pros:
-easy transfers
-24bit/??? possibilities (depending on front-end)
-can check email, surf and whatnot when not taping
-looks cool
-costs vary
- Easy / no transfers
- Potential for 24-bit
- Email
- neither pro nor con, IMO, as it doesn't relate to taping.
- Looks cool
- neither pro nor con, this isn't a fashion contest.
- Costs vary
- what range relative to the other devices listed?
Gotta be more pros than this...anyone else wanna chime in?
cons:
-software/OS crashes
-battery solutions
-firewire/usb debacle
-costs vary
- Software/OS crashes
- Battery solutions
- All of these devices require battery solutions, what about laptop battery solutions make 'em a con?
- FW/USB debacle
- what about Firewire and USB is a debacle/con?
- Costs vary
- again, what are we talking about here relative to the other devices?
- Do cheap laptops suffer more problems than expensive ones for the purposes of taping?
Some additional questions:
- What about size / form factor?
- Patching from others?
- Feeding patchers?
- Any pros/cons around the additional gear required to feed a digital signal to the laptop?
- Can one feed an analog signal straight into a laptop?
- Run-time relative to the other devices?
Certainly some of the media (or lack thereof) pros/cons from the JB3 make sense here as well, I'll add 'em in.
Sorry for all the questions, I've never taped laptop before so I don't really know the ins and outs. Thanks for the starter list.
Thanks to surf1div1 for the following on 24 bit PDA Recording:
OK, I'm probably in a minority here, but this is beggining to finally make inroads as far as dependability. That has been the primary issue when trying for 24 bit recording. If 24 bit isn't an issue, then some of the other recording options like the nomad are probably superior for cost, etc. But, from my field tests, and I have no alligence or financial gain, this set up does have some advantages- the stealth aspect using a PDA is one. While the ADC that core uses does have to be stealthed, it's no larger then the PDA with the expansion pack that I currently use. With media costs dropping, and the speed of the media(SD cards) the ability to use it will further increase my options as I work towards a 24/96 recording option. Check out the yahoo group for more discussion from others using it:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PenComputingAudio/BTW, stay away from Core sounds recommendation for the Pocco software- it sucks. Also, the live 2496 software developer is very hands on- to the point of having your own personal software designer. He support is excellent. I'm using the CORE sound HEB with the ipaq 5555 and the HP dual expansion slot's to hold the PD-Audio card in one slot and the Toshiba 5 gig portabel hard drive for storage.