LAPTOP any good?

Hi,
I posted a few months back about using a yamaha rs7000 as a midi controller......

I have a chance of getting a pc from work which are both fujitsu siemens...........

AMILO M 3438G laptop
The specs are pentium M 760, 2ghz 533mhz, 915M intel chipset. 1024mb DDR II RAM.
80gb sata hard drive. 1 firewire and 4 usb 2. 256mb graphics.

or
Scaleo T ix desktop
intel p4 660 HT, 3.6 Ghz 800mhz, 1024mb RAM, 2x250gb 7200 rpm SATA HD.

I've read the forum faqs but I would like to know what can be achieved from either machine.
If the laptop is more than good enough to run p5v2 could you tell me how far you can push it before using freeze ( ie how many synth tracks? ).
Same for desktop, though this one is expandable.

My rs7000 will be used with a midi controller into my edirol ua-20. There aren't any foreseeable problems with the ua-20 are there??

Bought a laptop 3 years ago for pc music and was very disappointed p4,2.4ghz,256mb ram. worst thing was the constant buzzing when connected to the monitors? After 3 years I removed the earth from the adaptor - problem solved!

Anyway,I've got a month to order either pc both £900.

I will appreciate your comments, honestly.

Mark.

Hi Mark

I have a laptop-based daw, and have been completely satisfied with it. The specs you listed for the two comps are more than adequate for running a kick-ass system. A big factor is ram; these days you really should have no less than a gig - which both of them do.

I've heard a lot about buzzing problems with laptops, it is a very common issue. It does indeed have to do with the grounding, but there are fixes for it. Knock wood, my Sony Vaio doesn't have this problem at all.

As for how far you can push it, well there's so many variables there... but there's no reason you wouldn't be able to use P5 to its fullest. Personally, I find that compared to Sonar, P5 is a bit of a resource hog. I've never come close to maxing out my system in Sonar, though I have in P5.

Finally, while I don't have the UA-20, I do have the UA-1000 and it has been nothing short of fantastic. Great sound, great performance, zero problems ever. So you should be ok there; Edirol makes good stuff - including their drivers.

HTH!

M & J,
Thanks for your replies, I was worried that people were not replying at first. Like I said before my previous laptop couldn't play more than two tracks (p5v1) and reason could manage about six! Okay for minimal techno I suppose..........
I just needed the final 'go for it' from people in the know as I always wanted the laptop - cheers!
The money I'm getting for my old laptop will be spent on an edirol pcr-30 keyboard (has midi in/out) and p5v2. The midi in on the pcr-30 will have the rs7000 and emu xl-1 firing in shedloads of midi sequences with p5v2 recording any good stuff I come up with.
Seems easy enough though I'm sure theres a lot to learn on p5v2.
I managed a similar way of working with reason but I wanted the freedom of choosing MY synths, drum machines and fx.
As for pre amps,recording vocals...Ha! I can't sing to save my life so sampling from sci-fi channels and stuff will do for now. I will be keeping an eye on firewire audio interfaces and wait for the prices to drop to a level I can afford. Digital/optical and pre amps will be a must. I'll do this when I feel I cannot go any further with the edirol ua-20 and when I get adventurous with audio into p5v2.
With my gameplan laid out, do you think this will all work and suit p5v2 ?????????
Mark.