New Laptop - Help pleeeease!

me-skywalker

Hey guys my old laptop got orange juice all over it and only using the mothers notebook..

anyways im in the market for a new laptop... basically Ill be reinstalling WoW(the game) and some DAW software for music recording so fast CPU and plenty HD space is a neccesity.

Im thinking of this Toshiba for €820... http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Toshiba_Satellite_Pro_L500-1D6_Laptop_PSLS4E-00D009EN/version.asp

# Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 / 2.53 GHz ( Dual-Core )
# RAM - 4 GB (installed) / 8 GB (max) - DDR2 SDRAM - 800 MHz ( 2 x 2 GB )
# Hard Drive - 400 GB - Serial ATA-150 - 5400 rpm
# Operating System - Microsoft Windows 7 Professional / XP Professional downgrade
# Screen - 15.6' TFT 1366 x 768 ( WXGA ) - TruBrite
# Optical Drive - DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM
# Graphics - ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650 - 1 GB

or should i Just go for a Mac Pro? Ive never had one before so have some trepidation... also im not a specs nut so the above laptop im not sure if its that great?

studiorat

I suppose it would depend on the software you are running but I'd go for the Mac.

kfoltman

Look up something called DPC Latency checker by the way. It can be used to inspect system "behaviour" wrt latency (something that may be potentially ruined by lousy drivers, BIOS etc.) without installing the audio software yet.

Make sure you can return the laptop if you can't get reliable low-latency operation.

Or just get a Mac, they tend to work

merc998

Mac all d way there deadly!!!

PMI

The fact that your loading a game on there too = your more of an all rounder so stick to PC, only go mac when your getting serious

I run a toshiba Laptop live and its 100% rock solid, so I would say go for it but for sheer power, grunt and general coolness MAC wins

Welease

In your case, I'd go PC...

As a gamer, WoW will work on a Mac, but plenty of other games won't.

Paolo_M

Satellite Pros will not run any DAWs so stay well clear of them.
This is speaking from experience.
The fan causes a glitch when it turns on and a series of glitches as it slows and stops again.
In fairness Toshiba were sound with me and allowed me to return it for a full refund.
They refunded the laptop on the grounds that it was not fit for purpose, the vendors sales team had recommended it to me as being capable of running ProTools.
Shame really as they're an otherwise excellent laptop.

I got a MacBookPro and haven't looked back since. I've had it doing flawless recording @ 24/48k while downloading web stuff and loading stuff from a USB drive.
Macs are expensive, crap for gaming and there's almost no free stuff, including VSTs and other plug-ins, but absolutely rock solid when it comes to recording music or editing video.
You can get some PCs recording as well, sometimes better, but it's hit and miss. Only certain models and chipsets work well. They also require someone who knows what they're doing to set them up properly, Macs just work straight out of the box.

dav nagle

Mac.


On the other hand some people have posted guides to 'tweeking' a PC which can improve overall stabilty and performance.

shayleon

make sure you check the warranty you are getting from these guys. in the past I saw there a few computers that had a decent warranty for UK customers, but nonsense for Irish ones.

I'm about to get a laptop too, but wonder perhaps it's a good idea to wait for the new year, when the sales start.

rOBeRt frETt

Get a MAC and run any PC games thru VirtualBox, A second had Mac Pro for €800 is much more geared for your needs than a toshiba business machine.