can anyone recommend a laptop for music production

[Oldrottenhead]

my friend was looking at the hp pavilion g6 and was unsure as to whether it would run cakewalk or cubase etc. so he is looking for a laptop under £500 that will run a daw. any suggestions welcome. thanks.

[64Guitars]

Here are the minimum system requirements for SONAR X3:

• Windows 7 or Windows 8 (32 and 64-bit). XP and Vista are no longer officially supported.
• Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 2.67 GHz / AMD Phenom Quad Core 9750 2.4 Ghz or higher
• 2GB of RAM
• 1280x800 minimum screen resolution
• 4.5GB for minimal install, 20GB recommended
• Broadband internet connection for download
• Gobbler requires internet connection

Here are the minimum system requirements for Cubase 7.5:

• Windows 7/Windows 8.x
• Intel or AMD dual core CPU
• Windows compatible audio hardware
• 2 GB RAM
• 8 GB of free HD space
• Display resolution of 1280 x 800 recommended
• DVD-ROM dual-layer drive
• USB port for USB-eLicenser (not required for Cubase Elements)
• Internet connection required for activation, account setup and personal / product registration. Additional downloads may be required for the installation.

And here are the relevant specs of the HP Pavilion g6-2252sa

• Windows 8 64
• Intel® Core™ i5-3210M 2.5 GHz
• 4 GB DDR3 RAM
• HD BrightView LED-backlit display (1366 x 768)
• 750 GB SATA hard drive
• Integrated 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet LAN
• 802.11b/g/n wireless
• Altec Lansing speakers with Dolby Advanced Audio
• SuperMulti DVD±R/RW with double layer support

So the Pavilion g6 appears to be more than adequate for either SONAR X3 or Cubase 7.5 with the possible exception of the display size. Both DAWs call for a minimum vertical resolution of 800 pixels but the g6 only has 768. I don't imagine that would be a huge problem but if you look for a laptop with a larger screen, then it would make the DAW easier to get around in. The HP Pavilion 17-e042sa is £499 and has a 17" screen with 1600 x 900 resolution.

[Oldrottenhead]

i cant find out anything about the audio capabilities, and from what little i have found out laptops quite commonly have soundcards that are not full duplex. so although cubase may work. you cant record and listen to playback at same time.

so you can record but will be unable to listen to what you might be recording over. please tell me i am wrong.  oh and midi doesnt seem to be catered for either. tell me i am wreong.

[Flash Harry]

An external sound card is a must. If you're getting one, phantom power is a great bonus. It doesn't matter about the internal sound card then.

[64Guitars]

Yep. As Flash Harry suggested, you need a USB audio interface if you're going to do any serious DAW work. Then the laptop's sound card doesn't matter. And you can get an audio interface with built-in MIDI too, if you need it. Though many devices implement MIDI over USB nowadays, so separate MIDI In/Out connectors aren't always needed.

Here's one example:  http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/recording-studio/detail.asp?stock=12091216175732

[alfstone]

An external sound card is a must. If you're getting one, phantom power is a great bonus. It doesn't matter about the internal sound card then.

+1

Alfredo

[Flash Harry]

That Focusrite is the little brother of the Scarlett 8i6 I have. If it's as good as the one I have, as far as the pre amps go, you won't go far wrong.

Midi and phantom power too.

These babies do 24 bit at 96Khz if you need them to and the great thing is that the monitoring is done in hardware so you have no latency. 

[alfstone]

Enjoy!

http://recordingreview.com/soundcard/search.php

 

Alfredo

[Geir]

Or you could always get a BR800 as your audio/controller interface ..... and drop the computer altogether

[na_th_an]

I'd suggest getting a desktop. Better specs for the same money and more durability.