Laptop for PT 8 with Mbox2???

[robotboy]

I know this will sound ridiculous, but I am upgrading from PT 6x on a desktop to PT 8 with an Mbox2. A friend is giving it to me. Yes, I am way behind the times, but my budget is limited. Plus,I don't do anything super fancy.

I saw the list of recommended laptops on the Avid site, but they are all old and out of production. Can anyone tell me what you are using? I was thinking of a getting a Dell Inspiron 17R with these specs:

225-3924
1 Inspiron 17R Notebook (Inspiron 5721) 319-1259
1 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz 331-9361
1 Dell Chiclet Keyboard with Multi-touch Touchpad, US English 331-9570
1 1TB 5400 RPM Hard Drive 421-5780
1 Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit Service Pack 1, English, No Media 318-2396
1 8X CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)


THANKS!!













1 Waves MaxxAudio 4 430-4601
1 Intel Centrino Wireless 2230, 2x2 bgn + Bluetooth 331-1894
1 US Power Cord, 125V, 1 Meter 332-1274
1 Documentation, English 991-3343
1 Dell Hardware Limited Warranty, Initial Year 991-3353
1 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis, Initial Year 950-3337
1 1 Year Limited Warranty 991-1663
1 Premium Phone Support, 90 days 950-9797
1 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3 420-8878
1 Soft Contracts Dell In-Home Hardware Agreement 960-2780
1 Warranty Support, Initial Year 319-1691 1 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i5-3337U processor (3M Cache, up to 2.7 GHz) 421-8801 1 Microsoft Office Trial 612-BBBB 1 None-Item Not Required 320-9412 1 17.3 HD+ (900p) WLED with Truelife (1600x900) 412-1089 1 No Adobe Elements Software Requested 312-1394 1 6 Cell 65 WHr Battery 318-2496 1 Moon Silver 421-9492 1 NONE 331-9543 1 Shipping Material, Direct 331-2724 1 ESTAR 5.0 331-9860 1 System Driver, 5521 421-9869 1 Additional Software 421-8975 1 Wireless Display Application and Driver 332-1286 1 Non-Canada Orders only 469-2486 1 CFI Not Included 332-0550 1 Dell.com Order 331-6816 1 Retail Print On Demand 466-9489 1 PCmover Home-Free 730-4689 1 Thank You for Choosing Dell

[robotboy]

Anyone? Just wanna know what you use or if the above machine looks good... Thanks!

[albee1952]

Hopefully, someone will offer a model number and brand but this is very much a crap shoot(especially considering you are wanting to use LE8). Normally, I recommend a second hand MacBookPro(yes, I'm a PC user). But with PT8, you would need to find an older one that is still running Leopard(and NOT Snow Leopard). a used MBP with an approved firewire drive(for your sessions) is a very safe bet for PT. With a PC, new ones will often have Windows 8(not supported) or Windows 7(which will require the 8.0.5 updater to work) and a dedicated graphics card(which most inexpensive laptops don't have-if you see Intel HD graphics, that's likely NOT going to work).

[robotboy]

Thanks very much, Albee. I guess this whole thing is going to be too complicated. I would stick with my Digi 001, but the desktop is in bad shape. The chances of a new desktop working with PT 6.x are probably zero.

Maybe I could get the cash together to get a new PT/Mbox system. The recommended laptops for that are pretty expensive, though. Anyone know if there are cheaper ones that work well? Thanks.

[robotboy]

Or, could I just get a used Pro Tools-qualified computer (desktop or PC)? Are those safe to buy?

[SKI]

Well you are talking about using a version that is 3 versions behind current
and say you are on a limited budget.

Now I'm gonna say some things that some others will disagree with but it still doesn't stop it from being true.

A) most of what people recommend is more than people need to actually run PT.
Where the problem comes in is PT forget some people are just running small personal sessions.
Nothing no where near tha true ability of what even PT8 is capable of.

B) contrary to common belief having Intel Graphic doesn't cause a problem once you correct the unnecessary frills of Windows 7.
I do it all the time and even drive 2 external monitor from it.

C) laptops with AMD processors are very inconsistent, best to avoid them.
Of the 5 laptops I have around here, 2 of the Toshibas are the same except one has the Intel processor the other has the AMD equivalent.
Pro Tools, Traktor, LIVE, Scratch Live, Maschine all run poorly (if at all) on the AMD, but run fine on the Intel.

D) the QA on the Dell products is not what it should be. Things physically fall apart without your help.

E) if you don't need to be mobile why go with a laptop?

F) a Mac Mini is still Avery cost effective way to go Mac.
A lot of useable MacBooks can be found cheap at used Apple dealers who offer a warranty.

E) you are coming from a 001 and PT 6 so in all honesty a used Sony Vaio or Toshiba Satellite Core2Duo would handle the mBox2 with PT8 on Window7 for you.

The point I am trying to make is don't complicate things keep your true perspective.
Don't go investing wasteful money because you lost sight of your true needs.
Now if you were talking about trying to do some heavy lifting with PT10 or 11 then that when you walk the tight rope not for just doing some lightweight personal work.

[robotboy]

Ski, thanks so much for taking the time to write your detailed reply. This forum is great! Unfortunately, I am still pretty confused. I hesitate to buy a used machine because I wouldn't know it's history. I think I may go with a new desktop. That brings up other questions, but I posted those in another section. Basically, the Pro Tools-qualified machines are no longer in production--even the ones recommended for PT 10. I don't know if the newer versions of these machines are safe. The search continues...

[SKI]

Nothing wrong with buying used if you get it from the right place.
Lots of things can wrong with buying desktops these days, they come with a lot of performance sucking features that in some cases can't be disabled.
Even though technology has gotten better they are marketed for a different type of user.

Have you looked into building your desktop?
Doing it yourself still had for value for us back when PT5 was around and still does today.

Just remember you said he is giving you PT8 so that means you can do a Windows7 machine that would run well.

[robotboy]

Thanks. No way can I build my own--too clueless. Can anyone recommend a used dealer?

Originally Posted by SKI

Nothing wrong with buying used if you get it from the right place.
Lots of things can wrong with buying desktops these days, they come with a lot of performance sucking features that in some cases can't be disabled.
Even though technology has gotten better they are marketed for a different type of user.

Have you looked into building your desktop?
Doing it yourself still had for value for us back when PT5 was around and still does today.

Just remember you said he is giving you PT8 so that means you can do a Windows7 machine that would run well.

[The Weed]

Put together an approved parts list and have a local shop put it together for you. It'll be cheaper than a Sweetwater and Rain or other purpose built computer.

Cheers,