Subject:Buying a laptop

Posted by: gazercmh

Date:1/29/2003 8:35:56 AM

Hello all.

I'm getting set to buy my first laptop, and want to use Sound Forge (6.0) and Acid (3.0) on it.

Anyone got advice on what features to get, beyond making sure the laptop meets the system requirements that Sonic Foundry gives for the software?

Also, anyone have advice on laptop sound cards? Are the USB external cards the best way to go? I hear that Toshiba laptops have optical outputs -- anyone use these?

Any tips would be appreciated.

Apologies if you already read this on the Sound Forge forum...

Subject:RE: Buying a laptop

Reply by: tympanicfrenzy

Date:1/29/2003 9:32:18 AM

make sure it has a firewire port, that opens up more options for soundcards and midi, and well basicly everything in genral. Firwire!

Subject:RE: Buying a laptop

Reply by: DKeenum

Date:1/29/2003 11:15:39 AM

I would suggest that you search several forums for info about laptops and audio. There are a good many considerations and potential problems. But you will also see that it is possible to get what you want. Check here and harmony central and the computer music forums. There are people that say that usb will not work and there are people that love usb audio on laptops.

One idea I heard that deserves some consideration is to buy your laptop based on what works with your software and hardware choices.

Just as a personal aside, edriol has been the most cooperative company as far as answering emails. We haven't got my UA-20 up and running yet, but there is still hope.

Subject:RE: Buying a laptop

Reply by: MyST

Date:1/29/2003 11:20:56 AM

http://store.pcnirvana.net/pcbuilder.cgi

PC Nirvana will custom build laptops. They probably can help you select the best components for it.
They were listed in the SoFo product brochure, so chances are good they can fine tune one for your apps.

M

Subject:RE: Buying a laptop

Reply by: gazercmh

Date:1/29/2003 4:12:30 PM

Thanks for all the tips, everyone.

Buying one that fits your software and hardware makes sense. I just need to figure out what that is. As for software, I'm sure I'll more than surpass the requirements for Acid and Sound Forge (and CD burning).

For hardware, I'd like to be able to use the laptop as a bit of a bridge between my desktop PC and my stereo system. So it would be nice if I could transfer files easily between the laptop and desktop. And it would be nice if I could easily plug the laptop into my mixer, both to play songs from the laptop into the mixer, and to record things from the mixer into the laptop.

Does anyone have advice on what hardware can help with this stuff?

Subject:RE: Buying a laptop

Reply by: zendar

Date:1/30/2003 7:33:59 AM

get one with usb2

wait for m-audio audiophile usb which has a usb2 connection, hopefully will solve all the usb grievances

toshiba make highly regarded laptops, dell and sony also, see ableton's forum

get inbuilt lan (fairly common) to transfer files, ethernet still rules for this

Subject:RE: Buying a laptop

Reply by: DKeenum

Date:1/30/2003 11:25:28 AM

One big problem with laptops is a IRQ conflict between the video card and the usb controlers. Is there a work-a-round for this, or do you just have to find a laptop without this conflict...or is this not true?

Subject:RE: Buying a laptop

Reply by: gazercmh

Date:1/31/2003 9:13:03 AM

Another question occured to me.

Will I be able to install Acid and Sound Forge on my laptop AND desktop using the same serial number? Or do I have to buy a second copy of each? I know some programs embed the serial number in files so you can't open them on another computer using the same serial number. Anyone know?

Subject:RE: Buying a laptop

Reply by: MyST

Date:1/31/2003 9:50:22 AM

Yes...but call customer service to explain your situation.

M

Subject:RE: Buying a laptop

Reply by: DKeenum

Date:1/31/2003 1:45:22 PM

I don't think you even need to call. Just re-register. I've done it.

Subject:RE: Buying a laptop

Reply by: drbam

Date:2/1/2003 8:30:05 AM

<<I don't think you even need to call. Just re-register. I've done it. >>

Me too. Outside of being great software, the ability to *easily* use SoFo apps on my other systems makes life a lot less stressful and keeps me as a dedicated and faithful customer.

drbam

Subject:RE: Buying a laptop

Reply by: Laurence

Date:2/2/2003 10:24:27 PM

I kind of hate to say this on a Sonic Foundry forum, but for me the best sequencing software on a laptop isn't Acid or even Reason, Cubase or Sonar. Tracktion can get about 20ms latency out of the directX driver on the built in soundcard on my Toshiba laptop. That's not as good as I would like, but it is usable with a little practice (hey Church organists deal with worse). Anyway, even aside from the directX driver thing, I'm really starting to love this program. It doesn't do Acid loops but it does do rewire and is otherwise quite full featured. Check it out at:

http://www.rawmaterialsoftware.com/

It's free for a month with pretty much every feature enable but wave rendering.

Ableton Live can also make use of your laptop's low latency DirectX drivers.

Laurence Kingston