Need new laptop- Requirements?

OK, intead of continuing reverbrocket2's thread, I thought I'd start my own with fairly specific questions.

I need to get a new laptop, and I think I'm going with a PC. I want to be able to record with it. I have a Line 6 TonePort UX1, but everything I've3 ever recorded has pops and skips and such. For that (and many other) reasons, I think I'm getting a new laptop.

I'll be using Reaper for software.

Also, I'm an idiot, so be gentle. Here's the questions:

I've seen people talk about using an extra hard drive dedicated solely to music. Is this typically external? Do you load the software (in this case, Reaper) onto it? What steps do tyou need to take to "point" the recording stuff to the extra drive?
is this (http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/GT051-8/) the kind of drive I'd need? How important is it (those are pretty expensive)? If I get a fast external one, can I skimp a little on the speed of the internal one?
What siort of speed is required for the drives? Is 2.2GHz enough?
I've seen mention of a good soundcard. I assume what's in the TonePort is ok for starters?
Are there still compatibility issues with Vista? Anybody using the toneport with it? how about Reaper?
OK, this is really lazy: Point me to something you'd consider adequate. All the stuff I can find is either aimed at soccer moms or super expensive.

The external drive will be strictly a storage device. Reaper will not have to be loaded onto it.

I don't think you would want to skimp on the internal drive as this will be your main drive.

I don't know much about soundcards but I would think the toneport would be perfect to start with.

I use Reaper with XP and have zero issues. Is XP still available?

I will let the more knowledgeable fellas point you toward a laptop.

Good luck.

Dan

Or maybe I should just get a MacBook. the 2.4GHz, 160GB is $1300- I'm thinking I'll get close to that with a Windows machine, anyway.

So here's another question or 2-

Anybody using a toneprot with a MacBook?
Anybody using Reaper with a MacBook?

If you go with a PC, first thing you should do (in my opinion) is get Vista off of it and install Windows XP. XP is going to be much easier on your system resources than Vista (Even with all the bells and whistles turned off, we're finding here at work that Vista still underperforms when compared to running XP on the same system... Vista needs a lot of resources.), and you'll need as many resources as you can get for recording high quality audio.

I've heard that M'Soft is going to stop selling XP this fall. I may not be buying anything in that timeframe, so I might be stuck with Vista if I go PC.

OK, intead of continuing reverbrocket2's thread, I thought I'd start my own with fairly specific questions.

I need to get a new laptop, and I think I'm going with a PC. I want to be able to record with it. I have a Line 6 TonePort UX1, but everything I've3 ever recorded has pops and skips and such. For that (and many other) reasons, I think I'm getting a new laptop.

I'll be using Reaper for software.

Also, I'm an idiot, so be gentle. Here's the questions:

I've seen people talk about using an extra hard drive dedicated solely to music. Is this typically external? Do you load the software (in this case, Reaper) onto it? What steps do tyou need to take to "point" the recording stuff to the extra drive?
is this (http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/GT051-8/) the kind of drive I'd need? How important is it (those are pretty expensive)? If I get a fast external one, can I skimp a little on the speed of the internal one?
What siort of speed is required for the drives? Is 2.2GHz enough?
I've seen mention of a good soundcard. I assume what's in the TonePort is ok for starters?
Are there still compatibility issues with Vista? Anybody using the toneport with it? how about Reaper?
OK, this is really lazy: Point me to something you'd consider adequate. All the stuff I can find is either aimed at soccer moms or super expensive.


It is very common to use an external drive as your main tracking drive, such as those available from Pacific Pro Audio.

They are not that expensive - considering how much you can record on one.

There are a few reasons for using external drives:

1) The audio is not tied to your computer, so - you can track at home - then take the drive to the studio and work there - ease of transport. Additionally, you can send the drive in for mastering when the time comes.

2) If your computer fails - your data is still safe and sound.

3) You can 'shelve' it to store the session, much like a 2" tape reel. However, drives still have lifespans - just like your internal drive, so a burn do DVD (Blu Ray) or some other longer-term storage may still be optimal. Since it's not getting spun up as much as an internal drive, however, it will still probably have a good lifespan.

The speeds you're looking at for performance are the cache and RPM of the drive. 7200 rpm with a 16meg cache is pretty standard. Faster RPM audio drives are available - but probably not necessary. 7200rpm internal laptop drives have only become common in the last year or two.

Or maybe I should just get a MacBook. the 2.4GHz, 160GB is $1300- I'm thinking I'll get close to that with a Windows machine, anyway.

If you choose to go this route, remember that you can use Boot Camp (included with OS X) and configure your system to boot to either OS X or Windows XP. Of course, you'll need a copy of XP in order to do this. I use a MacBook Pro and have had no issues when I used to dual boot. XP ran perfectly. Boot Camp makes it very simple to do this stuff.

What you want to accomplish with your DAW and how the software operates will dictate the specs for your machine. No one can quote specs for you and guarentee you won't have popping or clicking.

It is even possible that your current machine is capable of doing the job. Maybe you are using the wrong audio driver, maybe your audio buffers are set to low, your latency is set to low, your operating system is not optimized for audio recording.

CPU
If you plan on the SKY IS THE LIMIT processsing of effects right in the box, say 30 plus audio tracks with software based comps, and eq's on every track, 5 tracks with a software based multi fx guitar package package like amplitube, ezdrummer and a four or five virtual synthesizers, four aux busses with different convolution reverbs, and ozone mastering suite running on the master channel than consider a top of the line cpu. A single core 2.2Ghz processor will not cut it. You are travelling into the territory of a quad core CPU here.

If you plan on small but worthy projects, 10 tracks with software based comps and eq's on each track, two or three guitar multi fx programs running, a drum program, and a few virtual synths running you would be better off with at least a dual core 2.0ghz CPU.

If you plan on doing small simple record and playback with just a little bit of fx processing 5 comp's and eq's maybe guitar rig 3 and a drum program running than a single core 2.0 ghz cpu would be fine but you will always be teetering on the edge.

RAM
If you plan on using a few virtual instruments that stream and read samples to and from ram, 2.0ghz to 3.0ghs ram should be plenty enough. Vista is more RAM intensive go with 3.0ghz to 4ghz ram.

HARD DISK
If you plan on using several virtual instruments at once that stream samples from hardisk and plan on projects with LOTS, THE SKY IS THE LIMIT number of tracks tracks than consider a second hard drive. Hyper sampled drum programs like BFD2 which streams from disk recommend the use of a second hard disk for storing samples. It is not uncommon to see 3 hard disks employed. One for programs, one for samples and one for plug ins. The guys using these are freaks of recording. Serious serious hobbiests. I would go with just an internal hardisk for the time being, add an external later if needed. A rotation speed of 7200rmp and a seek time of at least 10ms.

USB/Firewire ports
At least two available usb ports (USB 2.0) and one available firewire port (IEEE 1394). Two of each would be better especially if you are considering adding the external drive.

Add it up. A midi controller, an external audio interface and possibly an external hard disk. Three ports gone right there. Preference for me would be to tap an external audio interface or an external hard disk through firewire not USB 2.0

XP or Vista
XP is rock solid. Vista has caused alot of grief for people I know on other forums but the complaints seem to be lessening as service packs are and updated drivers are intriduced. I'm still chicken to go with Vista, XP is like a rock for me so why fix it if it ain't broke.

I have a 2.2ghz dual core CPU, one internal sata 7200 rpm hardisk, 3 gigs of RAM, two firewire and 2 usb ports, an external audio interface and am getting along fine. People would probably consider these mediocre specs. My projects are usually maximum of 10 audio tracks, 3 aux tracks. I usually have 3 software guitar processors running at once, several mixing plug ins (at least a comp and eq on every audio track), several multi ouput synths running (Reason, Guru, Session Drummer), and a few plugins on the master track.

I have a 2.2ghz dual core CPU, one internal sata 7200 rpm hardisk, 3 gigs of RAM, two firewire and 2 usb ports, an external audio interface and am getting along fine. People would probably consider these mediocre specs. My projects are usually maximum of 10 audio tracks, 3 aux tracks. I usually have 3 software guitar processors running at once, several mixing plug ins (at least a comp and eq on every audio track), several multi ouput synths running (Reason, Guru, Session Drummer), and a few plugins on the master track.

Is this the setup you used to record the stuff on your soundclick page? I'd be more than pleased with that sound quality.

2gb of ram
100gb hd
2ghz

That is the minimum but remember technology is constantly growing which takes more speed, and more space