laptop spec?

[nick robinson]

Any thoughts as to a laptop spec that balances performance with cost?

Will I need an audio interface or would the built in soundcard manage?

I know this info is out there, but think a thread might be useful.

[andybutler]

Unfortunately it's not just an issue of spec, some machines will perform well with a particular audio interface, and some won't.
Only sure fire way is to copy someone else's working setup.
Running a looper shouldn't take that much processing power, but if you want big reverbs, ampsims etc then you might want to look at spec.
Someone else will have to advise about Macs, I can only tell you that they don't have a good onboard soundcard.
Don't use Windows Vista, as Win XP works easier and doesn't eat up all the RAM.
You might get away with using a pc onboard sound, my laptop certainly sounds ok for playback. A useful piece of software is Asio4All which will allow you to run with low latency.
Note, most pc laptops won't have Firewire, and then few have a 6 pin plug which supplies power to an interface.
Buy an older machine at your peril, a hard drive is good for about 5 years use, then will die.

[Sjaak]

My advise:
- use your laptop for music only and not for other applications
- shutdown background processes you don't need (virus scan, automatic updates, network)
- don't install OS or driver upgrades once they are available, but only when there is a need for

So, threat it like a hardware box and you'll have a stable machine

Btw: I use a white MacBook, model '08 with a firewire port, 4Gb mem, 2.4 Ghz CPU and a Motu audio interface. I bought it when Apple lauched the new Macbook end of last year. That saved me hundreds of euro's. These are still availble in some shops, are very stable and work well. If you want to use Windows: like Andy said, don't use Vista.