Laptop Recommendations ($2.5k)

Configure and optimize you computer for Audio.
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Why do you care about colour accuracy? I work in film/TV and it's of no importance to me whatsoever, beyond a certain basic level. It's just a marketing con, you'll be able to to do work of the highest quality with any screen that can be calibrated to give a neutral output. But, for the record, the G7 has been measured at 400 nits in a few reviews I've read and generally receives positive comments. From memory, it covers 96% of the sRGB spectrum. Don't worry bout the Adobe gamut because no files are saved with it, JPEG and PNG images are optimised for sRGB.
Touch The Universe wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2019 1:57 amInteresting. I like that it can have two drives, if I can choose a 2TB SSD an a 2TB HDD, I'd be set. What size are the drives?
In Australia we no longer get much configurability and every choice included either a 256GB or 512GB SSD and a 1TB HDD. But you only have to undo 10 phillips head screws and you can swap the drive for whatever you want. It would be much cheaper doing it yourself than paying Dell to do it. My plan is to upgrade the RAM and HDD once I finish paying it off, in a year or so, sooner if I need to.
I'm not a fan of using external drives so I really want as much hard drive space as possible. My current laptop has 512GB SSD and its nowhere near enough and it drives me bonkers so if I can, I'm going to get frekking 4TB if I can, haha!
My current machine only has a 256GB SSD but I use a 512GB microSD card as my data storage and that's worked fine for me. It will also make it easy to move everything onto the new machine.
I've found similar spec'd laptops from MSI and Asus ROG, but I can't stand the way they look, and never dealt with them before, why take a chance?
I've had nothing but excellent experiences with Asus and two of the guys I work with have fully spec'd MSI laptops that they are very happy with. I think the ROG stuff looks great - they are obviously gaming machines but they have a bit of class about them.
NOVAkILL : Asus RoG Flow Z13, Core i9, 16GB RAM, Win11 | EVO 16 | Studio One | bx_oberhausen, GR-8, JP6K, Union, Hexeract, Olga, TRK-01, SEM, BA-1, Thorn, Prestige, Spire, Legend-HZ, ANA-2, VG Iron 2 | Uno Pro, Rocket.

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If it can be calibrated so its neutral, that's fine, however the brightness might be a bit too low on that laptop. I've been spoiled using my 4K tv as a monitor and love the brightness, so I want to go as high as I can if possible.

Really, the only thing holding me back is that lack of options for maximizing out the hard drives. Are you sure it's possible to add 2TB SSD and 2 TB HDD to either the XPS or the G7?

It's odd because I've searched the net and the max space I've found on any Dell XPS, no matter the year, is 2 TB!
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The XPS only has one drive slot so you can only have one drive. The G7 has one NVMe slot (tiny) and a second space for a 2.5" SATA drive, either an HDD or a (slower than NVMe) SSD. It looks like Dell put the cheapest possible 5400rpm HDD in the second slot, although it may be a hybrid drive (with a solid-state cache of 32GB or something). I'll know more when I have it but upgrading the G7 yourself is a breeze, it's actually designed so you can, I doubt it would be anywhere near as easy on an XPS, if it's possible at all.
NOVAkILL : Asus RoG Flow Z13, Core i9, 16GB RAM, Win11 | EVO 16 | Studio One | bx_oberhausen, GR-8, JP6K, Union, Hexeract, Olga, TRK-01, SEM, BA-1, Thorn, Prestige, Spire, Legend-HZ, ANA-2, VG Iron 2 | Uno Pro, Rocket.

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I just looked on eBay and 2.5" SSDs are ridiculously cheap. I can get a fast 1TB Samsung for around US$100. There is no point getting the latest and greatest because SATA will be the limiting factor, not the drive itself. I've decided to buy one today so I can put it straight into the laptop when I get it.
NOVAkILL : Asus RoG Flow Z13, Core i9, 16GB RAM, Win11 | EVO 16 | Studio One | bx_oberhausen, GR-8, JP6K, Union, Hexeract, Olga, TRK-01, SEM, BA-1, Thorn, Prestige, Spire, Legend-HZ, ANA-2, VG Iron 2 | Uno Pro, Rocket.

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Samsung are good. Whatever SSD you buy, make sure its a POPULAR one, because, in the event it ever fails, and you need to recover data, SSD's are a bitc* and a half to recover. Those companies only ever focus on the most populars SSD's. If you have a cheap brand no one has heard of, you have no options. Here is some important info, Dell likes to use no name brand SSD's to save money!! So make sure you know what you have, or better yet, use a cloud backup place.
High Quality Soundsets for Lush-101 | Hive | Electra 2 | Diversion | Halion | Largo | Rapid | Dune II | Thorn | and more.

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I never worry too much about that stuff, although I do always buy components from brands I know of. I've had a USB 3 SSD, a Samsung T1, since 2015 and it's still working perfectly. I worry a lot more about my own stupidity - accidentally overwriting or deleting something important, than I do about hardware failures. If I did lose stuff, I certainly wouldn't be worried about recovering it, I'd just shrug and move on (or start again). I'm really bad at backing up, too. I mostly rely on the fact my bandmate and I share all our files as a kind of de facto back-up.
NOVAkILL : Asus RoG Flow Z13, Core i9, 16GB RAM, Win11 | EVO 16 | Studio One | bx_oberhausen, GR-8, JP6K, Union, Hexeract, Olga, TRK-01, SEM, BA-1, Thorn, Prestige, Spire, Legend-HZ, ANA-2, VG Iron 2 | Uno Pro, Rocket.

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Touch The Universe wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2019 12:22 am The reviews for music production for the xps 15 are coming in. It seems they fixed the audio latency problem and there is little throttling on 19 version, so it might make sense to opt for the i9 instead of the 17 versions.

https://youtu.be/dTg5iRJdncI
These new xps's with the i9 8 core look amazing for audio. I also like the look of the HP zbook x360, which actually has two ssd slots, so that's expandable to a whole lot off ssd space, whereas the xps I think only has the one ssd drive slot. So it's 8 core i9 vs 6 core but 2 ssd slots. Plus the zbook x360 can fold all the way around which can be handy for certain display positions. I'd like see if the zbook will get the i9 8 core upgrade soon, that would be ideal. I haven't heard many reviews about using it for audio though.

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I remember checking that out too. It's expensive and I'd say that it needlessly is a 2 in 1 laptop. Having that design isn't good for thermals so you it won't be as powerful as you can get, if that is important.

Configuring a spec that is similar to the dell xps is going to 4-5K plus and isn't as powerful. It's a shame because I really want those two disk spaces. Close, but no cigar.

Configuring the way I want would be 7K. 1,500 for a 2 TB SSD? Wow. Also, charging 200 for windows 10 home!?

If I'd buy this, I'd probably install my own hard drives to save money here. 1 HDD and 1 SDD to save a considerable amount.

https://store.hp.com/us/en/ConfigureVie ... quantity=1

As far as performance in general goes, the xps is top of the line, or in the top 3 and has been for awhile, for productivity machines (not gaming). It is "the" laptop I've founding between the lines as I'm researching.
High Quality Soundsets for Lush-101 | Hive | Electra 2 | Diversion | Halion | Largo | Rapid | Dune II | Thorn | and more.

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Touch The Universe wrote: Sat Jul 20, 2019 10:12 pm
If I'd buy this, I'd probably install my own hard drives to save money here. 1 HDD and 1 SDD to save a considerable amount.

https://store.hp.com/us/en/ConfigureVie ... quantity=1
I don't understand why it's + $390 to get 32gb ram added in one slot but it's + $600 to get 32gb as 16gb in each of the two slots. Why would anyone get 2x16 when it's way cheaper to have 1x32? Usually more on a single card is more.

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The Asus Studiobook S should be coming out this year which can have 64GB Ram, 4TB storage and a hexacore. Might be worth a look if you are patient.
High Quality Soundsets for Lush-101 | Hive | Electra 2 | Diversion | Halion | Largo | Rapid | Dune II | Thorn | and more.

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Echoes in the Attic wrote: Sun Jul 21, 2019 12:06 am
Touch The Universe wrote: Sat Jul 20, 2019 10:12 pm
If I'd buy this, I'd probably install my own hard drives to save money here. 1 HDD and 1 SDD to save a considerable amount.

https://store.hp.com/us/en/ConfigureVie ... quantity=1
I don't understand why it's + $390 to get 32gb ram added in one slot but it's + $600 to get 32gb as 16gb in each of the two slots. Why would anyone get 2x16 when it's way cheaper to have 1x32? Usually more on a single card is more.
That makes no sense.

Also, When you choose a 2TB SSD option, the pricing for the second drive updates automatically and doubles in price!! w t frek!
High Quality Soundsets for Lush-101 | Hive | Electra 2 | Diversion | Halion | Largo | Rapid | Dune II | Thorn | and more.

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I have an older Asus GL503VS that started as a replacement for my desktop and it does work pretty well for audio, since it has a GeForce GPU video editing works as well, these days you could probably buy a base computer with a nice GPU card and CPU well below the 2.5k price , then add the audio interface and SSD/Memory for a much cheaper price than even a couple years ago, you just need to do some research, i.e. while a samsung SSD might be great probably a SanDisk or ADATA will work as well and you could buy larger ones for the same price.
So it might pay off to do some research on sites that build laptops and maybe you can get a good base platform. then build up from there whatever is missing aftermarket.

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I find SanDisk are usually more expensive than Samsung. I've never seen them cheaper. ADATA are definitely cheaper, though, I just have no experience with them.
NOVAkILL : Asus RoG Flow Z13, Core i9, 16GB RAM, Win11 | EVO 16 | Studio One | bx_oberhausen, GR-8, JP6K, Union, Hexeract, Olga, TRK-01, SEM, BA-1, Thorn, Prestige, Spire, Legend-HZ, ANA-2, VG Iron 2 | Uno Pro, Rocket.

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Ishanor wrote: Sun Jul 21, 2019 3:39 pm I have an older Asus GL503VS that started as a replacement for my desktop and it does work pretty well for audio, since it has a GeForce GPU video editing works as well, these days you could probably buy a base computer with a nice GPU card and CPU well below the 2.5k price , then add the audio interface and SSD/Memory for a much cheaper price than even a couple years ago, you just need to do some research, i.e. while a samsung SSD might be great probably a SanDisk or ADATA will work as well and you could buy larger ones for the same price.
So it might pay off to do some research on sites that build laptops and maybe you can get a good base platform. then build up from there whatever is missing aftermarket.
I can get a decent cpu and gpu for around 1K, but that's less than half the story :)

For the specs I want, there aren't an overflowing abundance of options, wanting 32GB RAM and atleast a i78570H (hexacore), reduces options quite a bit. The real kick is trying for dual hard drives too, that's where things 1) get expensive 2) options limited to 3-5 choices.

Then there is display stuff and battery life to consider. Some of these laptops on amazon that have all these specs for less than 2K don't mention the battery whatsoever, like it isn't even important information. I ask a question about it and get no response! so, instant no.

I can probably save a grand if I ease up on my specs, but I'm not really bothered to. I want a kick ass machine. I don't really want too many things to begin with, so I'll treat myself to the few things that I do.

That zenbook duo is lovely, but it is an oddity and it is an unknown, stability wise and limited to 1TB. It's a deal breaker imo. Going with the dell, unless something else spots my eye, but I've seen pretty much everything at offer.

Those alienware M15 are 51 white laptops are so beautiful, shame it's an "alienware". I can't take a laptop with an alien face on it seriously (just my opinion/thing). For lack of a better word, it'll be inappropriate in some settings.
High Quality Soundsets for Lush-101 | Hive | Electra 2 | Diversion | Halion | Largo | Rapid | Dune II | Thorn | and more.

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I keep telling you, look at gaming laptops. There are plenty of configurations you can get to suit your needs. I notice the HP you linked to has a Quadro graphics card. You'll be paying a significant premium for that so if you aren't doing serious 3d animation or something similar, I'd see if you can get a GeForce card instead if you decide to go that way.

I'm still waiting for my new G7. They say it will be here by the end of the week but it has never taken that long before. I've got my SSD ready and waiting to slot in.
NOVAkILL : Asus RoG Flow Z13, Core i9, 16GB RAM, Win11 | EVO 16 | Studio One | bx_oberhausen, GR-8, JP6K, Union, Hexeract, Olga, TRK-01, SEM, BA-1, Thorn, Prestige, Spire, Legend-HZ, ANA-2, VG Iron 2 | Uno Pro, Rocket.

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