New Laptop Help?

This is not a PC vs Mac debate by the way! Currently I'm running TSP on a 14" Lennovo T60. Only problem I have with TSP is the screen is too small and not high enough resolution to for Traktor to view things comfortably. The spec if it is core due 1.66, 2GB Ram so while it runs TSP great it is starting to struggle with productions a little when I have lots of plugs etc ruining in Ableton. Although the screen is my main gripe.

I'm a little out of the loop and would like to know what laptops you guys recommend or are using? I have been looking at the new 15" and 17" Macbook pros but they are pricy and I'm worried that most of the plugin's I use in Ableton are not compatible? I have had a mac before but went back to pc due to price. Is it really worth spending this much? Also been look at some Sony Viao's and Dells.

Ideally I don’t want to spend over £1200 but will go to more for the right product (mac maybe?). This will only be used for TSP and production as I have other computers for internet etc.

Any ideas will be much appreciated!

 

well ive just got a vaio running traktor only and its working fine only cost £500
it has a whapping t64 duel core processer whish should be ok for using ableton and a 15.4 inch screen.

 

17 MBP or even more display real estate the newest Vaio FW 4xx series with full HD screen. I personally would never bother with any other notebook then higher end Sony or Apple. You could find used 17`` MBP to fit your budget ( last week a friend sold hers 2,5 C2D 4G RAM on EBay for under 1000€), Sony FW are not as well build as Z series, or even MBP but the displays are great (not just the size but quality,contrast that make lots of difference, specially live)

 

i agree high end laptop is the way to go.

dont be fooled into buying a purpose built 'music laptop' either, over priced to say the least

 

Ok so I ordered a Dell Studio 16 and added to the spec to;

Intel* Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.40Ghz, 3MB, 1066MHz)
4096MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x2048]
15.6in Widescreen Full High Definition (1920x1080) WLED with TrueLife
500GB Hardrive
Windows 64bit Vista (sucks but free 7 upgrade next month)
All for £800.

Looked at lots of different laptops and this was by far the best. The Sony's talk a good game but chipsets are old and spec not particularly good for the price. Recently sold a Mac and thought about going back but didn't want to spend that much to find most of my plugs ins won't work anyhow.

Comes next week so can't wait to gig out with TSP!

 

Its horrible to think that buying a laptop of that spec is still a gamble when running traktor. Wish they could make it work on Ubuntu or something more stable than windows.

The storys about the dell studios are horrible.

 

I've had two Vaios in six years. Top notch the whole way through. I only bought the second one because I needed something faster.

 

i agree.. its not alwas about the specs.. DPC latency spikes, laptop design etc.. for example - i know my laptop is of perfectly suitable spec to run traktor fine, yet i still get crackles and pops!

 

check out the refurbished macbooks on the Apple site. I just upgraded from my MacBook (I got it refurb for about £500 a year or so ago - I've passed it on to my partner) - just got a MacBook Pro 15" for just over £900 and upgraded the RAM to 4 GB for about £45 - so I've got a great laptop for less than your £1200 budget.

There's nothing on there at the moment but when I'm looking forr one I bookmark the page and check it every morning - they seem to usually update it mid week.

http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/specialdeals/mac