audio Laptops?

[radioclash]

OK I'm looking at getting a new computer when my financial situation improves, and thinking of getting a PC laptop so I can DJ/play live and record audio remotely, and also because of work, as a freelancer I've had a few jobs I had to turn down because they needed someone with a laptop & software (cheapskates).

So what is the best laptop for audio work? I need rock solid playback and good graphic/media processing but not video/3D (that would be nice but not neccessary). So plenty of punch but a good bargain as I don't have thousands to spare...DVD/Cd burning a must too.

I do have a company so HP/rent or good business terms would be cool.

Any thoughts? I know very little about laptops since I've been a desktop person because they didn't have the power they have now...

Tim

[jwol3]

I've been using a Dell Latitude that's about 4 years old that I got for $400 on ebay and it's great for recording but a little slow on the editing side. Anything you buy today should have the horsepower to do well. The only problem is that I have had more than one laptop with a crappy sound card, you may want to try an external one like sound blaster sells:

http://www.soundblaster.com/products/Audigy2NX/

If you are going with an internal DVD that gets you away from the ultra light (3lbs or less) so you have to decide between a midsize or a desktop replacement (7lbs with huge screen).

Two other things - if you have a ton of music you may want to get an external hard drive to store/edit media. You have to pay bigger $ for a laptop hard drive over 40GB. The other is that you may want to stay away from the Celeron processors, many people (and the manufacturer) say there is no difference but I have personally had some problems...

[theFerf]

I have a Toshiba Satellite that I have abused the hell out of. It works perfectly still after 3 years accept for one thing. The fans are on the bottom of the unit, so if I use it on my actual lap for too long, it overheats and shuts off. But on a counter, no problem.

My 2 cents.

[saintjoseph]

i have been using a vaio laptop from last 2 years, now it is showing me some difficulties for me.. while playing songs or videos, it is getting stopped for a while. i dont know why.. help me..
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saintjoseph
Used Apple Laptops (http://applelaptopshop.com)