Neuro Posted June 27, 2008 Report Share Posted June 27, 2008 Now that I'm done with typing up essays on medieval Hispanic literature, I was wondering if anyone on here could advise me on the purchase of a laptop for myself! I've only got about £500 thanks to Natwest, but ideally I'd want a speedy thing which is happy handling big files and audio editing. Not too fussed on graphics so long as it has some good memory to handle what I throw at it, as my desktop really struggled on RAM and it crippled me! Thanks a lot guys and gals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aza Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Free money from the Natwest - how can I get some? My advice to you would be: 1 - Go for Intel - I used to favor AMD, but Intel are right back up there leading the way! Centrino is typical of a good laptop processor, however take a look at the Dell site to see what sort of processors are on offer then decide on which one you want to go for. 2 - You definately want a line-in in connection. Laptops featuring this are not standard builds so if you get this feature you should have a good onbard soundcard 3 - RAM - £500 hey - nice! Would look for something with 2Gb of RAM - this will answer so long as it has some good memory to handle what I throw at it, as my desktop really struggled on RAM and it crippled me 4 - As above - hard drive space I would say 160Gb should be suffice for the machine on its own. I would strongly urge you to procure an external hard drive for all your audio shenanigans and this will be absolutely perfect for all media purposes! I will be getting one of those badboys for my PS3 as it bully's its way into my front room as a media center! 5 - Look for a laptop for integrated Wi-Fi (typically standard now anyways), Bluetooth (excellent to have) and a webcam! The latter is great since you have the ability to be mobile with a laptop and should you need to make any calls etc video calling is a growing in popularity! Hope this helps you out Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uberduck Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 video calling is a growing in popularity! I find this very amusing. My mate phoned me a few months back and I was cluless as to what was happening. Once I'd figured out how to answer it I couldn't stop laughing . It's very funny and makes a phone call a bit more personal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aza Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 We video conference a lot in work and it certainly adds a different element to a meeting rather than conference call... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonman Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 i dont understand any of this thread. Whats scary is, before i became plod, i used to work in IT! I was even about to go to uni to study computer science...but knew deep down it'd be a waste of time as i wanted to become plod. Are the Apple Mac laptops any good? I really like the look of them - they are sexy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briggsy Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Tim, Dell are doing some great deals on laptops at the moment. We get leaflets through at work, and the other day, they were offering a 2.0ghz Dell laptop, with 220gb hard drive, and 2gb ram and Windows Vista home basic - all for £189 exc VAT and packing. Dell PC's are good quality, but their Windows installations are poor - they always crash. It came with Vista pre-installed anyway, which is crap, so if you opt for Dell, put a clean installation of Windows XP on it. Acer also do some great laptops. My laptop is Acer and its built like a brick outhouse. The Windows installation was crap on that too though, so I put XP on it instead of the pre-installed Vista. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quadrant Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Acer also do some great laptops. My laptop is Acer and its built like a brick outhouse. The Windows installation was crap on that too though, so I put XP on it instead of the pre-installed Vista. I believe the phrase you are groping for is brick s***house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neuro Posted June 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Thanks for these pointers, lads, very much appreciated. I forgot to say, I'm also looking for a good sound card that would be happy dealiing with quality audio entering its line in... the built-in desktop ones these days aren't all that bad, but having never owned a laptop I'm unsure what the score is for them - are they generally ok? Ideally, I'd like a digital IN port into my sound card, either Coaxial S/PDIF or an Optical input - as my Minidisc deck can output both of those and I would love the two to be able to make love digitally, rather than analoguely, so to speak ....Would it be worth buying an external sound card if this is the case? Sorry for all the questions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aza Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Desktop sound cards are generally good these days - you're right there Laptops are not however, and thinking about it, I would say get something like Briggsy mentioned up there and get an external soundcard? Looking for a laptop with all the desirables will bump up the price on things that you will probably not use. I'm sure there are threads kicking about here where we discussed soundcards? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neuro Posted June 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Yeah I've had a gander and think I've shortlisted a few now that should suit me just fine. Thanks a lot everyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aza Posted July 1, 2008 Report Share Posted July 1, 2008 Let us know how you get on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judge Mental Posted July 1, 2008 Report Share Posted July 1, 2008 If its a laptop I wouldn't reccomend one with a line in, for that sorta use you'd be well better getting an external usb one. My Soundblaster one is as good for my needs as I could ask and was only about £25 I think. You'd pay way over the odds for a decent laptop soundcard, though it would be easier I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neuro Posted July 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 If its a laptop I wouldn't reccomend one with a line in, for that sorta use you'd be well better getting an external usb one. My Soundblaster one is as good for my needs as I could ask and was only about £25 I think. Right, yeah I was considering purchasing a decent external sound card. Any recommendations? Ideally it'd have a digital input on it, doesn't matter what type - what model do you have exactly? And when you're recording, are you able to listen (monitor) the line in in real time as it's being recorded? I know of some cards not allowing this, bizarrely... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judge Mental Posted July 3, 2008 Report Share Posted July 3, 2008 http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Labs-70SB04...7443&sr=8-1 Thats the one I have, really easy to use the vast amount of software that comes with it, and yes you can monitor the line in sound through the headphone socket. Plus one thing I noticed is the visual line in monitor is pretty damn accurate, and the sound is top notch for the price and in general. Sold out on Amazon mind you, should be easy enough to find. Weighs about the same as a postage stamp too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judge Mental Posted July 3, 2008 Report Share Posted July 3, 2008 Wasn't £25 after all. Still worth every penny http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/3362403/Crea...rd/Product.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neuro Posted July 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2008 Thanks for this! Do you, by any chance, still have the CD that came with the package which has the Creative software on? Is it any good at cleaning up audio or is it a load of rubbish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonman Posted July 3, 2008 Report Share Posted July 3, 2008 Judge Mental, when you record from Serato with that external card, is it clean...no crackling? Whenever i plug my mixer into the laptop soundcard input i get a bit of crackle, its so annoying, so something like this would be nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judge Mental Posted July 3, 2008 Report Share Posted July 3, 2008 I use a seperate laptop to record onto, cos mine is a bit poo and its too much usb for it too handle lol, so I cant remember. I have heard of that happening though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Mayes Posted July 3, 2008 Report Share Posted July 3, 2008 EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE GREAT DEAL............. I myself already have a 320GB seagate hard drive but for this price i may also purchase this 750GB http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?Module...=1&DOY=27m6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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