Best Laptops for Pro Tools LE

[EAR]

Is anyone using a 002R, and recording to an external firewire drive with either of these two machines (e-machines 6811 or Gateway 7426GX)? If so, what are your DaveC results and H/W buffer settings? Is there a way to add a second internal drive(maybe removable)to either of these laptops? I'm very close to purchasing one of these machines or building the Allenstein Machine and getting a large LCD HD TV w/ DVI i/o and great resolution.

Thanks for your help!
Eric

[will the moor]

Is it possible to run two separate versions of XP on the same machine?

Maybe that's too far but I can't afford two computers and still need to run graphics/web/internet apps as well as PT. I know that installing anything but PT makes for a sad PT operator so I was wondering if I could separate them. Maybe this is achievable via different users but I'm assuming not to the level I'd like.

I actually have an extra copy of XP if that's what it would take.

Are other 6811 users running web and other apps on thier machine without PT problems? Which apps? I'd mostly need to run design+web apps.

Thanks for any words.

Will

[WKG]

Is it possible to run two separate versions of XP on the same machine?

Maybe that's too far but I can't afford two computers and still need to run graphics/web/internet apps as well as PT. I know that installing anything but PT makes for a sad PT operator so I was wondering if I could separate them. Maybe this is achievable via different users but I'm assuming not to the level I'd like.

I actually have an extra copy of XP if that's what it would take.

Are other 6811 users running web and other apps on thier machine without PT problems? Which apps? I'd mostly need to run design+web apps.

Thanks for any words.

Will

I have an M6805 that I run dual boot. XP Home on each partition using Partition Magic. One is set up Standard PC for PT only. The other is ACPI and is used for web surfing and everything else. Works great. Lots of others are doing this as well.

[will the moor]

I have an M6805 that I run dual boot. XP Home on each partition using Partition Magic. One is set up Standard PC for PT only. The other is ACPI and is used for web surfing and everything else. Works great. Lots of others are doing this as well.

cool. thanks. will I be able to just use the single copy of XP or is there some MS nonsense?


thanks,
Will

[will the moor]

damn, older versions of partition magic are dirt cheap on ebay. anything wrong with getting version 6 or 7?

thanks,
will

[Oz-boy]

OK ...
after a number of reinstalls & trying different options i'm about ready to give up!
it is my wife's laptop ... i was just hoping to 'borrow' it from time to time

did a fresh install as ACPI ... couldn't get pro tools to play or record a single track.
used device manager to change to standard pc ... pro tools worked but would only do 16 tracks on the DAVEC, so .... reinstalled as standard pc and tried again ...
DAVEC was about the same, 24 tracks peaks the cpu meter, 20 was ok but running produces a 9073 error (disk too slow)! this is all to the internal drive ... when i use my firewire drive i got 19 tracks (with plugs) but can run 32 tracks in record (no plugs) no problem.

also had problem trying to change to memory usage = system cache .... everytime i change it xp won't boot and i get a message saying 'windows is unable to load the locally stored profile' or something to that extent ... have to boot in safe mode & change it back to be able to get into xp!

i've posted my sandra thingy below for anyone who wants to offer a suggestion before i turn the machine back over to the missus permenantly!
i also did a CPU Arithmetic Benchmark and it seems the cpu is seriously underperforming (see below)

might just have to wait until there's another dell machine that is fully approved and works outa the box like the 8600

stew
M-box
6.4 cs9


SiSoftware Sandra

Processor
Model : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3000+
Speed : 800MHz
Model Number : 3000 (estimated)
Performance Rating : PR1200 (estimated)
Type : Standard
L2 On-board Cache : 1MB ECC Synchronous, Write-Back, 16-way set, 64 byte line size

Mainboard
Bus(es) : ISA AGP PCI IMB PCMCIA CardBus USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
MP Support : No
MP APIC : Yes
System BIOS : Insyde Software O1.06
System : MiTAC
Mainboard : MiTAC
Total Memory : 1GB DDR-SDRAM

Chipset 1
Model : Mitac Apollo K8T800 CPU to PCI Bridge
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 800MHz (1600MHz data rate)

Chipset 2
Model : Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Athlon 64 / Opteron HyperTransport Technology Configuration
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 800MHz (1600MHz data rate)
Total Memory : 1GB DDR-SDRAM
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 160MHz (320MHz data rate)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : Default Monitor
Monitor/Panel : Default Monitor
Monitor/Panel : Default Monitor
Adapter : MOBILITY RADEON 9600

Physical Storage Devices
Hard Disk : FUJITSU MHT2060AT (56GB)
Hard Disk : Oxford Semiconductor Ltd. OXFORD IDE Device LUN 0 IEEE 1394 SBP2 Device
CD-ROM/DVD : QSI CDRW/DVD SBW242B (CD 24X Rd, 24X Wr) (DVD 3X Rd)

Logical Storage Devices
Hard Disk (C:) : 56GB (54GB, 96% Free Space) (NTFS)
CD-ROM/DVD (D:) : N/A
Sounds (E:) : 93GB (31GB, 33% Free Space) (NTFS)
Stuff (F:) : 93GB (26GB, 28% Free Space) (NTFS)

Peripherals
Serial/Parallel Port(s) : 0 COM / 1 LPT
USB Controller/Hub : VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : VIA USB Enhanced Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
FireWire/1394 Controller/Hub : VIA OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
PCMCIA/CardBus Controller : Generic CardBus Controller
Infrared Device : IrDA Fast Infrared Port
Keyboard : PC/AT Enhanced PS/2 Keyboard (101/102-Key)
Mouse : Microsoft PS/2 Mouse

Communication Device(s)
Device : Smart Link 56K Voice Modem

Power Management
AC Line Status : On-Line

Operating System(s)
Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP/2002 Home (Win32 x86) 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 2)

Network Services
Network Drivers Enabled : No

Performance Tips
Warning 100 : Large memory sizes should be made of Registered/Buffered memory.
Tip 2546 : Large memory modules should be ECC/Parity.
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.

******************************************

SiSoftware Sandra CPU Arithmetic Benchmark
(these results posted lower than an AMD Athlon 1.2GHz 256L2!!!)

Benchmark Results
Dhrystone ALU : 3688 MIPS
Whetstone FPU : 1268 MFLOPS
Whetstone iSSE2 : 1629 MFLOPS
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.

Performance Test Status
Run ID : STEW-000ADD0116 on Sunday, 26 June 2005 at 5:42:30 PM
NUMA Support : No
SMP Test : No
Total Test Threads : 1
Multi-Core Test : No
SMT Test : No
Dynamic MP/MT Load Balance : No
Processor Affinity : PP0
Number of Runs : 64000 / 640

Processor
Model : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3000+
Speed : 800MHz
Model Number : 3000 (estimated)
Performance Rating : PR1200 (estimated)
Type : Standard
L2 On-board Cache : 1MB ECC Synchronous, Write-Back, 16-way set, 64 byte line size

Chipset 1
Model : Mitac Apollo K8T800 CPU to PCI Bridge
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 800MHz (1600MHz data rate)

Chipset 2
Model : Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Athlon 64 / Opteron HyperTransport Technology Configuration
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 800MHz (1600MHz data rate)

Features
SSE2 Technology : Yes
SSE3 Technology : No
HTT - Hyper-Threading Technology : No

[chairmanblow]

Hi there,

I'm upgrading my laptop for use with my 002 rack and wanted to see if anyone had insight or experience with this machine...

Gateway M680MX
pentium M 750 (1.86GHz) 915 PM chipset
1024 MB 533 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
60 GB 7200rpm ultra ata HD

I notice that all the online deals for gateways use the intel even though the athlon 64s are available in the gateway stores (none of which are nearby). is it all just a price difference or are the athlons doing better with the PT systems?

thanks, Chairman Blow

[WKG]

Here is the info on my M6805,

002R
6.4 CS9

SiSoftware Sandra

Processor
Model : Mobile AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3000+
Speed : 1.80GHz
Model Number : 3000 (estimated)
Performance Rating : PR2706 (estimated)
Type : Mobile
L2 On-board Cache : 1MB ECC Synchronous, Write-Back, 16-way set, 64 byte line size

Mainboard
Bus(es) : ISA AGP PCI IMB CardBus USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
MP Support : 1 CPU(s)
MP APIC : Yes
System BIOS : AT/AT COMPATIBLE
Total Memory : 1.2GB DDR-SDRAM

Chipset 1
Model : VIA Technologies Inc Apollo K8T800 CPU to PCI Bridge
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 800MHz (1600MHz data rate)

Chipset 2
Model : Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Athlon 64 / Opteron HyperTransport Technology Configuration
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 800MHz (1600MHz data rate)
Total Memory : 1.3GB DDR-SDRAM
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 164MHz (328MHz data rate)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : Default Monitor
Monitor/Panel : Default Monitor
Monitor/Panel : Default Monitor
Adapter : ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9600 Series

Physical Storage Devices
Hard Disk : HTS726060M9AT00 (56GB)
Hard Disk : NEWMOTION TECHNOLOGY CORP. 2035A-00 IEEE 1394 SBP2 Device
CD-ROM/DVD : Slimtype COMBO LSC-24082K (CD 24X Rd, 24X Wr) (DVD 3X Rd)

Logical Storage Devices
Home (C:) : 36GB (27GB, 75% Free Space) (NTFS)
CD-ROM/DVD (D:) : N/A
Bootmagic (E:) : 47MB (33MB, 71% Free Space) (FAT)
Komodo (R:) : 112GB (78GB, 69% Free Space) (NTFS)

Peripherals
Serial/Parallel Port(s) : 1 COM / 0 LPT
USB Controller/Hub : VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
FireWire/1394 Controller/Hub : VIA OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
PCMCIA/CardBus Controller : Generic CardBus Controller
Keyboard : Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse : Synaptics PS/2 Port Pointing Device
Mouse : HID-compliant mouse
Human Interface : USB Human Interface Device

MultiMedia Device(s)
Device : Realtek AC'97 Audio for VIA (R) Audio Controller

Communication Device(s)
Device : Smart Link 56K Modem

Printers and Faxes
Model : hp psc 2100 series

Power Management
AC Line Status : On-Line
Battery No 1 : 90%

Operating System(s)
Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP/2002 Home (Win32 x86) 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 1)

Network Services
Adapter : VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter
Adapter : Broadcom 54g MaxPerformance 802.11g

Performance Tips
Warning 100 : Large memory sizes should be made of Registered/Buffered memory.
Tip 2546 : Large memory modules should be ECC/Parity.
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.



The first thing I noticed is that your processor speed is only 800mhz. For an AMD 64 3000 it should be 1.8Ghz. It looks like you are running on battery but it says AC is online? The default CPU speed on battery for most e-machine/gateway 64's is right around 800mhz, on AC power it goes back to normal. I'd check your power options in Control Panel and make sure you are set to "Always On" and if you have the "AMD Power Now" tab set it to high performance. You may want to check in your BIOS to see if there is a speed/performance facility there as well...?

Your performance is where it probably should be for 800mhz. Other than that and the fact that your board is a Mitec Apollo K8T800 and the M6805 is a VIA Apollo K8T800 there is virtually no difference. I am running XP Service Pack 1. My internal HD is a Hitachi 7200. I have a WD 7200 8MB cache in my FW enclosure.

Allen can you help here, or anyone else that knows more than me...?

[WKG]

cool. thanks. will I be able to just use the single copy of XP or is there some MS nonsense?


thanks,
Will

I have the same copy of XP on each of my partitions, no problem at all. I am using Partition Magic 8. I don't know about the earlier ones.

I got mine here,

Partition Magic 8

Fair price and quick shipment.

[will the moor]

big preesh wkg.

Will