I had an old maudio fast track usb interface...horrible noise. Bought a Scarlet solo Focusrite, better, but a bit of backgorund noise ( static, light pulse beating) If I move the mouse it gets louder.  Is this a laptop issue, or a USB interface issue ? 
 
thoughts?
 
thanks

It sounds like a PC problem, in your case since both interfaces have the problem.  I had an MAudio Fastrack Ultra 8R and dead quiet, no noise.   USB powered interface units can have issues if there is not enough USB power, especially with Laptops.  

I have that with all build-in interfaces (SB, Realtek), but USB/Firewire (Including Scarlet) I used have no such noise.
Does that exist when you turn the gain all the way left, use headphones and place the interface as far away from the notebook/mouse/power supply as possible?

What do you have plugged into the Focusrite?  I started having a static noise issue when I plugged my GR-55 into the 5/6 RCA inputs on my Cakewalk VS-100 interface.  Of course, I didn't know that was the cause until I unplugged all my equipment from the desktop computer USB interfaces and the VS-100, and slowly connected things back up.  The GR-55 was facilitating the static noise even though the GR-55 was NOT powered up.  It was plugged into a different USB card on the desktop than the VS-100.  Balanced cables on the GR55 outputs made no difference, but adding an EBTECH Hum eliminator cured the issue.  

thanks guys, bU i believe my machine just sucks for this..getting crazy latency, slide the bar, and it breaks up
Lenovo T430 
Intel i5-3210 CPU 2.50GHZ, 8 GB
 
Machine was free...thought Id give it a shot
 
thoughts on my next machines specs ?
 
Also, how easy is cakewalk going ot let move the program from this machine ?
 
thanks