I've decided to buy a laptop as my desktop is running XP Pro and it's getting increasingly harder to meet "system requirements" for software.

Can any of you members tell me if a musician has "special needs" regards specs.

One of my concerns is the sound card. I bought a special card for my desktop, but I understand it's integrated into the motherboard on a laptop and it's not top quality. Will that affect how I hear my mp3's?

Also I want to install a top of the line music editing program. I looked at the screens at my local store and can clearly see the difference between a 1080 and a 1900. I want to see my "notes" as clear as possible if I'm doing editing.

Basically, can you think of anything I should know as a musician before I make my choice?

Thanks

Mark

First you need to know what you are going to do with it.. what DAw, using VST, will you do audio edditing or just midi.. what other programs will you run .. then you can

As for audio interface, i would go for a high quallity external USB interface, if you ever change laptops again, you can take that with you.... Choose an audio interface with a multiclient ASIO driver, whichj allows you to get audio from several sources at the same time if you for example would like to run Band in a box, varranger and a DAW at the same time.. tere is so many options possible, all depending on how you are going to use the laptop and the audio device..

MP3s played from my laptop sound great using the internal sound source.

It all depends on your needs. Are you going to record with it, or you just want to brows the internet and listen to youtube or mp3s??

Don’t put too much reliance on screen resolution as there is more to a usable screen than that, and as always the best way is to try the screen out in store with the type of documents you are using to see which one suits.

Go for a laptop that has an SSD (256GB is fine for most use) and USB 3 which will allow you to add an external HDD/SSD if you do need a higher capacity. (USB 3 is also suitable for disk streaming if you use large sample VSTi)

If you use the keyboard/touch pad a lot, try this out as well as they vary considerably in quality.

Also consider a hybrid that can be used as a laptop or tablet (With touch screen) as if you’re out live a tablet will be more convenient, with the keyboard allowing you to make more detailed use when at home/studio. (Keyboards can be detachable or you could have a laptop that fold through 180deg)

Go for a minimum 4GB Ram (8GB if using VSTi) and at least a dual core CPU.

If you are prepared to spend the cash (And you want to use it just for music and simple office stuff plus don’t mind paying over the odds for the looks) then a Mac Book Pro is a good one to look at. (Just remember that they are severely limited in available software outside of the Video, Music and office software, plus if you have a problem Mac gurus are few in number compared to PC gurus)

Finally go for the best you can afford, as this will be money well spent in the long term.

Hope this helps

Bill

For a first class laptop, take a look at the latest Dell XPS 15, with 6th Generation Intel Core i7-6700HQ Quad Core, 16GB of memory, and a 512GB SSD, upgradeable to 1TB SSD. May be overkill, but should be able to handle anything.

Take a serious look at the MacBook Pro. The 2016 version will be released in March and rumors say it will have a touch screen.

Deane

Most of todays laptops will do more than anyone can imagine, even the inexpensive ones. For me, I just use mine to view lyrics in wordpad, play an occasional midi file using VanBasco's Midi/Karaoke Player, or playing an MP3 during breaks, which I rarely take. Just about any laptop on the market today can handle those chores.

I have even done some multi-track recordings using Audacity, a free program, and had excellent results using a $225 laptop.

No sense in spending a bundle on a PC or Mac if you're not into gaming or complex graphics. Most of the stuff we do doesn't require much speed or memory.

Good luck on whatever you decide upon,

Gary

Go with Mac and you will never look back....

Hi Mark,

Here's a document attached explaining my setup with a Dell laptop/tablet 2-in-1. And the way I've arranged it to display scores automatically on selecting a registration. I've nearly 4000 scores loaded on it now. The computer is more than capable of handling any tasks. My keyboard = Yamaha Tyros 4


Cheers,
Phil