anyone know of a good laptop that has good specs?

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prodeucer

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I was looking at Microcenter and saw lots of laptops under $300 with good specs for general use. So what are the minimum basics I need to look for in general? I'd prefer Windows.
 
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Right off the bat.. You're gonna get really frustrated at some point if you decide to go with a laptop for under 300$. There are many variables that make up a good computer.. For music production some of the key elements are processing power (cpu speed, amount of cores) and ram memory. Probably the thing you want to look out for the most if you're just trying to get your hands on a decent laptop or any other computer is that it doesn't ship with a several hundred dollar graphics card which you could have spent elsewhere where it matters more (since its virtually useless if you're not going to work with graphic heavy applicstions) .
 
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Micro Center Products -
those two i5 laptops with some extra mem would be ok'ish, was it not for the tiny screen.

Here's a query that'll get you started. 4 gig is the bare minimum i'd go on for production, everything you're willing to spend more on extra ram is good up till 16gb. 8 would probably get you going without worrying too much. 16 would be best.
Core i7 : Core i5 : 17" to 17.9" : 15" to 15.9" : Intel : Laptops/Notebooks : Laptops, Netbooks : Computers : Micro Center

Further, Wallengard has pretty much summed it up. What you could do to save you some money is buy a laptop that you can choose what parts go in. Like Clevo/Bto have those in europe. Don't know the equivalent for the US.
 
prodeucer said:
I was looking at Microcenter and saw lots of laptops under $300 with good specs for general use. So what are the minimum basics I need to look for in general? I'd prefer Windows.
Click to expand...

I suppose since you're here that you need a laptop that can handle processing power for music production?

Sorry for telling this but you'll waste your money ... Better get a desktop to do your job, it's well worth the investment :)
 
I'm running a Dell laptop with an i3 processor and 12gb of ram... I only use it for music production and have no problems.
it runs Maschine, Studio One and Cubase with a shedload of plugs with no issue.
 
B Side Producer said:
Micro Center Products -
those two i5 laptops with some extra mem would be ok'ish, was it not for the tiny screen.

Here's a query that'll get you started. 4 gig is the bare minimum i'd go on for production, everything you're willing to spend more on extra ram is good up till 16gb. 8 would probably get you going without worrying too much. 16 would be best.
Core i7 : Core i5 : 17" to 17.9" : 15" to 15.9" : Intel : Laptops/Notebooks : Laptops, Netbooks : Computers : Micro Center

Further, Wallengard has pretty much summed it up. What you could do to save you some money is buy a laptop that you can choose what parts go in. Like Clevo/Bto have those in europe. Don't know the equivalent for the US.
Click to expand...

If you hook up a monitor, keyboard and mouse to your laptop, you'd almost have the exact same thing as a desktop. Only difference being that it's harder to upgrade certain hardware in your laptop.
Depending on what you're looking for in a computer, desktop or laptop may fulfill all your needs.
 
B Side Producer said:
If you hook up a monitor, keyboard and mouse to your laptop, you'd almost have the exact same thing as a desktop. Only difference being that it's harder to upgrade certain hardware in your laptop.
Depending on what you're looking for in a computer, desktop or laptop may fulfill all your needs.
Click to expand...

I guess the only issue with that is that a laptop is usually quite inferior from a price to power ratio standpoint.
 
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keep in mind, laptops are less powerful to keeps costs down and safety reasons.
an i7 for a laptop is as good as a desktop i3 and so on because of this.
That will most likely change 3 years from now, but certainly not yet.


Laptops have to be in order to keep the battery life at a decent amount also.
 
I'mNoGuru said:
I'm running a Dell laptop with an i3 processor and 12gb of ram... I only use it for music production and have no problems.
it runs Maschine, Studio One and Cubase with a shedload of plugs with no issue.
Click to expand...

I running the exact same laptop but with only 8 gigs of RAM..I need to be at 12
1. how many RAM slots do you have?
2. what size RAM are you using per slot??
 
well my laptop is an i3 it's just the HDD is said to be failing...I could get a new HDD and have it installed. Or if it's easy to install I'd do it..
 
I'd recommend runnin chkdsk first to see if that's the case, if no sectors get fixed or if it acts up even if no bad sectors found then you might want to either install windows to an external drive or replace the current one if it is allowed by the company hou bought it from.
 
Replacing a harddisk is not that hard. You do have to have a bit of know how on 'what next'. Those you can obtain through some reading , maybe a youtube.

The story that an i7 laptop cpu is the same as an i3 desktop cpu, is partly true, if you stay in the same model number. You can buy a higher model number.
3dmark.webp

Usually, replacing a HD is allowed under warrantee, differs per company. That it is allowed by some shows you how easy it should be.
If you're gonna let it be done by your reseller, check the pricing on their harddisks. Compare it to what you can find on the net. Sometimes it saves a lot of money.
Also, I'd advice on an SSD. They're not that expensive anymore.
I usually pick a HD from the leaderbord of StorageReview.com - Storage Reviews . Pick a HD for what I need it for. SSD for OS and program running, 7200 rpm (less battery) or hybrid for data storage (might even be worth considering a green or blue disk). Could also go with an external disk for data storage.
 
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It's been about 4 years when I bought the laptop so I doubt any warranty applies here. where do I buy this HDD? Newegg? TigerDirect? Microcenter? etc.?
 
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prodeucer said:
It's been about 4 years when I bought the laptop so I doubt any warranty applies here. where do I buy this HDD? Newegg? TigerDirect? Microcenter? etc.?
Click to expand...
Among others.

Did you go through what KonKossKang suggested to see if it really is broken?

If your laptop can handle the higher speed (Sata III connection), the Samsung Evo would be such an improvement on loading times, write times.
Computer Parts, Laptops, Electronics, and More - Newegg.com
Then you could get an external disk for data storage. Or , if you have more then one slot for HDs in your laptop, you can get an internal as well.
Computer Parts, Laptops, Electronics, and More - Newegg.com
Computer Parts, Laptops, Electronics, and More - Newegg.com
7200 rpm is faster then 5400 rpm but it takes more battery power.

Computer Parts, Laptops, Electronics, and More - Newegg.com
Computer Parts, Laptops, Electronics, and More - Newegg.com


Just check out the hds from storagereview , pick one, see what it costs on different sites.
 
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How do I run this? Do I press F12 upon startup then type that chkdsk?

KonKossKang said:
I'd recommend runnin chkdsk first to see if that's the case, if no sectors get fixed or if it acts up even if no bad sectors found then you might want to either install windows to an external drive or replace the current one if it is allowed by the company hou bought it from.
Click to expand...
 
OK if I find it to be a hassle to fix my HDD, could I leave it as is and buy an SDD instead and carry on rather than buying a new laptop?

B Side Producer said:
Replacing a harddisk is not that hard. You do have to have a bit of know how on 'what next'. Those you can obtain through some reading , maybe a youtube.

The story that an i7 laptop cpu is the same as an i3 desktop cpu, is partly true, if you stay in the same model number. You can buy a higher model number.
View attachment 43561

Usually, replacing a HD is allowed under warrantee, differs per company. That it is allowed by some shows you how easy it should be.
If you're gonna let it be done by your reseller, check the pricing on their harddisks. Compare it to what you can find on the net. Sometimes it saves a lot of money.
Also, I'd advice on an SSD. They're not that expensive anymore.
I usually pick a HD from the leaderbord of StorageReview.com - Storage Reviews . Pick a HD for what I need it for. SSD for OS and program running, 7200 rpm (less battery) or hybrid for data storage (might even be worth considering a green or blue disk). Could also go with an external disk for data storage.
Click to expand...
 
No not yet. I shall get to it when I figure it out.

How do I determine if my laptop can handle higher speed?

If I decided not to fix my internal HDD, can I still use this laptop and just buy an external HDD? of course the warning sign would keep popping up reminding me of a failing disk.

B Side Producer said:
Among others.

Did you go through what KonKossKang suggested to see if it really is broken?

If your laptop can handle the higher speed (Sata III connection), the Samsung Evo would be such an improvement on loading times, write times.
Computer Parts, Laptops, Electronics, and More - Newegg.com
Then you could get an external disk for data storage. Or , if you have more then one slot for HDs in your laptop, you can get an internal as well.
Computer Parts, Laptops, Electronics, and More - Newegg.com
Computer Parts, Laptops, Electronics, and More - Newegg.com
7200 rpm is faster then 5400 rpm but it takes more battery power.

Computer Parts, Laptops, Electronics, and More - Newegg.com
Computer Parts, Laptops, Electronics, and More - Newegg.com


Just check out the hds from storagereview , pick one, see what it costs on different sites.
Click to expand...
 
Right now my laptop use is for general purposes but I'd like to get creative with music production and music video production as well. Regarding music videos, it's nothing too over the top just some software or animation based music video production. If it's such a hassle to open up my laptop and replace my defective HDD, could I just buy a new external HDD or SDD? Below are the specs of my laptop:

HP ProBook 4520s XT989UT Notebook PC - Intel Core i3-380M 2.53GHz, 2GB DDR3, 320GB HDD, DVDRW, 15.6" Display, Windows 7 Professional 32-bit

Paschalis I. said:
I suppose since you're here that you need a laptop that can handle processing power for music production?

Sorry for telling this but you'll waste your money ... Better get a desktop to do your job, it's well worth the investment :)
Click to expand...
 
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chkdsk is a powershell/cmd command. I woudln't overclock mobile devices as they do not have the space for it. I would recommend setclocking it by going to power options and selecting high performance at most. that laptop isnt even bad to begin with, an i3...
dude i think your ram is the problem. integrated processors benefit a lot from system memory.3gb of ram can slow down apus while dedicated isn't affected nearly as much. if you can upgrade ram, try it. your processor is good enough
 
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