Best Laptops for Pro Tools LE

[jpd52]

MItchell, I am thinking of getting a WIN Laptop. I currently run LE on MAC G4 and have quite a few plugins. Do you know if I can use the MAc plug ins on the Win setup? I'm on the fence about getting a Powerbook or IBM. I like both platforms and prefer Windows in alot of ways, although Pro Tools has run very well on the MAc.

Thanks alot,

Jon Pousette-Dart

[pmunt]

Howdy,

I'm just about to buy a Dell 8600 1.7ghz (centrino), 60gig 7200rpm, 1gig ram, 128mb GeforceFX ...
I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has any problems with these spec's or DELL?
There has been alot of good feedback on the equivilent spec ACER just looking for any reason why
the DELL wouldn't be the same ...

Cheers,

Puck (pmunt) Murphy

[thomsbrain]

dell's quality and customer service ain't what they used to be, but other than that, the specs on that system should be fine. from what i understand, the 3D from the nvidia graphics will be slow compared to the ATI 9600 Pro, but that makes no difference for Pro Tools.

[froyo]

Hello. Anyone brave enough to shell out $3300 or so? Check this one out, specially the 7200 RPM drive. Also note that Compaq/HP's Presario x1000 series is considered to be at the top.

Voodoo

[gtrguy4]

$3400 for the Voodoo and the x1000 still beats it in speed! That's lame!

I've had more than a few people warn me against the HP/Compaq stuff for PT. I'd like to hear from anyone who actually uses one.

I just ordered a 1.7, 1gb ram machine from ABS (for $1790 with a 30-day return policy) I'll see how it works... All the components are major-brand stuff. It's the fastest thing I could find for even close to that price. Worth a try for sure.

I got a hold of one of Digi's tech guys that actually KNEW something and he said people have pretty good results with the "clone" laptops as long as the components are top-brand caliber. If that Acer 1.4 machine got 32+16, I can't wait to see how a 1.7 does

[Meterbridge1]

$3400 is a lot for any notebook. Unless you are going to put 2G of RAM in it and a second hard hard drive. You could buy 2 decent top name laptops for that price. It must be the red paint job.

The only thing I could see hurting a clone notebook performance-wise is insufficient cooling. If the OEM doesn't put a proper cooling system inside a chassis that supports proper airflow, then the processor will throttle back the clock. I'd bet money that is why the Compaq trounced the Voodoo in TechTV's performace tests, even with a slower processor, HD and Video card.

On another note. There are a whole slue of new Tablet PCs coming out later this month. Anybody willing to take the dive into that arena?

[JPS]

Well, I would have to agree that the Centrino processors look to be a winner, at least from my initial checks. I have been looking at getting a new laptop for work, and wanted to make sure that it would do fine with audio. I decided on a IBM T41, which is powerful and very portable. It also happens to be one of the Digi supported platforms. Only a 14.1 screen, but a good graphic chip and has a bay for a second harddrive, which was something I really wanted. The Acer models could not accept a second drive. So, I put a Hitachi 60g/7200 rpm drive in the second drive bay.

I ran the Davec test using the second internal drive for audio. So far, looks really good!

IBM T41
1.6 ghz Pentium M (Centrino)
768 MB (DDR 2700)
40g IBM HD (OS, 5400 rpm)
60g Hitachi (Audio, 7200 rpm)
Mbox

Davec results
32 + 16 @ 512 buffer/44.1/24 bit

I was hoping to get another track or two, but it just wouldn't give it to me. There still seemed to be a fair amount of power at 32 +16 because the meters were still running pretty smooth at 512 buffer. I am impressed. I would say that this setup does a little better than my 2.8 ghz Intel Penium desktop (Asus P4C800). But best of all, in my opinion, I shouldn't have to carry an external firewire/USB drive. I'll know more if the 2nd internal drive is really a good replacement for an external drive after using it for a while. If so, it will be much more convient.

So how much did this badboy run me? Well, it is possible to find cheaper laptops. The basic laptop was $1839 with 256MB memory/CDRW/1.6 Pentium-M/ directly from IBM Express. I then purchased separately the addition HD adapter ($40/IBM), the Hitachi HD ($235/Neweggg) and an additional 512 MB ($107/Newegg).

Thanks to other Centrino owners for posting their results.

[EDurney]

Those are grat results!!!! JPS what are you using : Mbox, Digi 002 or Digi 002R ???

[JPS]

I used the Mbox for the test with XP Pro. I have also looked at performance with the 002r. This laptop does not have a firewire port, so a PCMCIA firewire card is necessary. I have an ADS Pyro which I used with the 002r. Results were similar to the Mbox, but slightly less.

Davec Results 002r
32+14

I guess it makes sense. The 002r audio engine has more hardware features to keep track of, which will require more CPU resources. But in any case, I feel this is still really good for a laptop and very similar to my Intel 2.8 ghz desktop model.

I've been running a time test at 32+10 loaded up with the same Davec plugins @ 128 buffer, and after 30 minutes it is still going strong with no errors. Seems to be very stable, even at high processing laods. I'll probably let it run a bit longer and then bounce it with the same plugins and see what happens.

Bounce Results: The 30 minute Davec session of 32+10 had to be reduced to 32+4 to avoid the bounce handling error. That is about a 15% reduction. But I don't think this is a laptop issue, rather software.

[tele_player]

Wow, Jon... I remember seeing your band years ago... Amnesia. Excellent!

MItchell, I am thinking of getting a WIN Laptop. I currently run LE on MAC G4 and have quite a few plugins. Do you know if I can use the MAc plug ins on the Win setup? I'm on the fence about getting a Powerbook or IBM. I like both platforms and prefer Windows in alot of ways, although Pro Tools has run very well on the MAc.

Thanks alot,

Jon Pousette-Dart