I'm considering buying a laptop to replace my desktop, but I'm concerned about performance with sonar.
 
My soundcard is a MOTU hybrid, so there wouldn't be a problem there.
 
most cheap laptops come with a 5400 rpm HDD, but I was considering getting one with an SSD.
 
thoughts?

Beagle - I'd look to see if the laptop(s) you're considering have an option for including 2 internal hard drives.  i switched to a laptop a few years ago and you couldn't pay me to go back to a desktop.  The ability to move around and create/edit is very freeing.
 
That said, I have two internal hard drives.  i replaced the CD bay with an internal hard drive.  When I examined Macs at the time I was purchasing, I learned they would not take two internal hard drives.  I've stayed on a regular PC laptop and all has been well.  The hard drives that came with my laptop weren't very special or spacious.  I found a good deal for SSDs on Amazon and put in the two internal SSD hard drives.
 
Hopefully you find a laptop at a price that attracts you and has a fair processor speed, at least a quad core.  You can add memory and or better internal drives later when you refill your back account at a later date.
 
Having a laptop is a joy.  If you can find on you like, I think you'll not regret going the laptop route.

Sonar itself is really not that resource intensive -
It's the plugins you have to watch, especially the ones that use heavy-duty sample libraries or complex synths.

SSD, yes definitely!!!  Not expensive, but the best bang for the buck you can buy these days!  The standard laptop 5400rpm is too slow for audio.
 
CPU - check the specs, the mobile CPU's are designed for power saving.  I bought an Acer with Intel Core i5 last year and it is only dual core, unlike the quad-core desktop Core i5.  But I only use it for portable computing, not DAW, so it meets my needs.  EDIT: the higher the clock speed, the better, even with multi-cores/threads ...
 
Memory - check the specs for max memory support, some systems have chipset limitations on max memory module size, number of slots, etc.
 
The best bet is to rely on other members success with certain models, recommended for DAW use.  Even though the specs look good, some laptops can be dogs (edit: no reference to Beagles implied here) due to system design and other driver issues causing latency problems.

lol - thanks abacab!

Yeah - I would suggest shooting for 8 GB or more for memory, and DEFINITELY seek one that supports a 2nd hard drive.
 
You can buy a solid state drive 110 GB for $50 or less these days, and I would recommend one of those for your primary drive, and suggest you pick up a 7,200 HDD for the 2nd drive, followed by splitting things so that only the OS, programs, AppData, and ProgramData live on the SSD, with all else living on the 2nd drive.
 
Also - make SURE you have the combination of USB 2 and USB 3 ports that you need for your audio interface and any midi devices, as lots of laptops come with USB 3 ports these days, but not all audio interfaces work well on USB 3 ports.
 
Also - once you DO pick up a laptop, and get it ready to launch Sonar - you might need to either turn off or disable the laptop's WiFi, as it may spike DPC latency and hamper streaming audio performance.  You can turn WiFi back on when finished with your Sonar session.
 
Bob Bone

Options are very limited here in Vietnam, I had to wait ages for i7 laptops to appear, and they had different issues.
 
My Criteria was:
i7
at least 8mb ram, preferably up gradable to 16
DVD drive, so that an SSD would be an option.
At least 3 USB ports, preferably 4. (so many more powerful laptops seem to be going for sleekness and cutting back to 2 USBs, which would force an external hub on me)
HD resolution screen, so I could be happy without running a second screen.
 
I got my HP Envy Touch, i7, fixed 8mb ram, DVD drive, 3 usb ports, HD screen and touch too (should that ever evolve into something useful)
 
Ran DPC latency as soon as I got home, and after 15 minutes at factory setting, I was happy.
 
I've seen others happy with their HO Envys, and they have slightly better spec'd than mine.
 
I'd keep an eye on the usb port number and consider HD screen, my prevous laptops didn't have that and I'm glad I went for it. Touch with laptop HD screen doesn't work for my, stubbies, but I've wondered about a stylus. It seems a waste to have now. I forget about it, and remeber everytime and ant walks across the screen, and I try to brush it off. But given my choices, there was only this laptop at the time that met my desired specs.
 
I have found over the years the advertised ports may not be true, so double check with the manufacturer that they are correct. Even in the UK, I've stood in PC world saying, 'this card says Firewire, show me the firewire on this machine.'. 'Do you have a machine with firewire.......yes I know this says it has firewire, but where is it?......

robert_e_bone
 
Also - make SURE you have the combination of USB 2 and USB 3 ports that you need for your audio interface and any midi devices, as lots of laptops come with USB 3 ports these days, but not all audio interfaces work well on USB 3 ports.
 

 
Good advice!
I recently picked up a USB 3 Flash card reader, and wow, what a difference!  The time it takes to copy files as compared to USB 2 is amazing.
 
I didn't run any benchmarks, but I am sure that my next project will be to replace all of my external drives with USB 3 versions.  I do full disk backup images and I can just imagine the time savings benefit to upgrading :-)
 
It seems that USB 2 is still adequate for most Audio interfaces, which the majority of manufacturers still equip them with. Although I have seen a few higher end units with faster ports, it is possibly overkill for average users.  So it is probably good advice to pick a system with both USB 2 and USB 3 to avoid any potential backwards compatibility issues.

My laptop only has USB 3.0 ports but all of my devices work, even the old Frontier Tranzport that only has drivers for Vista and must be installed in a compatibility mode.   

Kamakazi
what do you mean by this:

DVD drive, so that an SSD would be an option.

 
a lot of the laptops I'm looking at currently do not have a DVD drive at all, but some do have an SSD already installed as the primary drive.
 
I don't understand why you say a DVD drive is required so that an SSD is an option?