I was given this newer Acer laptop and so I set it up with Home Studio.  
It is Windows 7 64 bit. Has 2 x 600 GB HD, one is 7400 the other only 5600.  6 GB of RAM and I think it's a duo core AMD 2.4. 
At first I was using the WASAPI exclusive mode and never had any issues. I even have the wi fi on and have been ripping DVD"s to ISO while working on midi files in Home Studio.. No problems. 
We got in a discussion hear about WASAPI VS Asio4all. Being brave and nothing to loose I installed Asio4all, I hate to say this after being a na sayer for years about asio4all,,, it works and out performs WASAPI. The big difference is it makes Sonar think it's using ASIO so all the perks are there including offset timing, The calculations are bang on. WASAPI was late. So there you go , even though I would not be caught dead without an Audio interface for serious multi track recording, For MIDI only seems Asio4all will do the trick.
I have created over a dozen backing tracks so far. No audio. Most have 5 or 6 VST instruments running. Only Plug in is Boost11 on the master ( don't laugh, it's all you get with HS and it does the trick) .  
 

I think ASIO4ALL just comes with a big disclaimer about possibly screwing with other drivers on your system. If it doesn't, it can be a great solution.

scook
 
 The last "portable" computer I ever used was one of these with a hard drive in one of the floppy slots and an Orchid Tiny Turbo 286 Card replacing the 8088 processor.
 

I was given one of those to use in my first ever full-time job and thought I'd made it. Coolest thing ever!

I also had not problem with ASIO4ALL on notebook. No way the latency or audio quality of old M-Audio Fireware can be achieved with it, but VSTs are playable.

paulo

scook
 
 The last "portable" computer I ever used was one of these with a hard drive in one of the floppy slots and an Orchid Tiny Turbo 286 Card replacing the 8088 processor.
 

I was given one of those to use in my first ever full-time job and thought I'd made it. Coolest thing ever!

I still use this as my main DAW in my studio. this is state of the art technology man

scook

filtersweep
So scook, are you saying that running without an AI really wasnt feasible until Win10?

It depends on the amount of latency one can tolerate and how one is using the DAW. I barely remember what it was like running Pro Audio 9. That was the last DAW I used before buying my first dedicated interface. The new WASPI exclusive mode does achieve pretty low latency but as mentioned above, there may be other hardware considerations. The last "portable" computer I ever used was one of these with a hard drive in one of the floppy slots and an Orchid Tiny Turbo 286 Card replacing the 8088 processor.
 

My first mobile phone was almost that big, counting the battery bag! 

filtersweep
This doesnt really apply to me but could if I were to travel w just a midi keyboard and laptop. Years ago, with midi keyboard and an old core 2 laptop on Win7 I tried getting away with using the the on board sound card and windows drivers and the reults were abysmal. I tried asio4all with the same set up also with poor results. If I used my old m audio firewire interface and asio the results were fine. I concluded that it was the AI that made the difference. From what I have been reading lately though it seems an interface may not be necessary if you are completely vst based. True?

I have an Acer Core i5 laptop that runs Windows 10.  Tossed ASIO4ALL on there with Platinum and my VST plugins.  Getting usable low latency with a USB MIDI keyboard and the virtual instruments. Playback audio sounds fine with my Sennheiser headphones.
 
Of course, in this scenario there is really nothing to monitor but the soft synths themselves, since there is no external audio being input to the PC. 
 
Of course I would drag an AI along if I was going to do anything serious, but just for playing or practicing while out and about, it's fine.