which laptop?

Fbjm

hey all, got accepted into the bmus in nuim yesterday, so i'm going to go buy a laptop sometime this month or next for the course. if anyone here is doing a bmus in maynooth, which laptop do you have, or which would you recommend? i'm leaning towards the macbook pro myself, as apparently they're good for music and such. any recommendations?

Seren_

Macbook Pros are pretty (sooo pretty!), but I'm sure you could get a laptop which is a lot cheaper and not as annoying operating systems wise.

Seren_

Also, inb4 banquo. Seeing as you mentioned an Apple product in the OP :pac:

Effluo

If you don't have any need for anything other than the usual word document creation and web browsing then this would be alright.
Please don't get a mac ;_;

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/ASUS_K52F-EX749V_1034135.html


Max you should really be spending is €350, avoid Acer Aspires, Compaq etc. Actually just get either an Asus, Toshiba or Samsung they generally make good laptops. If you really want to get value for money keep an eye out on the bargain alerts part of boards.ie for a lappy with a Core i3 processor again for less than €350(pretty common) or hukd.com (a British bargain website)

Check if you ca get the cashback on this lappy, http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056333437
If you can Well as long as the HP doesn't break, you've got yourself a really nice laptop, with a more portable 13" screen and some graphical capability. One of the best prices on laptops that size there's been for a long long time



Inb4Hurrrrrrrrrrrr

banquo

inb4MP3Guy

Reason against Macs: Same theoretical functionality as cheaper pc version, but more expensive just because they're pretty.

Reason for getting a Macbook Pro: Made from far, far superior parts that won't ****ing crap out on your after 6 months. None of this 'I love my new laptop yaaay. Don't touch the wire! if you unplug it then it turns off because the battery died. Also, it's gotten really slow. Etc"

If everyone had a macbook, I wouldn't have spent my college life fixing friends' laptops.

That is all.

squishykins

banquo wrote: »

inb4MP3Guy

Reason against Macs: Same theoretical functionality as cheaper pc version, but more expensive just because they're pretty.

Reason for getting a Macbook Pro: Made from far, far superior parts that won't ****ing crap out on your after 6 months. None of this 'I love my new laptop yaaay. Don't touch the wire! if you unplug it then it turns off because the battery died. Also, it's gotten really slow. Etc"

If everyone had a macbook, I wouldn't have spent my college life fixing friends' laptops.

That is all.

But while this is true, if in the unlikely event that it does break, new laptop time =/

heffo500

I'm going into second year in maynooth most of us have sony or toshiba laptops with i3 and i5 processors respectively. They're great but I have one friend who has a macbook and they convenience is what you get with a macbook. His one lasts 7-8 hours while ours struggle around 2 hours. You will appreciate those extra hours when you are in lectures as most lecture theaters except iontas dont have sockets under the desks. So you will spend ages looking for a socket.

To sum it up go for a macbook and like your text here said they look great.

banquo

squishykins wrote: »

But while this is true, if in the unlikely event that it does break, new laptop time =/

If it breaks, Apple replace it for freeze!

squishykins

banquo wrote: »

If it breaks, Apple replace it for freeze!

Since when?!?!?!

Effluo

Reason for getting a Macbook Pro: Made from far, far superior parts that won't ****ing crap out on your after 6 months.

Nope




Sooooo,

That data was taken from an independent source btw here's a link to it's an article about it if anyone wants to have a look.
http://www.icuriousmedia.com/blog/toshiba-has-the-most-reliable-laptops-1322.php


Apple vs. Windows

Goodness what a original and exciting debate. Oh Joy!!!
The great misconception about the perceived quality of Apple vs Windows computers, is that one of those companies provides only software and the other provides both the hardware & software.

What has made windows feel so clunky so often and unreliable and frustrating in the past has much to do with the fact that it's put on machines which break as we can see 25% within the first three years and have slow cheap hardware.


Mac OS runs smooth, it's good for that, but so does Windows 7 and on the right hardware you will find that you will get far more functionality, compatibility and value with Windows.


Inb4Durrrrrrrrr

Duddy

If you want to game (or run more than 3 programs at the same time) as well as the basics, spend the superfluous Mac money on something that has a good processor, like this http://www.dabs.ie/products/samsung-rc520-core-i5-2410m-4gb-500gb-windows-7-home-premium-64bit-15-6--laptop-7KYX.html?refs=54590000-52330000-22&q=core%20i5
or this http://www.dabs.ie/products/hp-probook-4530s-core-i5-2410m-2-3ghz-4gb-320gb-15-6--windows-7-professional-laptop-7JXM.html?refs=54590000-52330000-22&q=core%20i5

Also, buying online (like Dabs.ie or Scan.co.uk) will save you a good chunk of money. I've also been told that the main objective of the staff in Click stores is to upsell, upsell.

Duddy

Also, only Hipsters use Macs:P

cian1500ww

Linux FTW!

Effluo

Sadly Duddy, you're mistaken there with your advice regarding processors & gaming.

The most important part of any PC which is wanted for gaming is the Graphics Card(it's rare unless you've got a v weak CPU & a v powerful GPU that any bottlenecking will occur due to the CPU, it would occur a lot more in laptops than desktops however. All in all, running games at acceptable levels is very much GPU bound).
The laptops you linked albeit with good processors won't be able to play any recent graphically intensive games well.

Also as I said before I wouldn't spend more than €350 on a laptop if all you want it for is the basics, ie Email, web browsing making documents(even photo editing).


Something else to note is that once you go over a certain price point in the market the more you spend the less value you get. The time difference spent when using a first gen i3 and a second gen i5 when conducting the basic tasks is negligible and certainly not worth it when considering the extra hundreds of euro spent on it.
Not to mention that the statistics show that reliability is barely improved at all by buying higher priced goods...


If you could be a bit more specific about what your exact needs are, I could give you a couple of options. It really isn't a problem for me as I do this daily for work anyway

Eric Cartman

in reality macs dont suit everyone...

















their not for stupid people :P

nah seriously , if you can afford the macbook pro, its well worth it and will last you your entire college life (unless it has an accident) , considering your doing music , most software for that is available in both pc or mac , or some bits (like logic) in mac only .

if you are determined to go for a pc , go for a lenovo thinkpad SL or T series if you can afford it

I sell and repair both PC's and macs , the Lenovo T series is the only PC laptop ive ever seen stand the test of time as well as a mac , its why mechanics, field engineers and solicitors all use them.

ceez

HP....5 years now......hasn't let me down.....yet

Norrdeth

I used a HP compaq for all of my BMus and it started failing the middle of my Erasmus(3rd) year,
mostly because I didn't take care of it properly, mostly because it was crap.
Came to 4th year and it died from being accidentally unplugged during a presentation on French Music..
Wasn't great for the group.

For my postgrad (Composition with Computer Music)
I got a Macbook Pro because I really needed it for the stuff I was doing
(Also partly because the compaq kicked the bucket): editing photos & videos, recording+mixing,
analyzing audio, composing etc. And I was fortunate to get most of the software I use from friends or as open source.
But the machine cost a bomb, about €1107 for the basic model. However, the OS(Snow Leopard) is great,
very smooth and it takes care of itself well.
(I haven't upgraded to Lion as I'm dubious of the 1st gen release.
Plus I heard that Pure Data doesn't really work well on it, and I use pd all the time!)
Also, I have Windows 7 running with a program called boot camp on a partition at native speed,
so you can have the best of both worlds really, and move between the two OSs quite well.(By restarting into them)
The only problem is that you have to find your own Windows disc. But they're pretty easy to get these days.

Anyway, my advice is to get a product that is reliable
and that has a good and accessible support system that's also not too expensive.
And check out all the things you know you'll be using it for and see what's the best out of them.
For example I don't do any gaming on it so, no real need for a good graphics card. Stuff like that.
And hopefully you should find the laptop that suits you.
*Cheesy music

ceez

Norrdeth wrote: »

I used a HP compaq for all of my BMus and it started failing the middle of my Erasmus(3rd) year,
mostly because I didn't take care of it properly, mostly because it was crap.
Came to 4th year and it died from being accidentally unplugged during a presentation on French Music..
Wasn't great for the group.

For my postgrad (Composition with Computer Music)
I got a Macbook Pro because I really needed it for the stuff I was doing
(Also partly because the compaq kicked the bucket): editing photos & videos, recording+mixing,
analyzing audio, composing etc. And I was fortunate to get most of the software I use from friends or as open source.
But the machine cost a bomb, about €1107 for the basic model. However, the OS(Snow Leopard) is great,
very smooth and it takes care of itself well.
(I haven't upgraded to Lion as I'm dubious of the 1st gen release.
Plus I heard that Pure Data doesn't really work well on it, and I use pd all the time!)
Also, I have Windows 7 running with a program called boot camp on a partition at native speed,
so you can have the best of both worlds really, and move between the two OSs quite well.(By restarting into them)
The only problem is that you have to find your own Windows disc. But they're pretty easy to get these days.

Anyway, my advice is to get a product that is reliable
and that has a good and accessible support system that's also not too expensive.
And check out all the things you know you'll be using it for and see what's the best out of them.
For example I don't do any gaming on it so, no real need for a good graphics card. Stuff like that.
And hopefully you should find the laptop that suits you.
*Cheesy music

I'm having awful thoughts of my laptop eating my thesis come the day I've to hand it in, and it turns into such a piece of ****e it eats all my back ups too. Thanks Norredeth

mickstupp

ceez wrote: »

I'm having awful thoughts of my laptop eating my thesis come the day I've to hand it in, and it turns into such a piece of ****e it eats all my back ups too. Thanks Norredeth

Whenever I'm writing, I email myself a copy every half hour or so. I would've thought gmail is less likely to die than my computer. Might be wrong... but at least emailing yourself gets a backup off your hardware.

Effluo

mickstupp wrote: »

Whenever I'm writing, I email myself a copy every half hour or so. I would've thought gmail is less likely to die than my computer. Might be wrong... but at least emailing yourself gets a backup off your hardware.

https://docs.google.com/?pli=1#home



All your important data should be backed up regularly no matter what type of machine you use

They all need anti-virus protection too, both Mac and PC

Fbjm

Effluo wrote: »

Sadly Duddy, you're mistaken there with your advice regarding processors & gaming.

The most important part of any PC which is wanted for gaming is the Graphics Card(it's rare unless you've got a v weak CPU & a v powerful GPU that any bottlenecking will occur due to the CPU, it would occur a lot more in laptops than desktops however. All in all, running games at acceptable levels is very much GPU bound).
The laptops you linked albeit with good processors won't be able to play any recent graphically intensive games well.

Also as I said before I wouldn't spend more than €350 on a laptop if all you want it for is the basics, ie Email, web browsing making documents(even photo editing).


Something else to note is that once you go over a certain price point in the market the more you spend the less value you get. The time difference spent when using a first gen i3 and a second gen i5 when conducting the basic tasks is negligible and certainly not worth it when considering the extra hundreds of euro spent on it.
Not to mention that the statistics show that reliability is barely improved at all by buying higher priced goods...


If you could be a bit more specific about what your exact needs are, I could give you a couple of options. It really isn't a problem for me as I do this daily for work anyway

hey, well the main thing is that it has to be durable, as in last me as long as i need it. i also need it for recording and mixing, and for music stuff in general. my dad said that if i throw in 400 euro he'll get me whichever laptop i need so that's another perk, a mbp for 400 euro seems like an amazing bargain to me :P

Effluo

Well if you'll be using the laptop for music production, then that's a very specific use and one which I'm not very knowledgeable about.

I'm guessing the physical noise of the computer and also the soundcard would be very important. AFAIK in terms of processing power you don't need that much, but that's all I can say regarding that. I'm not an audiophile and know very little about how varied the soundcards in laptops are.


These guys though will probably be able to get tell all the things to look out for and will probably get you the best solution.
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/music-computers/

You could just either go through the forum and find some relevant information or if you can't find what you're looking for start a new thread

Would be cool if you could post back here what they recommended to give some kind of finality to the thread and suffice our own interest xD

Norrdeth

Most musicians these days use external sound cards called (Audio Interfaces) for all recording
which have many different Input/Outout for different cables(eg. MIDI, Jack, XLR).
So picking one of those will be an important factor in your sound.
A friend of mine is a huge fan of Focusrite interfaces
as they have great preamps so I'm looking for one of those at the mo with 8 outs(octophonic music bebé!)
I'd reccommend looking on Thomann.
In the youth centre where I do sound engineering we buy all our stuff from there(even stage curtains!),
so they're pretty reliable and cheap for electronic music gear.

If you're kinda new to recording or computer music in general
you could send me a PM and I'll give you whatever info I can,
as I plan on teaching sound in a few years.

Eric Cartman

Norrdeth wrote: »

Most musicians these days use external sound cards called (Audio Interfaces for all recording)
which have many different Input/Outout for different cables(eg. MIDI, Jack, XLR).
So picking one of those will be an important factor in your sound.
A friend of mine is a huge fan of Focusrite interfaces
as they have great preamps so I'm looking for one of those at the mo with 8 outs(octophonic music bebé!)
I'd reccommend looking on Thomann.
In the youth centre where I do sound engineering we buy all our stuff from there(even stage curtains!),
so they're pretty reliable and cheap for electronic music gear.

If you're kinda new to recording or computer music in general
you could send me a PM and I'll give you whatever info I can,
as I plan on teaching sound in a few years.

ill stand by the focusrite gear, alesys, m-audio and a few others also do decent sound gear ,

the sound card isnt really important in a laptop anymore because of these cards, one important thing to check is if the laptop has an IEEE1394 (firewire) port , every mac (except the macbook air) has one , but a lot of pc's do not . Any high end gear in the audio or video world used the firewire interface and youd be lucky to find equipment as good with USB. its a consideration to make when picking a laptop

for students hoping to do video in or after college, a new mac is also recommended , companies like blackmagic design are flocking over to Thunderbolt as a connection method for high end video equipment such as the Ultrastudio 3D video interface , as more of that hardware comes along the use of thunderbolt will become more prevelant

irish_goat

I've a Samsung R60+ which has lasted me 4 years and still runs perfectly.

Eric Cartman

irish_goat wrote: »

I've a Samsung R60+ which has lasted me 4 years and still runs perfectly.

just depends on the person really , People of a technical mind and people who look after their electronics properly and dont hit them when their angry etc... will realistically make almost any laptop last 4 years (with the exception of the battery deteriorating) But then theres people who arent so careful (just throw laptops into the boot of cars, use keyboards like theyre an old piano with stiff keys , hit screens when something goes wrong etc... and theyd make the same laptop last 6 months.

a lot of reporters, photographers, field engineers and mechanics give laptops some serious abuse , and while your samsung or other peoples packard bells , asus etc.. machines may last 4 years , I could almost bet the price of the laptop I could give it to a load of people that would have it dead before the warranty even ran out. The only laptops ive ever seen these people last with are either panasonic toughbooks (if you have the cash), macbook pro's or IBM/Lenovo T series.

its down to some very weird but simple things , from using longer cable guides on power connectors, having a power socket on a sepperate board so it can be replaced easily without soldering , batteries being further from heatsinks to stop them heating up as much , better fan vent placement, metal support braces at the rear of the screen , brackets on both sides of the hinges , cable re-enforecment at the hinge, ports sealed from the inside to stop dust getting in. It all adds up to a better laptop , generally the more you pay, the better this all gets .

A large problem ive seen with laptops dieing (it moreso affects AMD powered laptops rather than intel) is a lot of cheap laptops have the CPU fan intake on the bottom of the case , so the user puts the laptop on a pillow or their duvet using it in bed , block the fan intake and the laptop overheats and best case - powers off randomly , worst case - dry solder joints break (similar to the xbox 360 red ring of death) and you have a dead laptop.

in summary you do indeed get what you pay for , if you expect a laptop to last for 4 years you have 2 options - be a very careful person and realise a few things like fan vents or - spend 900-1500 on a laptop thats got things like side mounted fan vents and has better structural build quality for surviving trips in car boots / the occasional time you get annoyed and hit it.

Effluo

Although I appreciate that you may have some opinions based on your personal experience, I would disaggree with much of what you've said there young Eric.


My own personal experience and the stats would suggest(as I have said previously in this thread) that the greater a price paid for a laptop does not equate a noticeable improvement in reliability.


(netbook <€260 : Entry Level €260-€670 : High End >€670)

In fact as you can see, price difference relates to just over 2% increase in reliability and tbh what suprises me about that is with such poorly built cheap laptops going about that the gap is not bigger.

One thing is for certain, that is that everyone who has any experience of working with computers will no doubt have their own opinions of hardware manufacturers. For every Eric that swears by Lenovo Thinkpad's there will be others who curse their name. But statistics are statistics. You can't really argue with them, especially considering these stats have been taken pretty legitimately.


My interpretation of the stats and my own experience of the laptop buying marketplace is that if you buy smart and buy cheap, you don't have to sacrifice reliability or indeed for most people functionality.

I'd assume that if they took the terrible eMachines, Compaqs & Aspires out of the equation for the low end reliability stats, that the reliability of the low end laptops would increase to a level equal or even greater than of the high end counterparts.

LeixlipRed

I have an Aspire that's still going grand and it's fairly old. Statistics, smashtistics :P

XxMCRxBabyxX

Sorry to hijak but seeing as I have all the computer geeks here ( :-P ) has anyone any idea where I could get a cheap replacement battery for my HP?!

Had to charge it with a dell charger for a while and now the battery can't last 20mins off charge!

Effluo

Well don't use the Dell charger again anyway xD

I guess your best bet would be either ebay or amazon marketplace. You might pick one up cheaply enough.


Otherwise give elara & dabs a call and see who give you the best offer

All the retailers can get hold of them, it's just a matter of how cheaply they're willing to sell them to you for. Tell one what the other is selling it at and they'll probably knock a few euro off it to try and get your business.

http://www.onestoppcshop.ie/
I found these guy's customer service to be very helpful too

XxMCRxBabyxX

Effluo wrote: »

Well don't use the Dell charger again anyway xD

I guess your best bet would be either ebay or amazon marketplace. You might pick one up cheaply enough.


Otherwise give elara & dabs a call and see who give you the best offer

All the retailers can get hold of them, it's just a matter of how cheaply they're willing to sell them to you for. Tell one what the other is selling it at and they'll probably knock a few euro off it to try and get your business.

http://www.onestoppcshop.ie/
I found these guy's customer service to be very helpful too

Well I got that didn't I?! :P
My HP Charger broke and I had to make do until I got a new one. I hadn't realised that it was gonna kill my battery like that though! Found nothing online when I checked that it'd be alright!

Thanks. I might do that this weekend or Mon!