# Laptop studio, a few questions



## lux (Dec 23, 2010)

Hello,

i've almost decided for a notebook studio and got a few questions which i'd love to have some help about, for those who have some time to respond.

1) Any suggested models which, in your experience, have a good price/performance ratio as a musical studio? I'm not after a monster machine as the budget would probably exceed what i planned to spend. So any hint about models or machines you have (of heard) expecience of would be really appreciated

2) I would like to imprement 2.5 or 3 tera of HD space for sample streaming/repository. How do I implement that on a laptop (which most cases comes with a 500Gb internal disk)? Usb disks? Firewire? 

3) a software, which i can run on different machines, and that runs a performance test which i can use testing different machines and comparing to my actual ones. Something simple and easy to read result/wise

thanks a lot in advance for any suggestion
Best
Luca


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## Nick Batzdorf (Dec 23, 2010)

If your audio interface is FireWire, you might want to look into an Express34 or whatever they're using now adapter for eSATA drives:

http://www.macgurus.com/store/ecom-cats ... Index.html

I have the Lycom one (bought from that site) on my MacBook Pro, and it works uneventfully.


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## damstraversaz (Dec 23, 2010)

for the HD, the e-sata seems to be actually the better solution. I have some very good feedbacks from this compagny from friends ( professionals) http://www.adkproaudio.com/ . I'm actually waiting from my new laptop from ADk ( first week of january ) you will find a lot of very happy customers on the cakewalk forum. 
for their 17", it's possible to have 2 internal Hd , but no more than 750 for each.they was very friendly when i ask them a lot of questions before buying.

Have a happy Xmas

Damien


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## lux (Dec 24, 2010)

Thanks a lot Nick and Damien.

Nick i'm on Pc and found some eSata cards here but significantly cheaper. I'm supposing that the ones you mentioned are for Mac users, so that justify the higher price. Or do they have some special feature?

Luca


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## Reegs (Dec 25, 2010)

Hi Luca,

I run about 1.5TB on eSata from a laptop and find it works wonderfully, so long as you keeò  ÷   Ò†Þ  ÷   ÒŠ.  ÷   ÒŠa  ÷   Ò‘¸  ÷   Ò‘á  ÷   Ò“  ÷   Ò“@  ÷   Ò“…  ÷   Ò“®  ÷   Ò“Æ  ÷   Ò•  ÷   Ò•ö  ÷   Ò–#  ÷   Ò–x  ÷   Ò–‹  ÷   Ò˜s  ÷   Ò˜”  ÷   ÒžÓ  ÷   ÒŸo  ÷   ÒŸÖ  ÷   Ò¡å  ÷   Ò¡õ  ÷   Ò£´  ÷   Ò£Á  ÷   Ò¨ƒ  ÷   Ò©ò  ÷   Òª  ÷   Ò«Y  ÷   Ò«  ÷   Ò­è  ÷   Ò®:  ÷   Ò®x  ÷   Ò®±  ÷   Ò¯?  ÷   Ò°  ÷   Ò°.  ÷   Ò±¯  ÷   Ò±Â  ÷   Ò³s  ÷   Ò³¬  ÷   Òµd  ÷   Ò·Ð  ÷   Ò·í  ÷   Ò¸¿  ÷   Ò¸Ò  ÷   Ò¼ý  ÷   Ò½¢  ÷   ÒÁr  ÷   ÒÁË  ÷   ÒÂ/  ÷   ÒÂ™  ÷   ÒÃ˜  ÷   ÒÄ  ÷   ÒÅo  ÷   ÒÅ°  ÷   ÒÅé  ÷   ÒÏo  ÷   ÒÏŒ  ÷   ÒÐE  ÷   ÒÐz  ÷   ÒÑ  ÷   ÒÑM  ÷   ÒÓ¡  ÷   ÒÓÖ  ÷   ÒÕm  ÷   ÒÕÅ  ÷   ÒÙ‰  ÷   ÒÙ³  ÷   ÒÜS  ÷   ÒÜ²  ÷   ÒÜù  ÷   ÒÝ  ÷   ÒÝ!  ÷   ÒÝR  ÷   Òß©  ÷   Òßå  ÷   Òá÷  ÷   Òâ,  ÷   Òã~  ÷   Òã¥  ÷   Òæ  ÷   ÒæR  ÷   Òé  ÷   Òêq  ÷   Òïí  ÷   Òðº  ÷   Òñ  ÷   Òõ  ÷   Ò÷ö  ÷   ÒøU  ÷   Òø¶  ÷   Òù#  ÷   Òú  ÷   Òúq  ÷   Òû×  ÷   Òü;  ÷   ÒþJ  ÷   Òþ»  ÷   Òÿ


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## lux (Dec 25, 2010)

great infos, Udo and Reegs, thanks guys.

Luca


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## PasiP (Jan 3, 2011)

Since I'm probably moving to Scotland next autumn I'm looking for a laptop which can handle a small composing template (Symphobia and other libraries).

Currently I'm thinking of getting Samsung Q330. I don't want to spend a fortune on a laptop since I will only be using it full-time for a year or so..

My question is: Will a i3 or i5 laptop with atleast 4gb RAM and a decent GPU have the power to handle a small template for composing?

*Samsung Q330 details:*
Processor: Intel® Core i3-370M (2,4 GHz)
Memory: 4Gb (I might upgrade it to 8Gb since memory blocks are quite cheap)
GPU: nVidia G310M
HDD: 500Gb
Soundcard: External one. I need to pick one soon..


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## PasiP (Jan 14, 2011)

Little bump. Any thoughts about a i3 laptop for composing. Check above for specs.


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## sinkd (Jan 14, 2011)

i3/4Gig Sounds a little weak. Depends on what the "other" is in "Symphobia and other libraries."
Are you planning on running everything internal?

DS


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## PasiP (Jun 30, 2011)

Sorry for bumping this old thread up but I got a green light from Scotland and I'm going to study there for a year. Now I need a powerful laptop for music composition. I will mainly use Kontakt 4 libraries (Symphobia, True Strike, LASS Lite etc.) and Spectrasonics products.

My budget is max 1200€.

*My custom laptop at Kobalt Systems:*
Chassis: Kobalt GS150 15.6" with switchable Optimus Technology utilising Intel GMA HD graphics	
Screen: 15.6" 1600x900 HD+ matte LED Backlit	
Battery : 62.16 WH Lithium Ion Battery	
Processor: Intel® Core i7-2630QM Quad Core with HT 2.0-2.9GHz 6MB Cache 45W	
Video Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M 2GB GDDR3 DX11 144 CUDA Cores	
Memory 1: 8GB DDR3 1333Mhz CAS9 2x 4GB DIMMs	
Hard Drive: 500GB Western Digital 7,200rpm with 16MB Cache	
Optical Device 1/ 2nd HDD: 500GB Western Digital 7,200rpm with 16MB Cache	
Operating system 1: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit	
WIFI: Integrated 802.11 b/g/n wireless	
9 in 1 card reader	
Keyboard : Swedish / Finnish	
Soundcard: Integrated High Definition Audio	
Power Cable: UK	

*Total	£1,045.80*

I will use my Roland Octa-capture soundcard as well. I guess this laptop will do, yes?


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## chimuelo (Jun 30, 2011)

I know 3 folks using ADK Pro i7 laptops with the Soniccore XITE-1 that run large Native templates and the massive realtime mixing power+effects of the XITE-1.
I have never seen such a powerful portable solution, and I cant wait for price drops on the i7 laptops at ADK Pro.
It was only 5 years ago I saw such power for automated shows but it was a massive rack of PT 2U's and Logic.


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## Christian F. Perucchi (Aug 19, 2011)

Hi there! did it turned allright? im thinking of getting a macbook with pretty much the same specs 
Processor	2.0 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
Cache	6MB shared L3 cache
Memory	4GB (two 2GB SO-DIMMs) of 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; supports up to 8GB
Graphics	Intel HD Graphics 30005 and AMD Radeon HD 6490M with automatic graphics switching. 256MB GDDR5 graphics memory.
Hard disk drive1	500GB Serial ATA, 5400 rpm
Optical drive	8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Wireless	Wi-Fi (based on IEEE 802.11n specification)4 Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) wireless technology
Expansion	One Thunderbolt port (up to 10 Gbps), one FireWire 800 port (up to 800 Mbps), Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps), one SDXC card slot
Video and Audio	FaceTime HD camera; Thunderbolt port with support for DVI, VGA, dual-link DVI, and HDMI (requires adapters, sold separately) 

Stereo speakers with subwoofers, omnidirectional microphone, audio line in minijack (digital/analog), audio line out/headphone minijack (digital/analog)

the only thing is that, for now i should use firewire external drive, until thunderbolt drives come affordable, what do you think?


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## JT (Aug 19, 2011)

I'm running the previous years MBP, 2.66 i7, 7200 rpm HD, 8 GBs. Running Logic with VSL, LASS, Cinebrass, Spitfire Perc. & Albion. Depending on what I'm writing I can usually get between 30-40 tracks before I need to start freezing them. I enjoy the portability, so I'm more than satisfied with the performance I get.

I would recommend that you get the 7200 HD though, and max your ram out from an after market company. You 'll be able to up that to 8 GBs for less than $100. You could also max it out at 16 GBs, but they're really expensive chips.


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## Jonik (Aug 19, 2011)

I'm on a 2009 MBP 2.8 Core duo with 8GB ram but only a 5200rpm hard drive. It doesn't do too badly as a machine but the RAM really fills up quite quickly due to LASS!

Does a 7200 really make that much of a difference? Also, wouldn't the faster speed cause more noise and heat in a laptop (rather than a desktop that you can hide) that isn't particularly great for a portable studio?

If they are the bee's knees though, what laptop 7200 drive are people going for?


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## PasiP (Aug 19, 2011)

My current laptop studio setup is this:

Samsung RF511 customized
i7 2630QM
8gb of RAM
128GB SSD drive
External USB3.0 HDD for samples. I bought a Seagate Momentus 750gb (7200rpm) and the chassis separately.

I haven't test drived it yet but I'm pretty prettyyy prettyyyy sure it works like a charm.


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## Justus (Aug 22, 2011)

Hej computer experts,

does anybody have experience with Packard Bell notebooks?
Are they any good for audio applications?

Cheers,
Justus


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