Newbie questions on laptop PC selection - basic questions - thanks...
 

Hi everyone. I just received a new Profire 2626 and have PT 9 on the way. I need to order a PC ASAP in order to get started.

I am a novice and will just be starting out; learning etc. Will be multi-tracking drums to all 8 mic inputs, then adding midi keyboard parts and other instrumentation. I don't think I need a ton of processing power to do this (am I right?).

That said, the below are the Avid "qualified" Windows laptops. Surely these cannot be the only configurations that will work (?). I am interested in the HP 8540W but I suspect that I can get away with a pre-configured model with a Intel® Core™ i7-640M Processor (2.80 GHz, 4 MB L3 Cache) or Intel® Core™ i7-740QM Processor (1.73 GHz, 6 MB L3 Cache) instead of customizing to include the i7 Q820 1.7GHz listed below which would cost me like $300 extra. [EDIT the recommended Q820 1.7GHz does also include turbo boost technology boosting to 3.06GHz).]

Windows Laptops
Officially qualified with Avid and M-Audio FireWire and USB audio interfaces or standalone with either eSATA or USB 2.0 external record/playback drives:
* HP8540W/HP8440W Laptops Intel i7 Q820 1.7GHz
* ASUS N71Jq Laptop Intel i7 720Q 1.6GHz
Officially qualified with Avid and M-Audio FireWire and USB audio interfaces or standalone with eSATA external record/playback drives only (USB 2.0 drives not supported with these models):
* Dell M6500 Laptop Intel i7 Q920 2.0GHz
* Dell M4400 Laptop Intel Core 2 Duo T9550 2.66GHz
* Toshiba Qosmio X505 Laptop Intel i5 2.27GHz
* Lenovo T61 Laptop Intel Core Duo 2.1GHz

Other difference would be the Graphics card. Avid highly recommends a dedicated graphics card. Doesn't say it's required but highly recommended. The recommended cards are:

For Windows Computers
* NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800*
* NVIDIA Quadro FX 580*
* NVIDIA Quadro NVS 290*

I can get an NVIDIA Quadro FX 880M dedicated graphics card with 1 GB dedicated DDR3 video memory for about $300 less as opposed to the NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800 with 1 GB dedicated GDDR5 video memory that's recommended above. I don't know, the 880M might even be better than the 580 or NVS 290 which are also recommended.

All other components would be the same (Chipset, 7200 RPM SATA hard drive, etc.). Just the different i7 chip and different dedicated graphics card, both of which I suspect are actually compatible but just not listed as "qualified".

What do you guys think? Is it really necessary to get the 820Q i7 or will "any i7 do"?

Ditto for the Graphics card - will the NVIDIA Quadro FX 880M be compatible?

For my stated purposes of multi-tracking through the Profire 2626, would this suffice? I could save $600 this way and that's huge to me.

Please, thoughts?

Thanks,

half drag