Okay, here is my 2 cents.  I think it is probably true that if you want to have a lot of tracks you may need to listen to some of the cautions listed here, however in my endeavors to ask the same questions because I also was thinking to upgrade to a newer laptop, I got alot of the same responses from JCSCHILD and JIM ROSEBERRY.  Not alot of others getting involved very often.  I went to alot of other places on the net and saw discussions.  I recommend that.   I did find other laptop users doing thier thing with no prob.  Don't know thier specifics though.  Also, I found laptops with TI Chipsets.  Look for my posts.  I listed some and never got another response. 

Now for what I do know.  My setup that is listed does work.  There have been times when I've had more trouble than other times.  I have in the past recorded audio up to about 5 & 6 tracks but more often 4 and included the use of the audio fx plug'ins.  The recordings worked fine once I got my settings adjusted. Prior to setting latency, buffers.... I did get dropouts and clicks/pops.    
Now I have done some things since my research.  When I go to record, I go to my control panel.  Then I open up device manager and disable my internet, keyboard, dvd drive... which I don't use while recording.  I think this was great info that I have read about.  It was very easy to do and very easy to enable.  Just a click.  So the results have been good.  I have had no clicks/pops or dropouts or loss of connection using firewire.  Very stable so far.  By the way, my computer does not have the TI Chipset.  It has the other one RICOH.  Now this is just how it has worked for me and not a reason to use caution that others have to say because I really don't know what will happen with 10 tracks yet.  However, currently I have added to my recording gear a Yamaha s90es ( stage piano)  which uses usb and or midi.  I did a recording the other day using 2 audio guitar tracks, 3 midi tracks from the s90es.  That is a total of 5 tracks.  The recording worked with no problem whatsoever.  That is a fact.  I think in buying a new laptop, which I will, I will make sure that there is a return policy, and exactly what that return policy consist's of.  I will also befor buying, open up device manager and or verify that it has the recommended chipset (TI Chipset) that my Motu 8 Pre would rather have.  For now, I decided to just continue with this laptop for a bit longer. 

jcschild

"let me repeat this there is NO NEW laptops with NATIVE (onboard) TI firewire. you find one let me know.
this is not from me but rather TI themselves"
 
But this is what HP had to say:
 
With the specifications you have provided I recommend looking at the HP Compaq 6730b and the HP Compaq 6735b Series notebooks which have the TI OHCI 1394 host controller and the TI PCI1410 CardBus controller.  This information can be found on page 116 of the Maintenance and Service Guide for the HP Compaq 6730b and 6735b Notebooks, which you can download from our web site in PDF format at
http://bizsupport1.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c01525694/c01525694.pdf and http://h71016.www7.hp.com...0&lowprice=$649.00/

1.  Can you explain the difference in what you mean by NATIVE? 
 
2.  Aren't TI OHCI 1394 host controller and the TI PCI1410 CardBus controller as listed above not Texas  
     Instruments products? 
 
3.  Have you researched who these are manufactured by or what the difference may be?
 
4.  Again, not trying to mash anything you stand for, but just trying to get clarification. 
 
5.  What is the chipset you provide on your laptop mb's ? 

jcschild


you cant buy that laptop anymore cardbus has long been discontinued as well

It is for sale on the web in many locations. 
 
Where are you getting your information from so it can be verified. 
Why do you not answer the questions?
 
1.  Can you explain the difference in what you mean by NATIVE? 
 
2.  Aren't TI OHCI 1394 host controller and the TI PCI1410 CardBus controller as listed above not Texas  
     Instruments products? 
 
3.  Have you researched who these are manufactured by or what the difference may be?
 
4.  Again, not trying to mash anything you stand for, but just trying to get clarification. 
 
5.  What is the chipset you provide on your laptop mb's ? 

yes you can still get them but they have been replaced by the 6930 which have the TI chip set as well  as most HP laptops do

TI OHCI 1394 host controller

TI PCI1410 CardBus controller

All of the CURRENT  HP elitebooks 6930 through the 85xx series come with on board firewire with the TI chipsets referenced above..

I am actually getting ready to install the trial version of Producer on a 8530w for testing

Amazon & Buy.com have them.

So I gather a primary issue is recording multiple audio tracks. Are there any issues with midi tracks and multiple virtual instruments?

I would like a laptop that I can sequence multiple backing tracks with virtual instruments, say 4 - 8 max, and record 2 (or at most 4) audio tracks. Is this too demanding for off the shelf Core 2's, 4's or i7's? assuming 4+ gig of ram, Windows 7 and a 7200 rpm HD.

thanks

ratona

jcschild


you cant buy that laptop anymore cardbus has long been discontinued as well

It is for sale on the web in many locations. 
 
Where are you getting your information from so it can be verified. 
Why do you not answer the questions?
 
1.  Can you explain the difference in what you mean by NATIVE? 
 
2.  Aren't TI OHCI 1394 host controller and the TI PCI1410 CardBus controller as listed above not Texas  
     Instruments products? 
 
3.  Have you researched who these are manufactured by or what the difference may be?
 
4.  Again, not trying to mash anything you stand for, but just trying to get clarification. 
 
5.  What is the chipset you provide on your laptop mb's ? 

i didnt answer as it no longer matters, CARDBUS is discontinued
if you can find a laptop with TI cardbus it is old and discontinued
can you buy these direct from HP anymore? NO i looked both US an EU the lat time you posted that link and again yesterday
 
cardbus technology uses a PCI to cardbus controller and yes the TI chipset would then be native.
native means built in on the motherboard not an add in card like we have to do now.
 
my info comes direct from Texas Intruments.
Quote
"there are no ODM's that have any standing orders with us or for the next 12 months"
this was 6 months ago or more.
 
i was having a hard time finding native TI laptops to sell so i enquired dircetly to TI as asking them who was ordering them, it would be easier than researching every known laptop..
 
so let me rephrase:
there are NO NEW (new as in Montevina or Capela (core i3,i5,i7)) laptops with TI firewire.

for the record its not so much interface compatibility with a given chipset.
prior to al these issues (Dual core and Xepress slot is when it started)
i sold a laptop that had Ricoh firwwire and it worked great (most didnt)
its just that TI chipset had better bandwidth and they way the chipset controlled voltage, thruput and driver protocol.

here is the issue for a good part of the problem.
company x makes chipset z
along with the chipset the laptop manufacturer (FYI Dell, Apple, Acer etcetc other than Asus do NOT make their own laptops, they are made for them)
is given an instruction set to apply to the bios they dont even check thruput nor do they care as no manufacturer expects a laptop to be used as a heavy use workstation (and it gets worse with each new version)
they are designed for long battery life, lightweight get on the internet.

most of the instruction set is designed to save battery life, thus limiting voltage and thruput to the express card and other ports including USB.
add to that the amount of sharing resources on a laptop (again lighten the load)
and you have a near useless laptop for audio/video.

there is a lot more to it than this but thats the crux of it.

I'm sufficiently confused as it is. 

Seriously, and with all due despect to the manufacturers, in the last ten years that have made so many advances in recording software, it seems now that all the companies are doing is re-inventing the wheel, re-packaging it, and putting new controls on it.  It's more and more of a diminishing return effect now. All of the good programs have the ability to record a radio-ready CD. They've added more tracks and plugins, virtual instruments, drum "machines" and all that, but I'm guessing we're soon going to max that out too. I wonder if the next thing will be more focus on developing the computers to run these programs efficiently and without the hassle we've had in the past on compatibility issues.Or maybe they'll get more and more elaborate and specialized interfaces that will have the programming built in to be compatible with more kinds of computers.

DS

jcschild

i didnt answer as it no longer matters, CARDBUS is discontinued
if you can find a laptop with TI cardbus it is old and discontinued 
 
cardbus technology uses a PCI to cardbus controller and yes the TI chipset would then be native.
native means built in on the motherboard not an add in card like we have to do now. 

 

 http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01758220.pdf

This is a link to the service manual for the hp dv6, current model, just one that I've found.  Here is what anybody can find by looking there on page 123.  Can anyone explain what is the problem with this?
This being what the computer uses below:

TI OHCI 1394 host controller

TI PCI1410 CardBus controller
 
What am I not understanding.

sandman5000

jcschild



i sold a laptop that had Ricoh firwwire and it worked great


and you have a near useless laptop for audio/video.







near useless?  what a joke.  and total BS.   this is so far from reality that its not even worth discussing or taking his statements seriously.  

once again you go on ignore 1 less jerk to deal with

jcschild
Ratona

this is getting really really old 
Don't get so frustrated, just looking for clarification.
 
i dont care what the manual says
Wouldn't it be a huge lawsuite if they were to lie about the hardware?
 
"""ALL of the elite books have firewire on board and it is the TI chipset.."""""
Where does the mention of an ELITE come from, I was providing you information and a link to the service manual on a HP Pavillion DV6T 1000. 
 
if it says ricoh its ricoh not TI
Where does this statement come from? I was talking about what the service manual says that the computer has for hardware.

and again the manual says TI CARDBUS. there is no cardbus on  the elite its an Express slot
and again.... I dont understand you.   I am talking about and have provided you a link to the HP DV6 T1000
Is it possible that this computer is an ELITE?
 
lastly you cant install firewire drivers they are built into windows. you have to do a windows hotfix to affect firewire drivers there are no firewire drivers on your mobo disk.
Are the drivers in the chipsets on the mb's, like the bios i mean.   Hp uses on this computer Northbridge: Intel PM45 or the Southbridge: Intel ICH9M.  Are these okay and do you use these chipsets?  Please be netural okay?  What do your mb's use?  What chipsets do you use?
 
HP has not had TI firewire in 18 months they and Apple were the last ones
Who told you that, I mean let me hear that from your source at intel and or TI or HP... and save me from continuing this non-sense.  If you do so, I will be happy to offer you my support in clarifying all of these things you say.
IF and ONLY if there is TI chipset it will show it as TI it will not say ricoh or anything but ti see this pic
[link=http://www.adkproaudio.com/images/tichipset.bmp%3C/a%3E%3C/font%3E%3C/font%3E]http://www.adkproaudio.co...%3C/font%3E%3C/font%3E[/link]
On my laptop is doesn't say TI either.  But it does work as I stated eariler. 
so again THERE ARE NO NEW LAPTOPS WITH TI. have not been for a very long time.
Who told you that, I mean let me hear that from your source at intel and or TI or HP... and save me from continuing this non-sense.  If you do so, I will be happy to offer you my support in clarifying all of these things you say.
 
i dont think you are understanding how diligent i was in my search i have good roads into intel thru intel i have email contacts for ALL OEM/ODM laptop manufacturers (how do you think i am able to get custom bios')
I am begining to because myself and alot of others are trying to sort it out.  Now if you have done the foot work, be cool and help me out dude. I will support you all the way.
 
Here is the link again and only takes a minute to check it out.  Help a layman out here bud, and tell me if I am reading this right.  It looks like there is a firewire port, not an express card.  It alsolooks like it has the

TI OHCI 1394 host controller and TI PCI1410 CardBus controller you were talking about.  So if you were a layman in all of this, is it reading correctly that is has all the stuff you say it doesn't?

 

Again... I am not saying that it is not better than your computers, just wanting to clarify that is does have what it says.  In listening to your comments, it sounds like it doesn't.  Please don't get hot, just talk to me like your talking to your kid and be cool.  I really am a layman in all of this.

Here is the link, just take a minute and tell me what this service manual says the computer has.
 
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01758220.pdf

Ratana,

i have read the manual and yes it says TI cardbus and TI firewire however the manual is incorrect. its left over from older models. look at the original date (07 i think) then it says revision in 09.
look go buy the thing and prove me wrong. it wont be the first time, but its rare.
i am trying to save you the headache of it not being TI and you are left with a brick.
forum post after forum post after forum post
my xxx laptop wont work with firewire. (of course always blaming the software or interface)
sometimes i wonder why i bother


Scott


 

jcschild
Ratona
Ratana,
Ratona (just having fun about reading/spelling correction)
i have read the manual and yes it says TI cardbus and TI firewire however the manual is incorrect. its left over from older models. look at the original date (07 i think) then it says revision in 09.
 
Reread the first page, and by the way I can not find a reference to your above statement in the entire manual ie: revision in 09 bla bla.  
 
look go buy the thing and prove me wrong. it wont be the first time, but its rare.
i am trying to save you the headache of it not being TI and you are left with a brick.
forum post after forum post after forum post
my xxx laptop wont work with firewire. (of course always blaming the software or interface)
sometimes i wonder why i bother
Well the best advice I found, don't remember if it was from you, but despite the fact that my DELL does work for my needs so far, was that to disable stuff in the device manager did infact improve my dpc .  I will check out what your say above at a local store or get more info for you, but why don't you let me contact a few of your oem's that you say you have?  Wouldn't that be a nice thing to do for someone trying to verify what you say?  It is kinda hard when every time you say something that I get  info to the contrary, ie the service manual... dates... etc.  So again..... Help me out bro and lay some contacts on me from the oems like you say you have just so I can get on the same page or read it the way you do. 

Scott 
RatOna he he
 
Hey Scott,  Intel PM45 or the Southbridge: Intel ICH9M.  Are these okay and do you use these chipsets?  Please be netural okay?  What do your mb's use?  What chipsets do you use?  If you don't want to share your info, then why?  And why are you so persistant to help us out?  Sooo help me out bro and answer these requests.
If you only require a thank you which you say is fine, then be a nice guy and forward me your sources.
 
 
Dear PO,  Sorry too for the hi jack,  Look I think scotty is somewhat sincere, but me too.  I like verification and PEOPLE who share information in an up front way, not just to profit for themselves.  Like you, I was thinking to get a new laptop and will.  However, I will do my research and make sure I get and understand a return policy. 
 

The information contained herein is subject

to change without notice. The only

warranties for HP products and services are

set forth in the express warranty statements

accompanying such products and services.

Nothing herein should be construed as

constituting an additional warranty. HP shall

not be liable for technical or editorial errors

or omissions contained herein.

Third Edition: May 2009

First Edition: December 2008

Document Part Number: 505495-003

what i find funny is even in Dec 08 HP did NOT sell any laptops with cardbus
Carbus has been gone for well over 2 yrs.

Hey Jim( Roseberry) how long has cardbus been gone? you have been smart staying out of this..
lets see first rev of PCIe laptops, some still had a cardbus slot, others still had the TI chipset as described even without the physical cardbus. i am thinking 3 yrs now.