Need help with laptop specs

How many tracks do you think you'll be running at a time?

If you have an opportunity to see the laptop in a store, put DPC latency checker on a flash drive and run it on the demo model. That will tell you if there are going to be any egregious spikes you may not be able to fix.
That's what I did, and I came to the conclusion that since any off the shelf laptop that would meet my needs came to about that amount anyway, and I'd have to spend a bunch of time de-crapifying it besides, that I might as well spend the money on a custom-built laptop from ADK.
You start with a clean install of Windows, no crapware, they optimize it for audio, tech support is great (and no hold time!), and there's a warranty (5 years, IIRC--Scott will correct me if I'm wrong) included.
IMHO, take a look at their laptop choices and call to ask questions before you go with that Toshiba (or other major brand that price).
HTH

Edit: as Scott says below, the warranty is three years, which is still a lot more than you will get from Toshiba or anyone else without paying a few hundred $$ extra.

things haved changed from Bad to worse with laptops.

for firewire 99% of off the shelf will NOT work regardless, even adding a TI based express card
for USB ifs extremely hit and miss with many having such high DPC it wont even work for a few tracks.

Pheonix: its 3 yr max and thank you!

google is your friend

so trial  by fire huh

I just helped my wife's mom buy a i3 Toshiba laptop.

I was budget conscious... the  store had two nearly identical i3 Toshiba laptops.

When I got home I sort of finally realized that the cheaper unit, which we got, has on board graphics and only one exhaust fan... so ironically it runs a bit hotter than my Toshiba i7 that is 3 moths old.

That's something I didn't quite expect.

I was looking at connectivity features and thinking we didn't need the more expensive model.

The point is that... there are gotchas at every pricing point.

After all that... I spent many hours last night pulling all the extra junk off it.

Wow. What a job that is.

have fun,
mike

As I see it, a bunch of folks suffering with DAWs that don't work is even more deleterious to "the community".

Lots of folks don't want their DAW experience to be a computer hobby... they just want to make music.

Sandman,

"why would you spread misinformation with statements like "a bunch of folks suffering with DAWs that don't work" ?"

When you accuse me of spreading disinformation you are crossing a line.

Why not simply ask me to substantiate my statement? That seems more useful than accusing me of being part of a conspiracy.

I know several hundred musicians... most of whom have attempted to run a DAW once or twice. Of all those musicians, only a very small handful ever got a system to run for an extended period of time.

It is my observation that these musicians take the feature list published for any DAW at face value and don't appreciate that they can't actually use the better soft synths and efx that come with the DAWS until they have a well tuned system.

You seem to think that people whom have jobs, earn money, and choose to spend it on something they value, are trying to keep you down.

That ain't the case.

I see you spending more time telling folks that have computers that run well that we are wrong about our opinions... I see you accusing us of trying to get people to spend money as if that is a evil thing to do.

I don't see you helping the folks with problems all the much.

Why is that?

At the very least, you should explain to folks that the DAW system you run is sort of considered a karaoke machine by people who use the full feature set promised by a DAW manufacturer.

At least folks would know what you advise adds up to... a system that works if you don't use the full feature set.

You seem to get very aggravated by the fact that some of us simply assume a prospective customer of a DAW wants to access the full feature set.

I think it's evil to short sell someone and get them into a system that does about a third of a DAWs potential and then let the bomb drop when they finally figure out they can't use the more powerful features on a karaoke machine.

People deserve to know where on the spectrum any particular price point will get them.

That's why I show up to provide balance to your "crusade". :-)

I'm not impressed with ambiguous claims of 50 tracks etc.  I rarely use that many tracks... but I do use all the features offered in SONAR and I know for a fact that there is still a need for horsepower and efficiency when you start to use all the features offered.

USB isn't a solution when you push the limit... firewire approaches the efficiency of a dedicated PCI connection. USB doesn't come close.

If you knew that... you'd know it.

You don't seem to have experienced the situation... which leads me to conclude that you are happy with your karaoke machine.

I think you are acting in a short sighted manner when you presume everyone else should be happy with a karaoke machine.

Many people aspire to making use of all the features that ship with SONAR... a feature set which includes the ability to run EFX and instruments that gobble up huge amounts of CPU and bandwidth.

I take it for granted that a musician will not be satisfied until they are running Kontakt and the best convolution and linear phase effects. I wish folks the very best and optimistically anticipate that they can work a bit more to get what they really want.

You expect the same musician to be satisfied with a lesser grade of sound quality. Your recommendations should come with a warning and a disclaimer.

best regards,
mike

I would look at ADK as well. I own one myself. Cost me a bit but for the convenience and performance gains I got I would do it again. They know their stuff and are very helpful.

Phoenix


@mike--well said!! Bravo!

@sandman, prhaps you could post the specs of this marvelous cheap ass system of yours: model number, specs, etc. so that the OP or anyone else interested could find a similar model, check it out, and see if it meets their needs. That would definitely be more constructive than impugning our professionalism and supposed wealth (LOL). Oh yeah, you might also mention some of your typical plugin chains; that would also help the OP determine if a system like yours would fit the bill. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that different plug ins make different demands on a system.

 
Alrighty...
 
Laptop is Acer Aspire 5740-5780.   DPC is high.   but I tweaked it and got it under control.  like I say..it does not mean the recorded  audio will crackle and it doesn't. 
 
 I play my e-drums (roland td-6) midi-ed into sonar.   I use ez drummer but also layered with reason drum kit,  session drummer, and recently  the konkat player loaded with the ss drums (great deal for $20!).  I play this real time at 4.4 ms.    I then proceed to possibly add dimension pro or a variety of vst synths.  I also midi up hardware stuff and record that as audio and midi at the same time.  
maybe some true piano...all layered with a ton of Reason synths and fx.
 
  I'll also record some guitar and bass tracks.  Then the vocals. 
 
 
I normally progressively up the latency as I mix and add plug ins.   but with this laptop,  i haven't needed to go past 6.5ms so far.
 
Current project...has 63 tracks in Sonar and it's rewired to Reason which is playing another 14 tracks  and bunch of fx.  I have 18 audio plug ins going (izotope,  several sonnox plus the sonar stuff).  I have a lot of tracks because ever single sound is broken down to its own track. 
 
And really this is just a beginning stages song for me.   I'll have envelopes and automation... grove clips..v vocal...more tracks and sound fx..
 
 
Whats great is that because its a laptop,  I can work anywhere.  Very liberating for the creativity.  
 
 

sandman5000

 
Alrighty...
 
Laptop is Acer Aspire 5740-5780.   DPC is high.   but I tweaked it and got it under control.  like I say..it does not mean the recorded  audio will crackle and it doesn't. 
 
 I play my e-drums (roland td-6) midi-ed into sonar.   I use ez drummer but also layered with reason drum kit,  session drummer, and recently  the konkat player loaded with the ss drums (great deal for $20!).  I play this real time at 4.4 ms.    I then proceed to possibly add dimension pro or a variety of vst synths.  I also midi up hardware stuff and record that as audio and midi at the same time.  
maybe some true piano...all layered with a ton of Reason synths and fx.
 
  I'll also record some guitar and bass tracks.  Then the vocals. 
 
 
I normally progressively up the latency as I mix and add plug ins.   but with this laptop,  i haven't needed to go past 6.5ms so far.
 
Current project...has 63 tracks in Sonar and it's rewired to Reason which is playing another 14 tracks  and bunch of fx.  I have 18 audio plug ins going (izotope,  several sonnox plus the sonar stuff).  I have a lot of tracks because ever single sound is broken down to its own track. 
 
And really this is just a beginning stages song for me.   I'll have envelopes and automation... grove clips..v vocal...more tracks and sound fx..
 
 
Whats great is that because its a laptop,  I can work anywhere.  Very liberating for the creativity.  
 
 
Hi Sandman - You say you use an Acer Aspire 5740-5780. I've found two 5740 (one has an i-3 chip, the other a i-5 chip).
 
Which one are you using?
 
I'm from the UK, but  hopefully your model is on this page -
 
[link=https://www.simplyacer.com/products/keywords/aspire+5740/ex/clearance?gclid=CKD3he33saICFdGX2AodyH8YSw]https://www.simplyacer.co...he33saICFdGX2AodyH8YSw[/link]
My current Dell laptop has a great  spec, but the fan randomly and frequently kicks in (a design fault of the '98 Inspiron 1525 i've heard) and interrupts my audio, even when  just playing from i-tunes.
 
I work with electronic tracks like you (not even near your track count though!), so I'm glad to see your post as a heavy VST/ virtual synth user.
 
Anyway my questions -
 
Which one are you using - i-3 or i-5 model?
 
Have you had any problems with the fan interrupting VST/synth playback or audio recording?
 
Have you tried an USB sound card (like my Edirol UA-1EX) to keep latency low? 
 
If your's has Windows 7 installed is it 64 bit and has it left some Sonar plug-ins unusable?
 
Thanks in advance!

I suggest you to buy i7 processor laptop.
i7 has grate capability for multitasking. and its has high FSB for high performance.
so buy any laptop but make sure it has i7 processor.

>>What I've always done is get a 7200 rpm laptop  hard drive and just replace the 5400rpm one that comes with most laptops.  I put it in a case, and use the 5400rpm one as an external back up.  But this time around I'm just gonna wait for the ss drives to get cheaper.<<
 
Wow. Thanks Sandman.
 
Great idea, and I can do exactly the same and get moving on a new Vaio. Likely no trouble at all, but can make a SS drive change after PC warranty runs out, and rearrange everything. Until then I can also  install my Omnisphere/EastWest/other  audio files on an external drive which should work Ok too. As said I am not doing major Sonar projects on notebook now but that could change later when hard drives are reorganised.
 

Phoenix


@williamsmith10--I agree, and that may be why the OP was looking in that price range, which is why I mentioned the custom laptop.
I really tried to find a bargain laptop, but when I added on the extra expenses I would have (faster HDD, FW expansion card or USB 2.0 audio interface, etc.) it kept adding up to non-bargain prices. And I wanted a core i7 (or fast core i5, minimum). I am not comfortable with the idea of attempting to change the processor on a laptop (not crazy about doing it with desktops, either).

@sandman--see? That wasn't so hard, and you've helped people already!
Computers are always YMMV, perhaps more so with laptops. It is no more accurate to say anyone can make do with any cheap laptop than it is to say everyone needs a custom laptop (which I did not say; I merely stated that I felt it was a better value for that price point). Posting the specs of a cheap laptop that does work, and what it works with, is much more useful than general statements.

If I had about 1600 bucks to spend ...........................