trident, you said it better than I did or could have.

[This message has been edited by Frank L. Rosenthal (edited 04-15-2005).]

Correction,
I meant to say that I have never owned a Pc that I DIDN'T built/setup myself.

They are like dogs, If they don't get provoked (installing/deinstalling/internet use/viruses) they won't bite.

MY COMPUTER Sony VAIO is now over 2 years old. It is used for everything. It ruins the recording studio. It is on the internet everyday. It receives and sends hundreds of emails every day on 7 email lists that I operate. It is loaded with music software. It has usb cables going to many things that are operated nearly every day. It is upgraded with everything that comes from Microsoft and Earthlink, and yet.............are you ready for this..........THIS COMPUTER HAS NEVER CRASHED OR HUNG.
What does that tell you?
I have now bought the top end Toshiba P25 Satellite, laptop for 3400.00 that has everything. I am wondering how it is going to compare to this desktop?
Bebop

BEBOP, you either do a very good job of selecting good software & hardware followed by very good installation procedures or or or ...... you are just plain lucky - especially when it comes to working with USB. Your Laptop will perform as well - if you treat it well!!!

Bebop, please buy lottery. There is a good chance you'll win

Hey, I didn't want to treat anyone here! I only told you some of my (and other's) experiences with Windows since I'm working with it.
Maybe I should explain something about me: I'm a hard- & software engineer since 1984. Not as a profession from the first time on but it started as a hobby and growed up to a profession (earned by school).

So I learnt to program the Commodore's C64 and C128, followed by an Intel 80286 (which means DOS time ), then an Atari ST and Falcon 030, then an Acorn Archimedes and a strongARMed Risc PC, then (since 1998) Windows 95/NT/98/2000/XP and last but not least Linux.
(Sorry ED, I've actually no experience with Mac OS... )

My experience is: I can simply NOT do the same with a Windows OS as that what I can do with all the other ones (this argument is very generally for now). You're right when you say that you install the hard- and software one times and you use it for only one (or two) application(s). But that's what I meant as I said...

..., you know?

I'm looking back at the last ten years where thousands of people had blustered about their Windows system because of many different (near uncountable) things which happened and cracked the system. But if I adviced them to change their system they suddenly defended their 'little trashcan'. I still don't understand why they did and still do so...

Hello, Frank! Please don't be disgruntled about/with me. I hope you understand that ten years of such an ignorance made me hard against the Windows system (and sometimes also against the users of it). I'm not the personally foe of yours...

Hey everybody, what the hell do you think why I'm still using an Atari Falcon 030 @16MHz (!) in my home studio for 16 track harddisc recording? And why do many professional studios still use it too? There must be a reason for it and I guess it's not only a sentimental one...

------------------
Greetings from Frankfurt (Germany),
Sheriff ;-)

I think the option that Frank
is currently using, being a desktop tower, is
an excellent one. One can get a reliable and
inexpensive PCI audio interface to use with it,
as well as, one of the new flat monitors
and a PC keyboard.
There is yet another option where instead
of the separate monitor and keyboard, a networked laptop computer via ethernet cable can be used.
I've seen such an arrangement with
a Mac computer, and know it can also be
done with a PC.

Hi all,
there is a "new" (well not so new) PC concept called SFF (Small Form Factor). I am sure you have seen them somewhere. They have very small cases, with special motherboards and crammed components inside, that provide all the functionality of a tower PC but at a much smaller size, and are usually very elegant and pleasing to the eye. They are supposed to be sitting in the living room, along with the TV or Hifi, so the appearance is well thought. Some of them come with a handle too... (gigging, anyone?)

They usally have 2 slots for add on cards, one for a better graphics card and another for a PCI card, (the badass souncard goes there!) and usually have everything else onboard, like 4 or 6 USB, modem, network, TV out, 6 channel sound card, firewire, etc.

I think those provide the best source material for building a dedicated music computer. They are compact, can be carried around easily, have the looks. A drawback may be that some are noisier than average, but you can find quiet ones, carefully choosing the components. They also don't offer much room for expansion, but, If you do your maths and your thinking beforehand, you can get one that will serve you well.

Take a look, (some models shown may be older, but you can get the picture) and tell me what you think.
http://www6.tomshardware.com/howto/200502161/index.html
http://www6.tomshardware.com/howto/20040804/index.html

And here are some more examples: http://sys.us.shuttle.com/ http://www.truespec.com/computersystems/daudio/shuttle/index.shtml http://www.bsicomputer.com/

The liquid cooled PCs are whisper quiet.

One of our large music stores have had one running with Windows XP for over a year without failures/restarts, etc. Reliability simply is not an issue if you invest the time and money to do the installation and required tweaking.
http://www.videoguys.com/WinXP.html http://www.musicxp.net/

WAW!!! All these different computer products and the reliability of them are great news and definitely a step in the right direction especially for music.

But wouldn’t it be great if a keyboard manufacturer could make a stable keyboard that would allow users to configure it and to load only software that the user wants?

You know, the same things that we are doing with PC computers.