Ableton Forum

I have a IBM thinkpad at the moment and it is just not fast enough, It is a P3 900Mhz with 384 MB of ram. It is fast enough to run through many audio clips and a couple of light fx but i have the feeling that i am always near the edge and i hate that feeling. I am selling it in order to upgrade to a IBM thinkpad with a P4 2.4 Mhz processor in it. I am hoping that it will be enough to run all i need to fuly produce my tracks with on the go. So this brings me back to my question. What do you use and is it getting the job done.

Thanks for any feedback

Hi Atomic - Have you tried 'search' on the forum - there's been Alot lately - in particular check out the posts from AdamJay as he seems to have the best info

yes i admit this is a bit of redundent question. I found some very good info shortly after posting it. Oh well thats what you get for driver on the message board wile on four redbulls

peace

of all the computers i have the one i use the most is my time laptop athlon xp2000 desktop solution .
it just won't crash . even when i overload the cpu it just slow down .
the only problem is that it doesn't have a batery so you need a plug but it never let me down on a gig night.

My laptop's not much more powerful than yours (see below) and it's fine....

I've been looking to get a laptop for Live. I don't really do much sampled audio in live, mostly MIDI and VSTi. I was looking at the new iBooks. I want the stability and compact size of Apple, but I'm wondering if it'll be enough. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Sumatra wrote:I've been looking to get a laptop for Live. I don't really do much sampled audio in live, mostly MIDI and VSTi. I was looking at the new iBooks. I want the stability and compact size of Apple, but I'm wondering if it'll be enough. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

i think any desktop solution laptop would do the job perfectly . intel centrino too .
for myself macs are the only computers that gave me troubles so i don't use macs anymore & it s still less value for money .
like i said of all the computers i have , the most stable is a time athlon xp 2000 laptop with liquid cooler.
the case is not rock solid but the thing just won't crash .

Sumatra wrote:I've been looking to get a laptop for Live. I don't really do much sampled audio in live, mostly MIDI and VSTi. I was looking at the new iBooks. I want the stability and compact size of Apple, but I'm wondering if it'll be enough. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

I just got a new 1.2GHz iBook to replace my PowerBook 1.5Ghz lemon. So far, so good, and I don't notice much difference in performance due to the processor and bus speed differences. The iBook runs Live 4 without any problems with several softsynths (AU's & Reason ReWired) and effects. Just make sure the Energy Saver processor setting is set to "highest" for best performance.

I use a Toshiba Satellite P20 3.2ghz HT P4 17" WXGA DESKNOTE lappy.
And yes it is stable as all hell.
That said the IDM T40-T41p-T42-T42p models are absolutley superb audio based laptop machines from my experience and knowledge of other users.
My eyesight isn't the best and I just couldn't cope with a 14" so I went for the Toshiba instead ortherwise I would have bought the T42P instead no problems which is a 1.8-2.2ghz Dothan with 2 meg cache (great performance wise with live also).

I have been looking around and around at prices and what not and am just getting more and more confused as to what the best thing to do is. I love my IBM and would like go with IBM but they are an expencive option it seems. I can get a much faster computer if i go wtih lets say a HP. Example IBM P4 1.6 for 1200$ or a HP amd athalon 2.8GIG for 1149$. One wants to go for the HP but how reliable are they? I rely want stability but at the same time I rely want to be ablt to save "songs" that i am working on in the studio over my network directly to the laptop without it bogging down. well I am holding on for a few weeks to think about it. Thanks for all the responces to my post.

Peace

The HP AMD64 and possibly Centrino laptops allow the user to upgrade the CPU as opposed to selling the computer to replace it with a new one. This is very convenient. AdamJay seems happy with his HP and I believe he uses it for live performances. You may want to hit him up.

atomic wrote:I have been looking around and around at prices and what not and am just getting more and more confused as to what the best thing to do is. I love my IBM and would like go with IBM but they are an expencive option it seems. I can get a much faster computer if i go wtih lets say a HP. Example IBM P4 1.6 for 1200$ or a HP amd athalon 2.8GIG for 1149$. One wants to go for the HP but how reliable are they? I rely want stability but at the same time I rely want to be ablt to save "songs" that i am working on in the studio over my network directly to the laptop without it bogging down. well I am holding on for a few weeks to think about it. Thanks for all the responces to my post.

Peace

My Vote goes for a 2ghz IBM T42p (2 meg cache) 14.4" screen.
Why - fast as all hell for audio
Texas instrument chipsets all the way
Lightweight
Sturdy build and reliable support/backup
The DVD drive bays in T40 and up models can be fit with a removeable 10,000 rpm H/D (up to 60 gig capacity) simply slide out and slot in your DVD?CD burner when needed.
Stupendously long battery life (around 11 hours on a T42P)
I've seen one of these running 73 audio tracks at once on a mates DAW .
I love my 17" Toshi but my next purchase will be a T40+ model Dothan for portability/gigging etc ..

The Toshiba is sex on legs - it's a great looking laptop but t's damn huge and I'd chuck a fit if it got damaged.

I use a 900Mhz G4 iBook with 384Mb of RAM. It's not very powerful, but hey, I was in college still when I bought it, so cut me some slack. =)

At any rate, it's definitely fast enough to run ableton. To give you a more precise idea, I use ableton as a poor-man's effects processing unit on my turntables when I spin. It's still fast enough to process effects on it's own audio stream coming from separate programs (namely, DJ-1800) in real time with no noticeable delay, sound clicking/popping, or other audio problems.

I've owned intel-based laptops before, but I won't do that jive again. The hardware is simply too flakey, and it doesn't age well in comparison to modern software releases. I've found tihs to especially be the case if you're running windows, which seems to require more and more resources with each update.

If you are going to get an intel-based laptop, I would strongly advise staying away from HP, Compaq, Dell, and their associated ilk. You may get a "good deal", but really, you get what you pay for in the end. I used to do tech support for an engineering university when I was in school, so I've seen how well these laptops age over time.

IBM and Sony, however, are known to make decent hardware that will last you longer than a measley year or two.

MarkH wrote:The HP AMD64 and possibly Centrino laptops allow the user to upgrade the CPU as opposed to selling the computer to replace it with a new one. This is very convenient. AdamJay seems happy with his HP and I believe he uses it for live performances. You may want to hit him up.

i just got an HP AMD64 3700 laptop. (un)fortunately there's really not much comparison between it and my macs, at least as far as ableton is concerned.

drush wrote: i just got an HP AMD64 3700 laptop. (un)fortunately there's really not much comparison between it and my macs, at least as far as ableton is concerned.

That's a damn fine processor there amigo.

I have a 64 bit 3200 with a good chunk of RAM and a fast HD. I haven't choked my system yet...

I would recommend the 64 bit processors for an economic reason as well;

In three years, when you want to upgrade again, if you bought a Centrino or a P4 back in good ole 2004, you'll be selling your old computer at an even greater loss than normal (if you can imagine that!)

When Microsoft comes up with their Longhorn 64 bit OS, 32 bit machines are going to nosedive in price. Second Hand 32 bit machines won't be worth paperweights, since Intel will dump their remaining 32 bit chips on the market for "econo model" lappies. Think of the P4s and even the Dothan Centrinos of today as the Celerons of tomorrow - processors incapable of doing anything taxing with modern software.

A 64 bit machine will retain at least SOME of it's value, since Joe-the-Second-Hand-Computer-Consumer will be able to use it with the current (future) 64 bit operating system and software.

I personally suspect that Intel has slipped some favours to microsoft to keep the Longhorn release good and far away while they get their sh*t together.

Plus, for live performance, the P4s get awfully hot. If you choose not to go AMD Athlon 64 (though I couldn't see why), go with a Centrino if you're gigging - I suspect they're less likely to fry in a hot stinky smokey club.

Compaq's R3000 series are currently the best bang-for-the-buck in 64 bit laptops. Trust me, I only got this one about 4 months ago, after doing at least 6 months of research and market watching, and it was a long, arduous decision.

Again, Adam Jay is the guy to talk to on these forums - he appears to be the resident Athlon guru.