Laptop Vs. Desktop

I am planning to get a new PC this summer and I am stuck.

Should I save up on a desktop (more powerful, last me longer)

-Or-

Should I save up on a laptop (i can go anywhere and make music)

I am kind of sick of coming home and sitting at the same corner in my room making music. I would love to move some other place in my room, town, or ever outside. Just so I can capture some sort of mood when making certain tracks.

A downside I see in laptops is that they aren't as strong as Desktops (specs-wise). If I am planning to get a desktop I would custom build it, coming out much cheaper then from the stores.

What would be some other pro's and con's for laptops?

And finally, If I would be getting a laptop what should I be considering? And what brand should I look for (Vaio, HP, DELL)?

buy a mouse for your laptop for long home-use

and the heat is worrisome on laptops

a tracker with a laptop is very comfortable

highly recommend laptop

What kind should I look for?

You can build a much much better desktop for the money, and depending on how you make music it might be impractical to cart around things like keyboard, auto interface, etc around town to make tunes, just as a counterpoint. I have 3 laptops and a desktop and when I want to make music on the go I reach for a Nintendo DS, heh, I dunno just preference.

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  goDel said:

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A nice dual core intel should be powerful enough, don't worry about it.

Yeah, I'd go for a laptop too. Slightly more expensive but so much easier going places with it.

  Five Step Path said:

What kind should I look for?

go for dell with a 4 year compete care warranty... nothing beats it. My motherboard done itself in after about 2 years in then dell sent me a brand new system with upgraded hardware because of the warranty. I do everything on it: game, production, tube surf, and WATMM. I used to be a desktop guy but with the punch laptops come with nowadays and with dells great online coupons it's hard to go a different route. I ended up getting mine with a 35% off coupon and saved around $700.

After having only a laptop for several years, I got very tired of having to come home, reconnect everything, and all that, everytime I wanted to work on music.

I got a desktop, and I love the fact that I have this dedicated place for me to make music, that is always hooked up and ready to go.

Of course laptops are good for traveling, and live stuff.... but for me, it's almost useless, as my setup revolves around my nords. If I took my laptop out some where, I'd only be working at half capacity, which would just frustrate me. I dunno, I just dont see the mobility during composition thing to be really important at all, to me. But you could be different.

I will need a laptop for live use eventually, and certainly, I could lay down sketches if I was out, but I prefer to retreat into my own little world when I work... not sit in a noisy public place. And anywhere you go thats not a noisy public place, probably wont have a power outlet, so your time will be limited.

Just my thoughts...

  Kcinsu said:

After having only a laptop for several years, I got very tired of having to come home, reconnect everything, and all that, everytime I wanted to work on music.

 

I got a desktop, and I love the fact that I have this dedicated place for me to make music, that is always hooked up and ready to go.

 

Of course laptops are good for traveling, and live stuff.... but for me, it's almost useless, as my setup revolves around my nords. If I took my laptop out some where, I'd only be working at half capacity, which would just frustrate me. I dunno, I just dont see the mobility during composition thing to be really important at all, to me. But you could be different.

 

I will need a laptop for live use eventually, and certainly, I could lay down sketches if I was out, but I prefer to retreat into my own little world when I work... not sit in a noisy public place. And anywhere you go thats not a noisy public place, probably wont have a power outlet, so your time will be limited.

 

Just my thoughts...

Oh damn, your worrying me now. Lol.

Well I am also wondering what type of laptops are good, and what I should look into. Like Space or ram. I really don't know much about laptops.

If you're just using your computer to make music, then a laptop sounds like the best way to go.

I've heard great things about Thinkpads, but I've never used one.

  Oscar said:

If you're just using your computer to make music, then a laptop sounds like the best way to go.

 

I've heard great things about Thinkpads, but I've never used one.

I'm just configuring my second Thinkpad now (a T60). They're dope, although the Lenovo ones aren't up to the same standards as the old IBM ones. Still, I don't think there's a better laptop on the market. I almost considered getting a Macbook and running XP on it, but I didn't want to have to spend $2000 just to get a damn card slot..

  Oscar said:

If you're just using your computer to make music, then a laptop sounds like the best way to go.

 

I've heard great things about Thinkpads, but I've never used one.

I think the exact opposite, for pretty much the reasons Kcinsu posted above. I think you're using it for anything but music, the reasons for getting a laptop increase (great to surf while sitting on the couch/in bed, nice to take to a coffee shop to do email, etc). I have never once gotten anything done or had the urge to get anything done musicwise on a laptop away from my house and synths. Now, that's not to say that nobody ever would, just, it requires some introspection and honesty to ones self about how they will likely feel.

In theory, I would agree that a custom desktop computer makes a lot more sense than a laptop, especially if cost vs. performance is your primary concern. However, I think that computers in general are powerful enough now that the performance difference between a laptop and a desktop is more or less irrelevant to all but the most demanding users.

Unless you already have a substantial studio that your new computer will be another fixture in, I'd highly recommend getting a new laptop first and then perhaps putting together a well-researched system later if you deem it necessary. I certainly don't adhere to the philosophy that "more" equals "better." There is not an awful lot you can do with a desktop that you can't do with a laptop, but the reverse is certainly not the case.

I've just upgraded my laptop after 4 years and to be honest it's definitely more of a luxury than a necessity. I'm not going to kid myself that the extra clock cycles are going to make my music any better.

Yeah, the reason im getting a new pc in the first place is that, the one I currently have now is getting kind of old. It craps out for me when I do certain things now. I'll just pass it on to my little bro and get a new laptop (or desktop).

yeah get a laptop, vaio's are nice, im on one now and it's great.

Just make sure the soundcard is ok, like my soundcard on my laptop has ASIO so no problems here with music production. I also advise you to stay away from Vista as it sucks for making music.

Only bad thing about my laptop is that it's getting dirty from too much usage lol, the screen needs a bit of a clean

  Quote

I think the exact opposite, for pretty much the reasons Kcinsu posted above. I think you're using it for anything but music, the reasons for getting a laptop increase (great to surf while sitting on the couch/in bed, nice to take to a coffee shop to do email, etc). I have never once gotten anything done or had the urge to get anything done musicwise on a laptop away from my house and synths. Now, that's not to say that nobody ever would, just, it requires some introspection and honesty to ones self about how they will likely feel.

You're right. But I should have clarified what I meant about just music. If you're working with other gear like Kcinsu, then it will be pretty useless unless you're doing lots of live stuff. But if you're using your laptop and only your laptop, I think it's the best way to go. I hadn't thought about him using it for other tasks... I just assumed he would be.

Depends by the kind of audio processing you'll want to do on it.

Even if the latest laptops are more powerful,they will never reach the level of a desktop. Anyway with some really late laps you can archieve good audio performances. I'd suggest you at least the most powerful core 2 duo serie processor with a bunch of memory on it and a 7200 rpm HD.But the most important thing is to check your audiocard. If you have a pro one,check its site and choose the most powerful compatible laptop on its compatibility list. That's really important. I saw a lot of people getting monster laptops..and then cry because their firewire chip made the audiocard fart.

Its pretty simple, really, if you want to play games or edit video, get a desktop. If you want the freedom to move around and take your comp with you, get a laptop. If you are using it to make music, I really doubt that the speed difference will hinder you much, most people buy crazy overkill machines and end up making shitty trash with it, its not really how much power your comp has, so much as how creative you will be with it. I bought my first laptop 2 years ago, and until I get back into gaming or something, I wont switch back, the convenience of taking your comp outside to smoke, or into the bathroom to watmm while you shit, is priceless.

laptops are nice, but desktops are way way more powerfull.

music apps tend to be among the most resource-hogging applications out there (along with video editing software) thus your processing power could really be gimped with a laptop vs. a desktop, so it depends on what you want to do and what you want to use. for example, reaktor can give almost any system a workout.

in the end it comes down to what you know already, the portability vs. the power. you must choose one or the other for the most part. unless you have a lot of money and can own both.

I could never use a laptop as a primary tool for making music. I've tried and it just isn't effective for me. Great for quick ideas or killing some time, but ultimately I have a hard time finishing anything that way. The keys are too small for starters, you have to carry headphones everywhere since stock speakers are crap and you'll still want a mouse unless you don't mind spending excessive amounts of time trying to do things with a trackpad or eraser of doom. In the end your carting around so much stuff you might as well be using a desktop. If you don't need a laptop for things like live shows, definitely go with the desktop. Cheaper, stronger, easier to interface with. Also cheaper to get fixed if and when something breaks.

I just ended up building a rackmount machine and put it in a 4U rack case with a power supply unit. Ends up being about as portable as a laptop bag with all the odds and ends, just a bit heavier.

i'm trying to decide on a laptop to buy. i have no idea what brand or model. i don't think i want another vaio because i'm looking to spend less.

after 5 minutes of looking at laptops and specs i start to feel sick. toshiba was looking good, but they have HD drives, which is a dead format? etc.

i know. anyone who has a laptop and uses it for music making and live, and it works fine for you, could you post what laptop you have?

  tauboo said:

i'm trying to decide on a laptop to buy. i have no idea what brand or model. i don't think i want another vaio because i'm looking to spend less.

 

after 5 minutes of looking at laptops and specs i start to feel sick. toshiba was looking good, but they have HD drives, which is a dead format? etc.

 

 

i know. anyone who has a laptop and uses it for music making and live, and it works fine for you, could you post what laptop you have?

Hard drives are not a dead format, SSD drives are the "new hotness" but asside from their ridiculous price/storage issue, they still have major drawbacks. The speed increase is for seek time only, once they have located the file to load, they stream at a much lower data rate than SATA drives. Even wrose for music making, WRITE times to SSD drives are abysmally slow, slower than several generations ago of traditional hard drives. It will still be a few years before SSD drives are a really serious contender and even then, it's ALWAYS more cost effective to buy the best of yesterdays tech than what you can afford of tommorows.