please help me choose a laptop (graphic design, sound recording)

Achebe

Achebe

New Member
Hey can anybody help me out? Right now I own an Acer Aspire 5680, and I would like to get a better laptop (pc or mac, either is fine) for the things I am doing. Here's the breakdown of what it will be used for:

Sound Recording:
Either Pro Tools m-powered (which does NOT run with vista), or Cakewalk's Sonar

Graphic Design (mostly designing printed material, some web):
Adobe CS3 design premium (focus mainly on photoshop, indesign, acrobat professional)
QuarkXPress (7.2 passport)
Microsoft Office (I have both 2004 for mac and 2003 for pc)
It will also help if autoCAD can work on it (my partner uses the program).

That's pretty much it for the big programs. Everything else surrounds browsing the net (mozilla), communicating with people (skype, messenger), etc...

---------

As you may know, my problem right now is that pro tools (which is my preferred sound recording program) doesn't work on vista, and vista seems to be the standard when purchasing a new laptop. On the other hand, I love macs, but they are so expensive, and of course autoCAD doesn't--- and probably never will--- run on a mac OS.

---------

some minimums I would like in my laptop:

intel core 2 duo processor (at least 2.2GHz)
2 GB RAM
1 firewire port
A few usb ports
a good gpu would be nice (nvidia geforce 8m series?)
---------

the firewire port probably reduces my options quite a bit but i really need it. I guess I can always get a firewire card (it's just an extra cost).

---------

I would love to spend less than $2000 Canadian.

Everything I want (except price) seems to point to the Macbook or MBP. But there's gotta be something else out there that gives me more choice?!!

Thanks for your help, really appreciated.
 
Macbook Pro, entry level model 15" is $1999 and has everything you need, even comes with 2gigs of RAM standard now.

Having done lots of side work for recording studios all I can say is Mac is the way to go.
 
I did some looking around, it's true the macbook pro is looking more and more like it will be on the top of my list.

The one below seems promising, maybe someone can let me know about their experiences with HP?

The total is $1,887.99!!

Operating System:
Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)
Processor:
Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor T7700 (2.40 GHz, 4 MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
Display:
15.4" WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
Memory:
4GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
Graphics Card:
128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS
Personalization:
HP Imprint Finish (Radiance) + Webcam + Microphone
Networking:
Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
Hard Drive:
160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Primary CD/DVD Drive:
HD DVD ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW Double Layer
Primary Battery:
High Capacity 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

It comes with:
"Expansion Port 3 connector" (don't actually know what that is)
3 USB 2.0 ports
and, luckily, a "IEEE 1394" which is my much needed firewire port

Compared to the macbook pro, the one thing I noticed is that it has a weaker graphics card, but it does has 4GB memory. Most specs seem pretty much on par with each other... I think.

I'm just very weary of windows vista. I am so confused now.
 
I would quadruple check compatibility with Vista and your recording applications. As for HP, only buy their business class laptops. I am HP APS certified and used to fix HP notebooks, desktops, and servers at my old job. Their business class machines are way better than their consumer ones. I have had a lot of hands on with HP.
 
Achebe said:
Operating System:
Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)
Processor:
Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor T7700 (2.40 GHz, 4 MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
Display:
15.4" WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
Memory:
4GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
Graphics Card:
128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS
Personalization:
HP Imprint Finish (Radiance) + Webcam + Microphone
Networking:
Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
Hard Drive:
160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Primary CD/DVD Drive:
HD DVD ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW Double Layer
Primary Battery:
High Capacity 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Click to expand...

See here... The OS there is 32-bit and your memory is 4GB. 32-bit OS can only recognize up to ~3.12GB so you are wasting your money there if you go 4GB.

Since you will be doing graphical design, you need the bigger RAM so go for Vista Home Premium 64-bit OS to make sure that your computer can utilize all 4GB of the RAM.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top