I've stated where a typical off-the-shelf laptop's limitations show themselves.
That information is factual/true.  I've also explained the how and why.
Whether you care... and what you do or don't do with that information is strictly up to you.
 
Those who know me know I loath Apple.
A MacBook Pro can playback the stress-tests with zero glitches.
Dude (your word), we don't sell MacBook Pros.
You may not like it... but it is what it is...
The MacBook Pro is the only off-the-shelf laptop (7700HQ) that can perform to this level.
You never need worry about audio glitches at ASIO buffer size of 64-samples.
 
Want to compare the XPS-15 to the top-tier MacBook Pro?
The XPS-15 (fully optimized from BIOS thru OS and running a RME UFX) is a POS by comparison. 
A good looking POS I might add... with it's 4k multi-touch display.
Same CPU, same amount of RAM... and is nowhere near as as capable when working at a 48-sample buffer size.
In fact, if you can arrange it... I urge you to test the two side-by-side.
After testing, I actually bought the MacBook Pro... for those times I don't feel like taking out the Cube.
The Cube is running a 8700k with six cores locked at 4700MHz, 32GB RAM, and M.2 Ultra SSD for samples.
It's a no compromise machine that I built for myself.  The Cube is absolutely more cartage... but the capabilities are beyond any laptop... even those with Clevo shells running the 8700k.
 
Contrary to your belief, I'm not saying everybody needs to rush out and buy a new computer.
And... not everyone needs someone else to build their machine.
But if you're looking for one, you should know the breaking point going into the situation.
If that doesn't matter to you... at least you know what you're getting. 
 
On a side note, the new 8700k Coffee Lake CPU has really kicked open the doors to high-performance in a mid-tier CPU.  With six cores locked at 4700MHz, you've got the best of both worlds.
High clock-speed and more cores.  With robust cooling, it's also near dead silent.
To me, that's exciting and liberating.
 
Where I ended up in life is no accident.
After my wife, the two things I'm most passionate about are music and technology (as it relates to music).
Yes, I am jaded with high performance expectations.  How could I not be... doing this for well over 20 years?
No, not everyone needs that level of performance.
All I can tell you is... if you've experienced the level of performance I'm talking about, it's creative freedom.
It's a beautiful thing to be able to play your favorite advanced sample libraries with such immediate response.
When doing these tests, I rediscovered "The Grandeur".  I found myself getting lost just playing... because it sounded/responded/felt like playing a real piano.
 
Regarding playing out:
I will be playing tomorrow night (Friday).
I've played in Columbus, OH for many years.
I've been fortunate to play with many quality musicians/people.
I currently play with some of the finest (Rock) players in central OH... and am blessed to do so.
In fact, I met my wife singing.  She's on the morning show on QFM-96 (local classic-rock station).
Am I a rock-star?  No, but my day-job allows me to work with them.  I've met some folks who's talent I could only wish to have... and (ironically) they're some of the finest people I know.
For me, playing out is a way to stay-in-touch with the musical side... which is the fire that drives everything.
 
You can play a $300 Epiphone Les Paul... and if it makes you happy... that's truly great.
But it will never be the equivalent of a Custom Shop R9.
It will never have the attention to detail found in a Core series PRS.
Does that matter?  To some, no.  To others, yes.
The R9 is one of the finest guitars I've ever played.
The R9 has a little something extra that most guitars just don't...
Can you compromise for a local gig?  Sure, you don't need an R9 to play a club.
But it's a wonderful experience...
 
 
 
 
 
 

CakeAlexSHere
Lol I remember having the exact same debates a few years ago, fact is off shelf PC's are fine if specs are good enough and software/OS is correctly tuned. Overclocking should be left to gamers, it's an unnecessary obsession unless you perhaps need to run 100 synths over 600 tracks for no reason.

Back to my Dell XPS 8100 from 2010 which has worked great with a few upgrades over the years (SSD, 16GB, 1070 graphics card and power supply). When Intel fix that bug I'll be finally looking for an upgrade (next black Friday?).

Hugh Mann
but some of these claims are pretty exaggerated. And while it may not confuse those with experience and knowledge,  it could cause someone to needlessly over spend on a computer when they don't need to.  Its a bit of a public service.  :)

Absolutely right.

 
The problem with Off-The-Shelf is lack of control.
 
Noctua cooler?
CPU locked with all cores at full TurboBoost Speed?
Completely disable all thermal/performance throttling in the BIOS?
These are things you don't get "off-the-shelf".
 
Those details may not matter to you... but I guarantee they matter to other folks.
ie: The composer running large orchestral templates is an obvious example:
Let's say there's a dense project... that breaks down to bass and percussion during the mid section.
After this sparse part, the piece builds to a massive Outro.
Your motherboard and Win10 decide to throttle down the CPU to save power during the breakdown... and then WHAM!  the Outro section hits with massive stack of background vocals, strings, etc.
That's a glitch or (worst case) dropout...
With a proper motherboard, all that can be avoided.
 
 
 

There are no "problems" Jim.. People are happily running DAWs on off shelf PC's..

For instance my ancient XPS 8100 turns off turbo/hyperthreading just fine. I can turn off states etc in my BIOS. I can turn of speedstep as well but as you should know it's unnecessary if you tweak CPU values on Windows power management. Regardless it just works.

Your service I'm sure is perfectly fine but you don't need to invent or exaggerate unnecessary problems that don't actually exist to justify your service. We're recording music not playing Doom.

Like everything there are poor off shelf PC's and I'm also sure there are poor custom built PC's, and every year PC's get more powerful but the software specs aren't generally requiring bigger overheads.

Not exaggerating anything...
The level of control you have with off-the-shelf motherboards is NOT what you have with a quality Asus/Gigabyte motherboard.  That's not my opinion... that's reality.  Has nothing to do with me.
Have you looked at the BIOS of a typical off-the-shelf laptop (which is where this started)?
Many offer almost *zero* control over all the above.
Again, that's not an exaggeration, that's the reality of the situation.
Even the nicer custom Clevo laptop shells (which are FAR and away better than Dell) offer nowhere near the tweaks of a quality Asus/Gigabyte motherboard.
To disable as much performance-throttling as possible, you have to resort to using ThrottleStop.  Even after this, performance (comparatively speaking) is poor.  Plus, your once quiet laptop is out the window.  Fan speeds increase dramatically.  The thermal conditions of laptops are real... and it has a major impact on performance.
 
Doesn't matter who builds it... as long as they know what they're doing:
If you're wanting the highest performance machine for a given task (whether it be a racing vehicle, computer, etc), you'll always achieve best performance with a custom solution.  The machine is exactly what's needed... nothing more and nothing less.  
 
BTW, How's that Noctua Cooler on your Dell... or that power-supply that operates in 0dB mode?  
What about running your 8700k with all six cores locked at 4700MHz?
How about doing that while keeping fan noise to an almost dead-silent level?
That CakeAlex, is the difference.  The devil is in the details.
 
 
 
 

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Sorry OP for continuing in the derailing of this thread ( I didn't start the derailing).  Your idea is a good one and it will work.  I have tried it myself with my toshiba laptop.  However,  with a big enough SSD,  I don't find I need more than one HD.  Definitely go for a ssd hd.  Totally worth it and cheap enough.  

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It's not about playing Dream Theater or Yes.
It's not about "playing" the stress-tests I mentioned.
It's about knowing the machine will *never* glitch while playing at the smallest buffer size.
No dropped samples... ever
 
We've been talking about playing a single nice piano library.
In my particular case, I'm using Live to have several instances of Kontakt, Omnisphere, etc all loaded and ready to play.  If you're not familiar with what some folks are doing with Live (on stage), I'd recommend checking out a few YouTube videos.  Some are using this configuration for Sunday P&W... others for concert stages.
Very complex sounds/setups, automation, routing, etc... all quickly/seamlessly switched (no glitches when switching between complex sounds).  Aside from the numerous virtual-instruments, there's also DSP processing for EFX.
That's the way I'm making use of Ableton Live.
Yes, I want to do that (with zero glitches) at a 48-sample ASIO buffer size.
That's not happening with an inexpensive PC laptop.  I've tried it.  Not even close to working glitch-free
The MacBook Pro (which we do not sell) is fully capable of this... but it is expensive.
I built a Cube with multi-touch monitor as a no compromise solution for said purpose.
Is this an extreme example compared to playing a SampleTank piano?  Yes... but it's where things are moving... and the potential is amazing.
 
My career has always been about pushing limits.
Folks don't call looking to make major compromises in performance.
ie: Composer Evan Jolly (Hacksaw Ridge) didn't have me send a DAW to the UK with marginal expectations.
Could I use simple ST2 (apologies to IK) sounds on stage?  Yes.
With the possibilities available today, I don't want/need to make those compromises.
 
If you want to know the truth about your machine's abilities, run DAW Bench and compare performance to other machines.  It's quick/easy to do... and isn't influenced by anyone's bias.
 
You think I'm disingenuous because I want to sell someone a computer.
I think you're disingenuous trying to say a $700 laptop makes a great workstation. 
We will not agree on either point.
 
Side Note:
In all seriousness, I encourage you to run some audio stress-tests with a XPS-15 and top-tier MBP side-by-side.
The MBP is expensive... but it's a great low-latency performer.
 
As to the comments on looks... uh... you brought that into the conversation...
I've no further comment.
 
 
 
 

Well dang, good morning everyone!
 
Poor OP... having just bought my first laptop in 12 years (I detest them), I went with a computer without a drive bay for the same reason (real-estate in a laptop is premium turf, and most new ones don't have a internal DVD anyway). I bought an external DVD player, connected it to the machine twice, and put it back into its box. Probably never use it again, since newer software can be downloaded or transferred off a thumb drive these days. +1 on the knowing the system limitations first, since you would have a better feed for them, but that real-estate could be definitely be used better.
 
[WARNING ---- perpetuating the derailment below!]
As for the derailment, it is entertaining, but there are valid points on both sides. Reality is that "cutting edge" is not required, or there would not be a software market at all. Flip-side is that "adequate" does not denote "sub-standard." I have clung to the 2600K for a long time, and am just recently researching the 8700K (oddly enough, one review said folks still on the 2600K will finally see upgrade incentive in the 8700K). From a "new build" perspective, it is more seeking longevity and up-gradability than "cutting edge," although the 8700K single core benches at the top of the heap atm. All of the "chop and swap" components can be replaced fairly simply, but the CPU/MB is sorta "set." Stepping back to limitation of the socket only having 16 PCIe lanes, it made me realize 1) that is what I have now, and 2) would I ever saturate them anyway? It is interesting research at least.
 
Since I tend to use car analogies to detract from the topic at hand... a car that top ends way outside the boundaries of "normal operation" is not going to be quite as impressive as the ones that perform best in the "normal operation" region. Almost everyone enters these arguments with a single (cherry-picked) data point off an entire curve.

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