actually used a CL 56 shell and sold it way overpriced. I'm a cheapskate, so I just got the shell myself and spec'd it )

I would suggest you search out a "computer shop", the kind that isn't in a mall. They should have a lot of the "whitebox" stuff...you basically choose a shell ( screen, fan, mainboard etc ) and specify the CPU and amount of RAM, HD etc to your hearts desire\ budget...They will usually have tested the models they are selling, and know a little bit more about such "esoteric" ( for a regular "PC clerc", anyways..) issues as fan noise

good luck!

[BeerHunter]

Originally Posted by dim light

Beerhunter! Thanks for the info - that sucks! I sometimes leave the puter on over night... Thanks!

WilliamFF:

I'm a little scared about buying the hot road version of inspiron - I don't know if the better graphic cards have fans? And 7200 is that really necessary? I'm no going to mix or work on the laptop - just recording! I have had great success with 5200 tracking more than 10 tracks. I need the puter to be really silent because I'm also recording upright piano etc. How is the fan noise on the dells? Thanks again man.

Here is a link to an article about the battery recall. There are quite a few articles around but this is the one on Dell's site so you can see if yours is affected.

http://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/

[dim light]

Thanks a bunch guys!


WilliamFF - I also have suspected that the "daw" laps are nothing more than ordinary laptops in a new shell... I didn't know that you could spec your own laptop. I have built one ´stationary daw so I'm not totally novice - cool thanks!