Need a laptop with decent soundcard

David Matthew

Hi guys,

I thought this might be the best place to ask my laptop related questions. I'm looking for a laptop capable of running music software (Sibelius 5 and some processor intensive plug-ins). I would need the laptop to have:

• A 32bit OS (not Windows 7 unfortunately - I would have to sacrifice too much software). WinXP Home Premium is my first choice. I don't much like Vista
• A decent in-built soundcard (for zero latency response)
• Also a decent enough in-built graphics card
• At least 2GBs ram

I had a quick look at saveonlaptops.co.uk, but they don't seem to offer any option to customize to your needs (please do correct me if I'm wrong). Does anyone know a good-value site that allows you to do this (or if not, a non-expensive laptop that would satisfy the above criteria)?

Thanks in advance.

mordeith

I'd imagine its difficult enough to get a new laptop with XP installed on it these days. Having said that, if you do find one, the soundcard will be whatever is integrated into the motherboard. You might have to look at an external USB/Firewire souncard to get zero latency. I have a Dell XPS which runs FLstudio and Ive had no problems with buffer underruns. Having said that, it's mainly running vst instruments with little or no samples.

Dr. Jonathan Crane

Don't know much about sound, but as far as decent graphics in Laptops, unless you're going up to Alienware prices you wont find a lot. Most laptops have graphics built in, which are generally just dirt. For what it's worth, I'm selling my XPS right now if you want to take a look <SNIP>

EDIT; Just noticed what you said about Windows 7. Couldn't you run your software in compatability mode?

Alanstrainor

Dr. Jonathan Crane wrote: »

Don't know much about sound, but as far as decent graphics in Laptops, unless you're going up to Alienware prices you wont find a lot. Most laptops have graphics built in, which are generally just dirt. For what it's worth, I'm selling my XPS right now if you want to take a look <SNIP>

EDIT; Just noticed what you said about Windows 7. Couldn't you run your software in compatability mode?

Nice sales pitch, but you can't sell your stuff on here.

And also you're completely wrong, there are plenty of machines with mid range cards that would be more than adequate.

OP, forget XP, Windows 7 is your only man, and also you will find it hard to get a 32bit OS these days. Is there a reason you need 32bit?

Dr. Jonathan Crane

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Nice sales pitch, but you can't sell your stuff on here.

And also you're completely wrong, there are plenty of machines with mid range cards that would be more than adequate.

OP, forget XP, Windows 7 is your only man, and also you will find it hard to get a 32bit OS these days. Is there a reason you need 32bit?

I can't link to adverts.ie via boards.ie?

Alanstrainor

Dr. Jonathan Crane wrote: »

I can't link to adverts.ie via boards.ie?

No you cannot. Please don't discuss this in thread. If you wish you can PM me.

Now back on-topic.

David Matthew

Thanks for the response guys.

Alanstrainor wrote:

OP, forget XP, Windows 7 is your only man, and also you will find it hard to get a 32bit OS these days. Is there a reason you need 32bit?

Software compatibility - Sibelius 5 won't work with 64-bit. I've heard you can run things in compatibility mode, but know very little about this. Is it completely reliable?

I have a desktop PC, for more serious studio work, and I tried Windows 7 on that, but ended up reverting to XP. Some of my older soft-synth plug-ins were crashing Cubase (my music sequencer) and also I couldn't get Sibelius 5 to work. All in all, it was a headache - I upgraded for the sake of greater RAM capacity, but overall didn't feel it was worth it, as I had to sacrifice so much software functionality.

mordeith wrote:

You might have to look at an external USB/Firewire souncard to get zero latency.

I may be expecting too much of an internal soundcard (I actually have an external one I could use), but I just want the sound-lag to be neglible if, say, I were to buy one of these tiny Korg keyboards to input some ideas via Sibelius or Cubase. The laptop won't be a replacement for my desktop, so ideally I'd like to keep it as portable as possible, without the need for any externals.

DrGreenthumb

your best off getting a external soundcard, most on board soundcards are not great for professional use, ut will do for recording a mix or something but if your serious get a external one

David Matthew

I was wondering if there would be any reason why I couldn't purchase a cheap laptop (e.g. from saveonlaptops.co.uk) with Windows 7 installed, and then buy a copy of either XP/Vista myself, to replace Windows 7?

And if so, any recommendations as to where I might get a cheap copy of either XP/Vista? I would usually check hardwareversand.de but they only seem to have Windows 7 available.

Alanstrainor

David Matthew wrote: »

I was wondering if there would be any reason why I couldn't purchase a cheap laptop (e.g. from saveonlaptops.co.uk) with Windows 7 installed, and then buy a copy of either XP/Vista myself, to replace Windows 7?

And if so, any recommendations as to where I might get a cheap copy of either XP/Vista? I would usually check hardwareversand.de but they only seem to have Windows 7 available.

The only trouble with trying to go back to XP is getting drivers that work.

Are you sure this program won't work with Win 7 64bit? I have yet to come across a program, old or new, that wont work with it. Most programs i have installed are 32bit and work just fine. I would make absolutely sure about this before going around in circles to get xp on it.