alex_kyuss Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Good afternoon all. I have a had a look through google but I can't find an answer to my question. I am going to buy a new laptop for work and im not to sure what spec it would need to be to run Smarrt, the usual desk managers/ editors, x - over control software, itunes, internet I have around £500 to spend so im sure I can do it. Plus does anyone know any were that sells good cheap laptops? Im sure I don't need anything brillient but Im not to sure how good it would need to be to run say smarrt and say lake software at the same time. (I guess this is the right place to put it?) cheers all Edit for sloppy typing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChazHS Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Plus does anyone know any were that sells good cheap laptops? Unfortunately good and cheap don't usually mix! You might be able to get a tidy second hand MacBook on eBay for around £500 or a little less. I've just got a new MacBook Pro and I'm very very happy with it, but you won't get one for under £1000, let alone the higher end ones I'm afraid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex_kyuss Posted July 12, 2009 Author Share Posted July 12, 2009 I completly agree that good and cheap don't come in the same sentence but everything is relative! I am going to buy a 15" macbook pro maybe at the end of the year. but What I want it a windows based laptop for just work. As the only thing I can think of that I would need MAC os for is the new Midas XL8 / PRO6 editor im not to worried. I know I can get a HP duel core 2.1 g processor, 2 g ram for about £480 I would of thought that would be good enough but my computer knowledge is small at best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomHoward Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Just to throw in that if you are going to buy a Macbook anyway, you can of course now run Windows on them through a variety of ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 If running SMAART is a prime concern for you, don't forget that you will need to add a decent external sound card to your budget. No laptop I've ever seen (and that includes Macs before somebody jumps in) has a built in sound card worth anything. This makes your £500 budget look even worse. First choice would be to hold off until your budget grows a bit, but if you absolutely MUST have something now, I'd probably try one of the Novatech "own brand" laptops. My experience with these is that, for the money, they're fairly well put together and have a decent feature set. Caveat: My last dealing with them regarding laptops was about 4 years ago and things can change. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Dave Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 I have an HP which I paid about £600 for a few years ago for work. Runs Smaart very well (with External USB Pre) and when its been damaged, its not been too expensive to repair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackerr Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 If running SMAART is a prime concern for you, don't forget that you will need to add a decent external sound card to your budget. No laptop I've ever seen (and that includes Macs before somebody jumps in) has a built in sound card worth anything. You knew someone would react to that. :unsure: As long as the computer has a stereo line in the built in sound card should be fine. I have been using the built in sound card on my laptop for about a year since my external interface died. Since dual FFT analyzers like Smaart are comparing the 2 inputs any anomalies will be calculated out. Read about it here. It's less stuff for me to carry around and it works just fine. That said, I think there is a limited selection of laptops with stereo line in. Pretty much any modern laptop will have enough processing power to run Smaart, the question will be screen size and resolution. There is a good explanation about choosing a computer on the Rational Acoustics site, here. Mac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomHoward Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 No laptop I've ever seen (and that includes Macs before somebody jumps in) has a built in sound card worth anything.Despite being a stark raving liberal Mac fanatic I don't think even I would argue that point. [edit]: Though of course as pointed out, there is an analysis line that goes straight back through the audio inferface, so the effects of the interface itself are taken into account. I have seen Smaart run with an external high quality pre-amp and running in via a stereo line input, rather than through a mic input, which I certainly wouldn't recommend. You could of course run via a laptop with an optical input as well. (I'm not specifically recommending any of these particular solutions, just exploring options and alternatives) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billy jim Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 We've just bough a load of HP 6735s laptops at work, and they're actually pretty good. Depends what os you're looking at running, XP or Vista? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackerr Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 No laptop I've ever seen (and that includes Macs before somebody jumps in) has a built in sound card worth anything.Despite being a stark raving liberal Mac fanatic I don't think even I would argue that point. [edit]: Though of course as pointed out, there is an analysis line that goes straight back through the audio inferface, so the effects of the interface itself are taken into account. I have seen Smaart run with an external high quality pre-amp and running in via a stereo line input, rather than through a mic input, which I certainly wouldn't recommend. You could of course run via a laptop with an optical input as well. (I'm not specifically recommending any of these particular solutions, just exploring options and alternatives) I agree that for playback you probably want a higher quality output, but for running Smaart, the internal audio interface is fine as long as it is stereo line level. Mac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 You knew someone would react to that. :unsure: As long as the computer has a stereo line in the built in sound card should be fine. Agreed, but it a good while since I've seen a standard laptop (and certainly not one in the £500 price range) that has a stereo line in. I'm sure there must be SOME around but their very much the exception, not the rule. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Pearce Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Tier one are good if you like IBM/Lenovo laptops. Not sure what they have at the upper end though, I've only bought T42/43s through them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niclights Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 I got a top spec 13" macbook for less than £600 new from Comet, of all places. One of the best things I have ever bought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
collism Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 ebuyer is always worth a look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaggy Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 I can run smaart fine on my laptop, which cost £600 3 years ago and is much less powerful than the £480 laptop you have found. .I would not expect to have any problems with a modern £500 laptop. Smaart, 2 channel audio editing and equipment control is not that processor intensive so I wouldn't worry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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