Brina's going shopping!!

Brina · **on:** January 30, 2008, 07:03:54 PM

Ok,

The time has come to toss the laptop into the proverbial sea of dead machines. And well, I'm at a loss as to where to go. I don't really want to change my set up too awful much, because of comfortability. So what i'm looking for is basically a box with the guts so that I can run more than 3 freaking plug ins at a time. Looking for suggestions...what does everybody use, I'm a sonar user with no intentions of changing to another program, a multitude of usb connections such as external hard drives, burners, midisport fast track pro audio interface, behringer board for monitoring and recording, etc etc. I just really have no clue what I should be looking for as far as processors and schtuff!!. I'm needing something that's going to handle recording and mixing, but not going to leave me crying at the bank either, but at the same time is upgradable as my hankering for more toys expands...

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I know a few of You have come across some killer deals on windows machines lately...wanna share the secret??

Brina

juice · **Reply #1 on:** January 30, 2008, 07:29:29 PM

A box with guts?
Well that pretty much narrows it down.
I can send a few boxes with guts for fee.

I use Sonar also. But are you looking for a Laptop again?
Or just a desktop?

Either way, go for something at least with a Dual Core 2. Make sure it says "2" after the Core. And at least 2 GB ram.
If you stay close to that all the other features should be up to snuff.

If you are going to go with a Laptop you should know before hand that Sonar isn't friendly to their onboard sound cards. There is a work around because I use my Laptop as my recording DAW as well as almost everything else. But it's a mute point if that is not your direction.

I just heard of an awesome deal at Best Buy that went fast.
But if you monitor www.dealnews.com you can find out if anybody is having any specials. If you register they can send you emails on just what you are looking for as they bargains come out.

I use them to tell me when Dell is offering discounts using coupon codes because Dell wont tell about them if you ask when your ordering something.

Good Luck, What ever you get should be enough to Handle Sonar.

Brina · **Reply #2 on:** January 30, 2008, 07:41:31 PM

hmm

I probably should clarify, I'd prefer to stay away from the lap top route if possible...well aware of the soundcard issues.....pretty sure I drove Mark nuts for a few months with that one!!...hehehe..

Thanks for the suggestions juice,

Anybody else???

Brina

Davidinoz · **Reply #3 on:** January 30, 2008, 08:20:52 PM

My one piece of advice would be to stay the hell away from Vista. Get a box with xp even if you have to pay extra for it.

Bobby Watson · **Reply #4 on:** January 30, 2008, 08:52:25 PM

Quote from: Davidinoz on January 30, 2008, 08:20:52 PM

My one piece of advice would be to stay the hell away from Vista. Get a box with xp even if you have to pay extra for it.

A few months ago, I would have agreed with you 100%. But, because of my web development, and the fact that most every machine in my house blew up from a lightning strike, I had to replace with what was available at the moment. That was a Vista machine. Most all of my software, including music has finally caught up with the operating system. Are there still a few obstacles? Sure there are. And, unless you are planning on doing some upgrading, I'd agree staying with XP. But, we all know, eventually, you get pushed off the cliff.
BW@

BassPlayer · **Reply #5 on:** January 31, 2008, 09:00:34 AM

I use Sonar PE on a Core Duo laptop and have no probs once I built it the way I want. I use the Presonus Inspire FW interface and really have not had problems.

I used to have a desktop system. The problem with it was while I could put extra drives and cards in the box there was so much integrated on board that almost of the resources were already used up and stay used even though you disabled them in them via the BIOS. My PCI audio device ended up sharing virtual IRQs and I had to move it to different PCI slots to find a free IRQ. It's not a good thing to have your video card and audio device share the same resources.

If yor dead set against the laptop then I would look into a desktop the does not require too many fans (low noise). The shuttle systems come to mind. Last time I looked they used the heat pump to to cool things, were no bigger than a bread box and had space fore extra drives and PCI cards.

http://us.shuttle.com/Home.aspx

This ones a bit pricey but dam thats a lot in one box
http://us.shuttle.com/P2_3800_5.aspx

Studioplayer · **Reply #6 on:** January 31, 2008, 01:28:50 PM

Without getting into tec speak what about a Dell? Maybe CD can tell you a bit. He has a Duo Core Dell that sounds like he's happy with. Plus with Dell you can do a monthly payment plan. Pretty low prices.

Dave

BassPlayer · **Reply #7 on:** January 31, 2008, 02:47:17 PM

From, the gamin world I hear good things about the Dell XPS systems but I'm not sure about any of their other models

juice · **Reply #8 on:** January 31, 2008, 05:09:22 PM

I'm a happy Laptop Dell user.

I did still have to deal with a few things to use Sonar.

But thje good Laptops are not very cheap after you upgrade them to DAW level. I mean their standard stuff will work but you'll want at least the audio upgrade and the hard drive upgrade as well as the Memory upgrade.
Your looking at somewhere near $1000.00.

The XPS systems are also their higher end stuff.
I also Use Shuttle computers for my desktop and they are not very cheap either.

But knowing where your budget is will pretty much guide your direction on what you can use. I would guess that money most likely is a factor.
Seeing how you admitedly use a Behringer mixing board (and I mean that in the nicesest way)

. Your probably looking for the least expensive way to get back on track and functioning again. (I hope that last paragragh doesn't get me in trouble)

Unless your are doing large amounts of tracks in Sonar you will most likely be fine with just about anything you pick up if it's fairly new. Just beef up on the Ram so your plug ins don't drag you down.

Brina · **Reply #9 on:** January 31, 2008, 05:42:54 PM

hehehe,

not going to get into a Behringer debate, but yes money is definately a factor, however that is not the reason why I'm adamant about continuing with the current use of the board. And onboard drive space isn't an issue, I've got plenty of external space between webspace and external drives.

BP? what the hell did You just say???

I've been looking at the Dell option....

I appreciate the suggestions......unfortunately I've got probably 500 bucks to play with, so it does minimize my options.

Brina

juice · **Reply #10 on:** January 31, 2008, 05:53:36 PM

Just a quick heads up about Dell.

First of all they do have some refurbs that youi can save some money on. And the reason I mention the refurbs is because they take your order and you often have to wait for the system you want to be built. Even if it's the basic no frills system. It could be weeks before you see it.

Make sure you find out about that before you make your order. Because they usually won't tell you that until you've iron out the payment part of the transaction.

I forget who it is But Dell has aligned themselves with a major store (it could be Staples I'm not sure). But some of those stores might off you like 12 months no interest no payments. Best Buy offered that in the past.

Just some things to consider on your hunt.

Bobby Watson · **Reply #11 on:** January 31, 2008, 08:44:37 PM

Brina, most anything you pick up off the shelf now a days will probably do what you want.
I actually just replaced my studio DAW with one off the shelf At WalMart for around $300. It was complete w/o monitor, which I don't need anyway. Even came with XP installed, which is beginning to be a rarity. All I did extra was upgrade the memory as soon as I got it home. That's because of my sample libraries....

We can all give you the best of options. But, IMO for what you normally do, most anything will work. But if you do, and it doesn't I will lie and say I didn't lead you down the garden path..

Good Luck Shugah

Gerk · **Reply #12 on:** January 31, 2008, 10:13:55 PM

I agree with Bobby here, a pre-made -- preferably not too proprietary or a small footprint case (read: normal mid tower case) should do you fine.

The Intel Core 2 Duo Intel stuff is great, and I think in the cheaper price range you might even find a quad core something or other -- Nick just told me about one he saw that was a killer price. A full sized SATA drive, and a good bit of ram and semi-decent motherboard and you're set.

Mark

NickT · **Reply #13 on:** January 31, 2008, 11:22:56 PM

I saw that gateway amd phenom quad-core. 3gb ram and 1TG drive for $649 after rebate!

Wish I would have bought that one!

Keep your eyes out for this weekends specials B.

Nick

Studioplayer · **Reply #14 on:** February 01, 2008, 01:10:13 AM

I was thinking the same as Bobby that most anything you pick up off the shelf now a days will probably do what you want. My old P4 with windows 2000 runs all my plugs and most programs. No problems for recording. Take a bit of time to shop and watch for some deals. I should ask my Tecs from work what 'not to get'. Everything else is open.