DAW & Gamer Notebook / Laptop Opinions?

[dejacky]

I've been out of the mobile DAW loop and would greatly appreciate some input from you more experienced folks as to which laptops/notebooks you recommend for my purposes? Thanks in advance.

1) What is your budget?
$1,500 or less

2) What size notebook would you prefer?
d. Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen

3) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?
A) Recording and editing 8-10 tracks of 24bit/88.2khz (sometimes 176khz) live audio simultaneously, then editing & mixing 12-16 tracks in realtime. Notebook must be QUIET and as SILENT as possible
--> I'll be using a RME Multiface & FireFace (www.rme-audio.com), but from my understanding:
too many devices on the same IRQ means the firewire wont work right. the firewire MUST be on its own IRQ with MOST firewire devices to monitor 2 channels with no crackle/pop.
I also need a seperate hard drive (internal or external) dedicated only for audio.
B) Mediocre Gaming..Geforce 7900gs sufficient?
C) MINOR web coding, CAD, & video editing

4) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?
Yes, it will accompany me on trips.


5) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?
Battlefield 1942
Battlefield 2
Need For Speed (the newer series)
Half Life 1 & 2
Counterstrike
Any good combat flight sims


6) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
not really, i'm looking for best Bang/Buck for my needs

7) How many hours of battery life do you need?
1 hour? It will be plugged into power outlet 99.9% of the time.

Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?
No, that is fine.

9) What country are you buying this in?
U.S.A

Screen Specifics

10) Would you prefer standard or widescreen?
either one is fine.

11) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?
f. WUXGA - 1920x1200; Wider viewing version of UXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.

12) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
Glossy with as minimal reflectiveness as possible

Build Quality and Design

13) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
NO

14) How long do you want this laptop to last?
5+ years

Notebook Components

15) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 120GB?
As long as I can use external hard drives to their full 7200rpm potential transfer rates, internal hard drive size or speed doesn't matter.

16) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD-ROM, DVD-CD/RW or DVD-RW drive?
I prefer a DVD-RW drive, yes..but if there is a better notebook deal without one, I can just use an external drive.

[John Jeffers]

Your list seems to be violating the law of "good, fast, cheap--pick two". I don't know of a laptop with a 17"+ screen with decent specs for under $1500.

In my opinion that you didn't ask for, I think laptops with huge screens are too large and heavy to easily travel with, and I won't buy anything larger than 15".

[hammertime]

I bought my laptop about a year and a half ago -- a Toshiba A75 for around 1500. Today, you can get a much better laptop with more RAM, a dual core processor, and better battery life. Most brands are fairly similar -- HP, Dell, Sony in terms of hardware quality. If you go intel, you'd want to look for a dual core cpu, and, last I read, the centrino's were getting 6 or 7 hours of battery life (I think I get around 2 with mine). My only gripe is the Windows Media Center that comes on most laptops has alot of shit you don't need and might even get in the way of an audio machine. Dell generally has pretty decent laptops with relatively competitive prices. One thing you can do is find a place with a return policy, and load up the drivers for your audio interface, and leave it on for a couple of days recording the radio or something. If it doesn't work, just return it, and get something else.

[dejacky]

Well, I like the larger laptop screen. I just priced a Dell Inspiron E1705 dual core laptop with geforce 7900gs video card & wuxga TrueLife screen for ~$1,397. Is this laptop good for my needs?

[John Jeffers]

Well, I like the larger laptop screen. I just priced a Dell Inspiron E1705 dual core laptop with geforce 7900gs video card & wuxga TrueLife screen for ~$1,397. Is this laptop good for my needs?

Does it have enough RAM (1 GB min, 2 GB is better, esp. if you want to keep it for 5 years)? Does it have a 7200 RPM hard drive? I know you said you don't care 'cause you'll use an ext. drive, but that faster internal drive will impact everything you run including the OS.

[dejacky]

yes it includes a 7200rpm internal hard drive. i can also upgrade memory for free, so i'm fine with buying the notebook with little or no memory.

[hammertime]

If you can get some other o.s., like XP professional or even XP home, I'd probably go for it. I've heard about problems with windows media center, and some hardware/software doesn't support it. It'll probably only run you a bit more cash

[dejacky]

forgot to mention i already have windows xp pro..thanks for the input though .