About to get a new notebook, need advice

Dead Winter

Dead Winter

STAHP
Apr 30, 2002
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Italy/US
So I'm on a budget and I'm just gonna plonk down about a grande for a new ASUS dual core with an ATI. Basically, Anna just wants it for WoW, surfing the net, and I need it to run Reason 4.0 for live shows.

Gonna use Vista because THEY'RE FUCKING FASCIST ASSHOLES and won't give you the option to get something else, so it's gonna have about 4 gigs of RAM and the 1 gig Radeon video card. Again, it's not gonna be a speed demon gaming machine, as I have my desktop for heavy gaming. 17 inch widescreen monitor should be enough.

My question is, with a 2.5 gig dual core, 4 gig RAM, 1 Gig Radeon notebook running Vista, is that gonna be stable to run Reason 4.0 at gigs? Actually, the Reason files will be extracted into WAVs and run that way, but the last thing we need is this fucker crashing or skipping on us. Also, it doesn't have firewire, and so we're gonna have to get a firewire-to-USB 2 adapter. Any foreseeable problems with this?

I'm really wary of fucking Vista. Personal experiences would be appreciated, as well as opinions, comments, gripes, complaints, etc.
 
Vista as an operating system works fine and most past compatibility issues have been sorted out. But in terms of memory usage and overall speed, it's a very "heavy" system, not great.

Windows 7 however is about 10million times better.
 
I should probably mention that I'll be getting this within a month or so. I would MUCH prefer Windows 7, but it doesn't officially come out until June/July or so.
 
Well 4gb of RAM, the dual core CPU and a 1gb GFX card should make up for Vista's own obesity. I mean it's been years since I last upgraded my deskstop, I'm just using one of the first Intel Core 2 Duo's, 2gb of RAM and an old Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS and I can run things pretty smoothly. Had a little trouble running Crysis on higher settings but that's about it :p
 
Swabs said:
Well 4gb of RAM, the dual core CPU and a 1gb GFX card should make up for Vista's own obesity. I mean it's been years since I last upgraded my deskstop, I'm just using one of the first Intel Core 2 Duo's, 2gb of RAM and an old Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS and I can run things pretty smoothly. Had a little trouble running Crysis on higher settings but that's about it :p
Click to expand...

That sounds like my desktop now: dual core 3 GHz, 2 gigs RAM and GeForce 8800 GTS...haven't had a problem yet! It could use another gig of RAM but it's not slowing anything down. But then again, I'm using XP.
 
Thanks Swabs. So basically you're saying that as long as you out-muscle the software with the hardware, everything should be ok and the bugs have been worked out? Sounds great.
 
Yeah pretty much, Vista is bulky and slower than other systems, but enough firepower in your components should sort it out fine. And yeah when I first got Vista there were some programs that had some issues, but nowadays everything I install works fine.

That said, I still can't wait for Windows 7 :lol:
 
Haha, me too. I'm still a bit wary about Microsoft, though. There are always bugs, so I'll wait a bit and let them get it sorted before purchasing it.
 
fwiw my pc at work is a monster with 4gb ram and an Intel Core 2 Quad processor with Vista and it still fucks up... although I think a lot of the lag time I experience is due to our insanely huge network. If I have a substantial amount of programs and files open, my computer will lock up every time I try to pull up an open or save window or anything that requires listing the drives on our network. It's rather annoying and I wish I had XP still.
 
That's understandable...well, for Vista it's understandable. My main concern is being right in the middle of a song on the stage and having the computer crash. We're gonna be using vocoders, audio playback, and other effects...I'd like it to be as stable as possible.
 
Dead Winter said:
So I'm on a budget and I'm just gonna plonk down about a grande for a new ASUS dual core with an ATI. Basically, Anna just wants it for WoW, surfing the net, and I need it to run Reason 4.0 for live shows.

Gonna use Vista because THEY'RE FUCKING FASCIST ASSHOLES and won't give you the option to get something else, so it's gonna have about 4 gigs of RAM and the 1 gig Radeon video card. Again, it's not gonna be a speed demon gaming machine, as I have my desktop for heavy gaming. 17 inch widescreen monitor should be enough.

My question is, with a 2.5 gig dual core, 4 gig RAM, 1 Gig Radeon notebook running Vista, is that gonna be stable to run Reason 4.0 at gigs? Actually, the Reason files will be extracted into WAVs and run that way, but the last thing we need is this fucker crashing or skipping on us. Also, it doesn't have firewire, and so we're gonna have to get a firewire-to-USB 2 adapter. Any foreseeable problems with this?

I'm really wary of fucking Vista. Personal experiences would be appreciated, as well as opinions, comments, gripes, complaints, etc.
Click to expand...


^ it will run fine
 
Dead Winter said:
So I'm on a budget and I'm just gonna plonk down about a grande for a new ASUS dual core with an ATI. Basically, Anna just wants it for WoW, surfing the net, and I need it to run Reason 4.0 for live shows.

Gonna use Vista because THEY'RE FUCKING FASCIST ASSHOLES and won't give you the option to get something else, so it's gonna have about 4 gigs of RAM and the 1 gig Radeon video card. Again, it's not gonna be a speed demon gaming machine, as I have my desktop for heavy gaming. 17 inch widescreen monitor should be enough.

My question is, with a 2.5 gig dual core, 4 gig RAM, 1 Gig Radeon notebook running Vista, is that gonna be stable to run Reason 4.0 at gigs? Actually, the Reason files will be extracted into WAVs and run that way, but the last thing we need is this fucker crashing or skipping on us. Also, it doesn't have firewire, and so we're gonna have to get a firewire-to-USB 2 adapter. Any foreseeable problems with this?

I'm really wary of fucking Vista. Personal experiences would be appreciated, as well as opinions, comments, gripes, complaints, etc.
Click to expand...

should be more than fine for gigs, im running about that on my PC besides having a quad. just make sure you get ASIO4ALL to avoid Latency issues that i believe stem from having Vista. and make sure it's 64 bit OS to utilize all 4 gigs.
 
Dead Winter said:
So I'm on a budget and I'm just gonna plonk down about a grande for a new ASUS dual core with an ATI. Basically, Anna just wants it for WoW, surfing the net, and I need it to run Reason 4.0 for live shows.

Gonna use Vista because THEY'RE FUCKING FASCIST ASSHOLES and won't give you the option to get something else, so it's gonna have about 4 gigs of RAM and the 1 gig Radeon video card. Again, it's not gonna be a speed demon gaming machine, as I have my desktop for heavy gaming. 17 inch widescreen monitor should be enough.

My question is, with a 2.5 gig dual core, 4 gig RAM, 1 Gig Radeon notebook running Vista, is that gonna be stable to run Reason 4.0 at gigs? Actually, the Reason files will be extracted into WAVs and run that way, but the last thing we need is this fucker crashing or skipping on us. Also, it doesn't have firewire, and so we're gonna have to get a firewire-to-USB 2 adapter. Any foreseeable problems with this?

I'm really wary of fucking Vista. Personal experiences would be appreciated, as well as opinions, comments, gripes, complaints, etc.
Click to expand...

You shouldn't have any troubles using the USB-to-Firewire conversion granted that the USB is USB2.0, which is common ground these days. Though, even though USB2.0 is a 480MBPS interface and Firewire is a 400MBPS interface, it is said that Firewire is faster due to its architecture. But I feel that USB will be sufficient.

The only concern that I would have is the sound processor. You may run into latency issues due to a generic-esque audio card because laptops generally utilize onboard audio and it's my understanding that laptop audio isn't up to par with the audio processing that ATX onboard audio's capabilities. If you encounter this, you may find a solution by utilizing an external audio source that runs through USB.

As far as Vista is concerned, be sure to use a x86 release and not a x64 version. I recently went back to Vista x64 (from x64 XP) and sometimes encounter issues but these may be because of the fact that my dumbass installed a 64-bit version. To ensure performance, disable everything you don't need when you're using the laptop for Reason (like Aero) and for Christ's sake, disable UAC. Also make sure you reboot regularly (if you're not familiar with Vista) because Vista likes to leak memory like a mother fucker.

Also, do you know what model the CPU is? I know that it's a Core 2 Duo but do you know what model it is exactly? The reason why I ask is because WoW will be running on it and WoW is more CPU intensive (and RAM intensive if you use Add-ons) than it is GPU intensive.
 
How the fuck is a dual core with 4 gb of ram and a 1gb Radeon not a fucking gaming machine? Up until last year, I survived with a P4 3.2ghz with HT, 1gb of RAM PC3200, and a GF6800GT with 128 RAM. And it ran WoW like a beast, at full graphic quality.

I don't think it will crash in the middle of your songs. But, it is a laptop, and it might overheat when really intensive shit runs through it. So I would also get a USB powered cooling pad (with two fans).
 
Cat5Messiah said:
You shouldn't have any troubles using the USB-to-Firewire conversion granted that the USB is USB2.0, which is common ground these days. Though, even though USB2.0 is a 480MBPS interface and Firewire is a 400MBPS interface, it is said that Firewire is faster due to its architecture. But I feel that USB will be sufficient.

The only concern that I would have is the sound processor. You may run into latency issues due to a generic-esque audio card because laptops generally utilize onboard audio and it's my understanding that laptop audio isn't up to par with the audio processing that ATX onboard audio's capabilities. If you encounter this, you may find a solution by utilizing an external audio source that runs through USB.

As far as Vista is concerned, be sure to use a x86 release and not a x64 version. I recently went back to Vista x64 (from x64 XP) and sometimes encounter issues but these may be because of the fact that my dumbass installed a 64-bit version. To ensure performance, disable everything you don't need when you're using the laptop for Reason (like Aero) and for Christ's sake, disable UAC. Also make sure you reboot regularly (if you're not familiar with Vista) because Vista likes to leak memory like a mother fucker.

Also, do you know what model the CPU is? I know that it's a Core 2 Duo but do you know what model it is exactly? The reason why I ask is because WoW will be running on it and WoW is more CPU intensive (and RAM intensive if you use Add-ons) than it is GPU intensive.
Click to expand...

Welp, found another one for a bit less. It's a dual core 2 gig machine with 3 gigs of RAM, firewire jack so I don't have to get the converter, and a 512 GeForce instead of the 1 Gig ATI. Vista Business will be the OS running with it. I actually feel better about the GeForce than the Radeon even though it's half the RAM. I've had nothing but problems out of Radeon in the past and I avoid it like the plague. As far as WoW goes, the only add-ons we use are Quest Helper and Quick Healer.

We have an M-Audio 410 sound card for the 4 ins and outs for live setup and that's why I need the Firewire.

Here are the specs from the page...it's in Italian but I'm sure you can figure it out as we all speak geek:

Tecnologia Intel Centrino Duo - Processore Intel Core2 Duo T5800 2.0Ghz (800MHz FSB; 2MB on die L2 Cache) - Chipset SiS 671DX /SiS 968 - Memoria: 3GB DDR2 667Mhz - Hard Disk 320GB SATA 5400 rpm - Masterizzatore DVD Super-Multi Double Layer - Sezione grafica Nvidia GeForce 9300 GS 512MB (fino a 1794MB con tencologia turbocache) - Display TFT 17.1" WXGA+ 1440 x 900 Glare - Card Reader: supporto MMC/ SD/ Mini-SD/ XD/ Memory Stick/ MS Pro/ MS-Duo/ MS-Pro-Duo - Wireless LAN 802.11b/g/n - Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mbps - Modem 56K - Tecnologia Bluetooth V2.1 - Sistema Audio Integrato Azalia compliant - Altoparlanti e Speakers integrati - Webcam da 1.3MP integrata - Porte I/O: 1 x VGA port/D-sub 15-pin; 4 x USB 2.0; 3 x Audio jack; 1 x RJ-11; 1 x RJ-45; 1 x Firewire 1394; 1 x HDMI - Batteria agli Ioni di Litio a 8 celle - Express Gate - Dimensioni (LxPxA): n 410 x 298.5 x 38.4~41.7mm - Peso: 3.7kg // Dotazione : Windows Vista Business preinstallato - Manuale utente - Batteria Ioni di Litio - Alimentatore

879 euros.
 
Dead Winter said:
Welp, found another one for a bit less. It's a dual core 2 gig machine with 3 gigs of RAM, firewire jack so I don't have to get the converter, and a 512 GeForce instead of the 1 Gig ATI. Vista Business will be the OS running with it. I actually feel better about the GeForce than the Radeon even though it's half the RAM. I've had nothing but problems out of Radeon in the past and I avoid it like the plague. As far as WoW goes, the only add-ons we use are Quest Helper and Quick Healer.

We have an M-Audio 410 sound card for the 4 ins and outs for live setup and that's why I need the Firewire.

Here are the specs from the page...it's in Italian but I'm sure you can figure it out as we all speak geek:

Tecnologia Intel Centrino Duo - Processore Intel Core2 Duo T5800 2.0Ghz (800MHz FSB; 2MB on die L2 Cache) - Chipset SiS 671DX /SiS 968 - Memoria: 3GB DDR2 667Mhz - Hard Disk 320GB SATA 5400 rpm - Masterizzatore DVD Super-Multi Double Layer - Sezione grafica Nvidia GeForce 9300 GS 512MB (fino a 1794MB con tencologia turbocache) - Display TFT 17.1" WXGA+ 1440 x 900 Glare - Card Reader: supporto MMC/ SD/ Mini-SD/ XD/ Memory Stick/ MS Pro/ MS-Duo/ MS-Pro-Duo - Wireless LAN 802.11b/g/n - Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mbps - Modem 56K - Tecnologia Bluetooth V2.1 - Sistema Audio Integrato Azalia compliant - Altoparlanti e Speakers integrati - Webcam da 1.3MP integrata - Porte I/O: 1 x VGA port/D-sub 15-pin; 4 x USB 2.0; 3 x Audio jack; 1 x RJ-11; 1 x RJ-45; 1 x Firewire 1394; 1 x HDMI - Batteria agli Ioni di Litio a 8 celle - Express Gate - Dimensioni (LxPxA): n 410 x 298.5 x 38.4~41.7mm - Peso: 3.7kg // Dotazione : Windows Vista Business preinstallato - Manuale utente - Batteria Ioni di Litio - Alimentatore

879 euros.
Click to expand...

I'll read over it when I get home tonight. I too avoid ATI like a mother fucker so I understand.

Also, just a quick note before I analyze everything later, Carbonite uses less resources than Quest Helper. Only thing that sucks is that you lose the Flight Path timer but you can always fulfill that with another, small add-on.
 
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