Mini computer and monitor for gigging.

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I'm looking for a mini computer and monitor, as small and light as possible that I can use for gigging running several vst's and several midi controllers for up to 3 or 4 musicians. I don't intend using this for anything else, just as a sound module for gigging.

For home use and rehearsals I'm currently using a microsoft surface, 12" tablet i7 pro3. This seems adequate but does occasionally miss a beat which I think is primarily down to it's performance being limited or throttled to balanced mode rather than high performance mode, presumably a Pro4 would be the same.

The 2 computer options I'm currently considering (and keeping the pro3 as emergency back up) are: NUC, approx 10cmx12cmx5cm and Little Green PC Intense PC2, fanless with intel i7 5th generation, approx 16cmx19cmx4cm, I am assuming neither of these will be limited to balanced mode/throttled like the pro3? So presumably either of these would be an improvement over the pro3?

Comparing the 3 and the max spec I can get for the NUC and LG PC (Little Green PC):
Pro3 8GB 500GBSSD i7-4650 2core? ?mBcache 1.7-2.3GHz speed score=1785
LG PC 16GB 1tbSSD i7- 5600UBroadwell 2core 4mBcache 2.6-3.2GHz speed score=1673
NUC 16GB 2tbSSD i7-5557U 2core 8mBcache 3.1-3.4GHz speed score=1900

Confusingly the Pro3 CPU (1.7-2.3GHz) looks better on the 'speed score' than the LG PC (2.6-3.2GHz) so is it likely the Little Green PC will not perform as well as my pro3?

Currently I'm preferring the Little green pc because I like the idea of fanless and it has more screen/usb connection options than the NUC which will be useful and tidier, however I presume the NUC will have a much better performance capability and the max SSD memory I can get is 2tB in the NUC compared to only 1tB in the Little Green. 1tB should be ok, but 2tB would be safer.

Not sure what to do for a monitor; ideally 13" or 15" and as small and light as possible, most monitors take up too much space and I don't want a stand as it will sit on an extended music stand. Touchscreen would be handy but not essential; could then not bother with a separate qwerty kbd or mouse, but, if such a thing exists, with a simple switch to turn the touch facility on/off but leaving the display on while I'm playing so I don't accidentally touch something by mistake while turning music - I'll control everything via midi controllers while playing. All I can find at the moment is perhaps a GeChic.

For vst's I'm using Garritan cfx sampled piano (about 80GB), toontracks superior drummer with several expansions (about 100GB), Trillian sampled bass, VB3 modelled hammond, EP4 modelled electric piano, real guitar, soniccoutre vibraphone (using Kontakt), Dune2 synth.

I'm using several midi controllers; physis K5 master controller piano weighted, cubeat midi drum pads (e.g. playing drum kit), Korg nano pads (e.g. for auxiliary percussion), korg nanokontrol2 (as mixer/DAW controller), plus I have several other synth style controller kbd's I could connect.

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Get a laptop designed for audio like the ones from pcaudiolabs.

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as previous poster said, laptop seems to be a better option

if you are after pc anyway you can build mitx based rig and squeeze it into 19x19x8cm case.

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Thanks very much for advice. I don't think I'm after a laptop because of the physical shape of it making it awkward to use in this situation.

What I have done with the pro3 is build it into a cabinet about 40cm x 38cm x 8cm (after rebuilding the docking station into a more convenient flat shape) and where the laptop keyboard would have been, below the screen, I have my mini audio interface and korg nanokontrol (sliders, knobs and switches like a midi mixer/DAW controller).

For transportation this cabinet slides into my piano stool/rack which contains power amps etc. This way most of the connections between all the different devices are already made; I just slide the cabinet out of the piano stool/rack, drop it onto the music stand and the only connection I need to make is USB to the midi keyboard(s) (and connect the piano stool/rack to mains and speakers). So I would ideally do something very similar with a mini pc and compact screen.

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