Why PTLE and not a different software?

[Ford Prefect]

Hi there,
my laptop is a little bit to slow for PTLE (2 HDDs with only 5400 rpm) and has only 1 GB of RAM. Why should I invest approx. $400 to buy a new HDD and 2 GB of RAM and not to buy a different software?

[spkguitar]

The only reason would be to use Pro Tools. There are plenty of other options out there for recording software, and they are all good and valid choices for one reason or another.

As mentioned in one of your other threads, you should be alright with 1GB of memory, so that upgrade is not really necessary. The hard drive is definitely an issue for Pro Tools, though. An inexpensive external firewire drive should fix you up, and only run you $150 or less.

[Ford Prefect]

As I have seen in support threads for other software, is a fast HDD a crucial piece for a proper work flow. I have read in an other thread that some users only have 512 KB RAM and less than 1,5 GHz but a fast hard disc and no problems. So my first step will be the faster HDD. My Laptop has a SATA interface. The only two HDDs with 7200rpm are the following:
Hitachi Travelstar 7K100 60GB SATA (HTS721060G9SA00) (10 ms)
Seagate Momentus 7200.1 80GB SATA (ST980825AS) (10.5 ms)
Both with different capacity from 60 to 100 GB. Any expereiences with these two?

[WilliamDC]

When using a laptop to record, it's pretty much recommended to use an external hard drive no matter what software/hardware you are using if you intend to get a decent number of simultaneous tracks going. Most laptops don't have a 7200 rpm hard drive in it because it reduces the amount of battery time by quite a bit. If I plan on working with more than a small handful of tracks, I always bring a firewire hard drive with me.

[TheHenchman]

what kind of laptop is it?

[Stiff]

A separate HD is recommended for all serious music production (regardless if it's Pro Tools or not) as well as for serious picture or motion picture work.

Anyway, use what ever app you like, at the moment I use three for music and thinking about trying fourth (Digital Performer) they all work OK with only ONE hard drive (including Pro Tools), but a second and possibly even a third (depending on how you work) is still recommended.

[GTBannah]

.... Anyway, use what ever app you like, at the moment I use three for music and thinking about trying fourth (Digital Performer) ....

Just curious. What are the other two, and why?

I am a Cakewalk(Sonar)/Sequoia fellow, now adding PT.

[Ford Prefect]

what kind of laptop is it?

It is a Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo M3438, 2GHz, 1 GB RAM, 2x 80 GB HDD (5400rpm), IEEE 1394 Firewire400 4 pins.

Even a click-track playback is to much for this laptop. I first used it with an RAID stripe array, worked quite well, not perfect but well. The reason to delete the array were problems with "bounce to disc". After setting up the system newly without the stripe array, PTLE won't even playback a single click-track without stopping after 10 sec because of the typical H/W buffer size issue.
So everyone gave me the correct advice to get a faster HDD... and here I am!

So I tend to buy an external HDD with "oxford chip-set". Which external firewire HDDs are recommended? I found:
Macpower Icecube 400 (6 pin firewire: is this possible for my laptop? which HDD to build in?)
Maxtor 160GB Firewire/USB One Touch
www.computer4music.de/index.html

Any experiences or more suggestions?

[Stiff]

Just curious. What are the other two, and why?

I am a Cakewalk(Sonar)/Sequoia fellow, now adding PT.

I'm gonna try DP because some claim it could pretty much replace all the other software (it supports RTAS, AU, Apple loops and a whole bunch of things), I'm skeptic though, I find it hard to mix in any other program than Pro Tools.

At the moment I also mostly use Logic, simply because it kicks bottoms when it comes to quick musical sketches and arranging
I even had hopes for ditching PT all together and just use Logic, but as I said before, I'm only comfortable mixing in PT. I've also used Live some but I open it less and less.

[GTBannah]

[
I'm gonna try DP because some claim it could pretty much replace all the other software (it supports RTAS, AU, Apple loops and a whole bunch of things), I'm skeptic though, I find it hard to mix in any other program than Pro Tools.

At the moment I also mostly use Logic, simply because it kicks bottoms when it comes to quick musical sketches and arranging
I even had hopes for ditching PT all together and just use Logic, but as I said before, I'm only comfortable mixing in PT. I've also used Live some but I open it less and less.

So, ae you a native Mac Head, or are you now switching platforms?(I know we are on the PC forum ) I'm thinking of switching, in stages though. I'll get a MacBook Pro first, then I'll maybe get one of the "big boys" later.