My suggestions for anyone looking for a new computer atm

[decklyn]

Hey it's boxing week so here are the perspectives of an IT guy.
http://decklyn.com/dublog/2010/12/getti ... ht-choice/

[Demian]

He rates Sony and Toshiba better than Asus.

I would actually put Toshiba near the bottom of the list..
Or for that matter, not on the list. Here's why: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/asus-a ... ,9720.html

And Sony has terrible support for Windows 7 so far, probably the worst out of all the manufacturers. It's been out for two years and they STILL haven't updated drivers for it. WTF! Don't expect any support from their website on this.... ugh.

[makemerich]

whats wrong with toshibas?

[Demian]

whats wrong with toshibas?

Mostly, build quality. Besides that, there were a few generations of Toshibas not too long ago that started getting locked down by BIOS passwords. It was totally random, and a defect. The only way to fix it? You have to mail your laptop to Toshiba. Freaking lame.

[deadly_habit]

lol you me and deckyln need to get together to agree on some tech geek pc posts
this board is lacking on building your own box specifically as a daw

[cloak and dagger]

My last computer was a Toshiba laptop that lasted me almost 7 years...finally the hard drive failed, after using it for live gigs in a bunch of different countries, heavy internet use, etc. I don't know if the build quality is the same these days, but I would totally recommend Toshiba based on my experience with them.

[deadly_habit]

yea honestly i hadn't heard of any issues with toshiba build quality till a few posts on here
hell we used a few of them in iraq and our normal field exercises back when and they survived that and that was a shit ton of abuse

[dubmatters]

Like any other mass made product there is a guaranteed failure rate. As soon as a particular brand is mentioned there will always be someone chipping in with a bad story/experience with said brand.

I think more of a general guide might be more helpful.

I don't see much talk about ssd's, simply having one as a boot drive will increase performance considerably.

[Demian]

I'm not drinking the hateraid or anything...

I've just been working in a Computer Repair shop for the last 3 years. So I'm just saying that I've seen a disproportionate number of Toshiba's and HP's in for repair for manufacturer defects/oversights.

That's not to say that they don't have any quality laptops, it's just saying they have lots of cheap ones. Buyer beware.

[deadly_habit]

well when it comes to laptops it generally is you get what you pay for, with a couple exceptions
if people exercised the classic you can only get 2 of the 3 from the triangle when it comes to purchases the world would be a better place

[paravrais]

lol you me and deckyln need to get together to agree on some tech geek pc posts
this board is lacking on building your own box specifically as a daw

Yes please! I'm in the process of building a new production PC so that could be really helpful

[EDN]

ADK contract these guys to build their laptops in the UK.
If you have a look at the gearslutz forums ADK has a massive following.
A bit more expensive, but actually built with audio in mind.
http://3xs.scan.co.uk/Category.asp?Syst ... tegoryID=2

[Demian]

I've got a DSLR so I could do a decent enough play by play in the shop. One of my buddies and a fellow dubstepper needs to build a new rig right away anyway.

[alphacat]

lol you me and deckyln need to get together to agree on some tech geek pc posts
this board is lacking on building your own box specifically as a daw

Yes please! I'm in the process of building a new production PC so that could be really helpful

+1!!!

My buddy's got an ADK system, and the customer service he's received on it so far (twice in two years) has been extraordinary. A guy was on the phone with him for 3 hours long distance diagnosing the problem and never lost his patience (and my buddy is Russian, so sometimes technical stuff isn't easy to describe for him.) If I had oodles of cash...

[dubmatters]

Anyone wanting to buy now should really hold off...

Intel have announced sandy bridge

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/03/inte ... -includes/

It was just a year ago that Intel released its first generation Core processors, so what exactly makes this platform different? Well, a few things. For those that haven't followed the Sandy Bridge saga, the new family of processors are all based on Intel's 32nm microarchitecture and are the first to put both the processor, memory controller, and graphics on the same die. What's that mean for you? In short, it means the package is smaller and all the parts get to take advantage of each other better -- for instance, by dynamically clocking both the CPU cores and graphics to match whatever workload you throw at it, and giving them up to 1MB of shared cache. Speaking of those graphics, while they may still not be on par with a discrete video card, they're more powerful than ever before. According to Intel, the new HD 2000 and 3000 processor graphics provide 2x the performance of Capella-based systems, and that actually holds up with what we've seen in early benchmarks (so long, GMA 4500). What's more, Intel's improved its Turbo Boost and Hyper-threading technologies such that the new chips enable higher levels of CPU performance as well -- up to a 60 percent improvement with quad-core mobile CPUs. Additionally, the new integrated chips reduce power consumption and can actually completely turn off an idle optical drive, enabling what Intel's calling "incredible battery life."

More:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4084/inte ... -landscape

Its not exactly going to be like stepping from a ford to a ferrari but we should see some decent performance increases. Combine the new cpu's with a ssd and even those with a modest budget should be able to have a sick machine.

Then the rest of the cash can be spent on hardware

Ivy Bridge (released at the end of the year) which follows Sandy Bridge should take this one step further.


PS

Intel's integrated graphics are still a bit shit imo, so if gaming is important you will still have to get something with a dedicated/discrete graphics card.

[deadly_habit]

it will still be expensive and hell most daws aren't exactly utilizing quad cores or 64 bit to the full potential yet

[dubmatters]

it will still be expensive and hell most daws aren't exactly utilizing quad cores or 64 bit to the full potential yet

I'm not really talking about multithreading in particular but the new chips should give an all round performance boost.

[makemerich]

whats wrong with toshibas?

Mostly, build quality. Besides that, there were a few generations of Toshibas not too long ago that started getting locked down by BIOS passwords. It was totally random, and a defect. The only way to fix it? You have to mail your laptop to Toshiba. Freaking lame.

well i have a satellite series a305 it was only 600 bucks over a year ago, refurbished and ive almost finished my whole album on it, it runs pro tools , cubase and reason flawlessly. i simultaneously can run 40 tracks or so with a gang of plugins on them and a bussing matrix that would make neo shit bricks. :smurf

[step correct]

Yo dudes, I have about $1300 to spend. Looking for something for a DAW. (already have a laptop) Gimmie some idears

[makemerich]

Yo dudes, I have about $1300 to spend. Looking for something for a DAW. (already have a laptop) Gimmie some idears

what type of setup do you seek.
reason is quality. if your going to do a lot of automation get fruity loops, or logic if ur on a mac.

if ur keeping automation simple and dont need to many assignable cc's go with cubase.
as far as interfaces go, i come from the live musician world so i dont know what dj interfaces or watever are good yet.
u can download all of these programs, shareware, freeware, or "hookedupware". its all ur choice.

what type of gear are u looking for?