Can anyone recommend a notebook or, if not that, a laptop that will run Sonar and, say, one vst piano?
 
I would ONLY use the notebook/laptop for listening to and editing midi files, running a typical vst piano and Kontakt 5 inside Sonar.  
 
I won't be attempting any LIVE playing: so a super fast external sound card wouldn't be required.    Still, I don't want any pops, clicks, or dropouts, while listening.  Latency is just fine, but the result has to be clean!
 
I have 2 smaller capacity first gen ssd cards in my pc, 128 each.  They work great.  I'm guessing the best notebooks come with much bigger ssd cards?
 
thanks for any suggestions,
 
JG

Studio cat. See my signature.

I'm looking.

 
OK    very helpful... but a question:  Do these high end laptops come with ASIO sound cards?   If not, what is the protocol and is the onboard adequate to shut out all hints of dropouts.   Again, not in the context of live performance; so we can assume latency is not an issue.  
 
 

Yes if you order one. They are optional. I recommend the RME UCX. They do not come with interfaces unless you request it.

If all you need to do is listen and you don't care about latency at all, most likely using the built in card with MME drivers will be fine. I occasionally use mine that way with headphones to review or edit. On light projects it shouldn't be an issue.

I would at least try it out before spending hundreds on an RME card.

This will get moved to computers I guess. 
Laptops are tricky as no 2 are alike. Even with the brands. One Lenovo will run Sonar and the other one will have huge DPCLAT latency. 
My self I will be asking the sales person to run Latency Mon before I buy anything. 
 
 

Oh... may be I should repost under the right forum.  Didn't realize ....   Interesting that mme efficiency varies between seemingly very similar units (similar on specs, that is)!
 
My old M-Audio Fast Trak Ultra isn't that big.  I suppose I could haul it around, when and if necessary, using it in conjunction with the laptop/notebook.   Arguably, perhaps ANY laptop with usb 3, decent mem, and at least 2 ssd drives will be just fine where you're prepared to use FTU or some other ASIO audio card?
 
 

Please don't cross post. I can move this one for you.

DPC Latency issues usually come down to drivers. You can adjust drivers to get the right ones. Two PCs running the same drivers in the same way where all else is equal should perform equally. If one PC is using a Microsoft Generic Mouse Driver while the other has a manufacturer specific driver, there may be a noticeable difference.
 
In general audio interfaces are usually separate from the computer. It makes shielding and other complexities around pre-amps and signal chain much simpler. My audio interface gets lugged around with me when I go.
 
Geoff