Topic: any laptop tapers here..??a few questions

[bigwurock]

well it seems i have come across an older laptop..does anyone use a laptop for recording..if so can you tell what i need in a laptop to record..
how much memory, what program, ect....also what do you use for a mic input...right now i have different types of microphones that have a mini plug in that i used for my D-7..which died..??..i never have had the chance to see anyone record with one..seen them around but never got the chance to check them out...so if you can help a complete noobie with any help that would be great!

[TNJazz]

Just about anything will work.  I'd recommend at minimum a 500mhz Pentium or equivalent, and 256 mb RAM.  For a basic interface, try a USB one.  They're easy to use and decent enough to start with.  There are high end ones of course, but something like the M-Audio or Edirol pigtail connectors will probably work (since it sounds like your mic doesn't require phantom power).

I use a Fujitsu T70G, which is a 1ghz Pentium M with 1gb RAM and a VX Pocket 440 when I'm not multitracking with my 24 channel rig.  That rig I use a larger desktop replacement type laptop (Fujitsu E7110 Pentium M 2.2ghz with 512mb RAM)...

Not sure if any of this info is all that helpful.  Feel free to PM me if you want more detailed info and additional assistance.
Dirk

[johnw]

I have a 400MHz celeron, 192 MB RAM that records fine at 24/48 over USB after tweaking Win2K. The key is battery life. If it's an older laptop, the battery life probably sucks by now. If you can put in two batteries or hot swap them, you might be ok if you pick up some new ones on Ebay. The other option is a universal external battery but those are pricy.

[Gedit]

I use a Dell D800 Latitude laptop.

Sansom C02 (cardoid) > M-Audio Pre (with phantom power) > Dell > Sound Forge 8.0

The thing about laptops is regular disk defrags to avoid clicks and pops on transfers. Also, and I learned this the hard way, once you get home do your post-production work on the laptop. Don't transfer the files to another PC. I transferred the files regularly and had horrible click pop problems. Now that I do my post on the same machine I record on the clicks and pops have gone away.

[TNJazz]

The thing about laptops is regular disk defrags to avoid clicks and pops on transfers. Also, and I learned this the hard way, once you get home do your post-production work on the laptop. Don't transfer the files to another PC. I transferred the files regularly and had horrible click pop problems. Now that I do my post on the same machine I record on the clicks and pops have gone away.

Really?  Not sure how a transfer of files would introduce pops and clicks into a file.  Doesn't really seem possible, unless somehow you made a bad copy of the file(s).

I ALWAYS make a copy of my files in 2 places before I do any work, and the post production work I do is always on a copy and I've never seen this.

Not saying it's not possible, but I do find it curious as I've never heard of this issue.  Then again, I got burned last night by a completely illogical thing, so what the hell do I know?   

Dirk

[Gedit]

i never knew about it until reading it here on TS. Did a search for clicks pops and found all sorts of good info.

[mattinbeloit]

Ive been using a Mac G4 laptop, the little 12 inch one, with an MBox using protools. It has a little more memory, 712 i think, and it does fine for live gigs. I can set it so that the screen turns off after being idle for 5 minutes and the battery lasts around 3 hours with the mbox and mics plugged into it.

[kindms]

laptop taper here but hopefully for not to much longer.

I too make copies of my original recordings and copy them to another workstation do do edits etc. I have never seen any instance of pops and clicks being introduced by transferring from 1 machine to the next.

Any pops or clicks I might have on my recordings are on the originals. But computers are weird. If it happened to you then it happens but I have never had any issues what so ever.

[Gedit]

intensive defragging as helped a lot too, whether i transfer or not.

even after one tracking session a defrag is often needed.

[Teen Wolf Blitzer]

I have the Toshiba Portege 3480ct and I love it!  Win xp pro.  When considering laptop recording I would reccomend finding the smallest screen size available as this sucks all the life from batteries.  As far as I know the Fujisu Lifebooks and these Porteges are the smallest.  Also what I love about the Portege is the extended long life battery thats snaps to the bottom.  It's good to go for 5+ hours!  Never had one recording issue in a year and half of laptop recording...24/96 ....although I think I'm moving onto an HD-P2.