Looking for a good computer for running software synths and recording...

[afmunderback]

Yes, Im sure that there are plenty of Apple fans out there who swear by their Mac Book Pro... Although I have heard that HP has some offerings that are comparable at a more affordable price point. . . I am currently using a Dell Inspiron that is (literally) falling apart, and the one time I tried to run even the most minor software synth on it (Oberheim OPX) it crashed... So I was wondering If anyone had any opinions on good computers to run software synths with, do lots of recording (most likely with one of the Cakewalk softwares), and also be good for every day computing (word processing, powerpoints, web browsing, etc) I have been looking a lot at this offering from HP:

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&a1=Category&v1=High+performance&series_name=dv6z_series&jumpid=in_R329_prodexp/hhoslp/psg/notebooks/High_performance/dv6z_series

 

Any opinions or tips?

Thanks a lot.

[tremens]

IMO HP computers and support suck big time and I'd stay away from them.

I had few HP,s at home and always problems and now pretty new laptop at work

and guess what? blue screen anytime I do something demanding...My coworkers with same computers say the same thing.

On the other hand never ever had problems with dell and if I had something it was repaired quickly with overnight shipping free of charge.

 

For media/music like application I'd go rather with some sony laptops if you don't want macs.

[TechEverlasting]

A lot of this depends on what you're doing. Just for hosting some synth based VSTs a Dell might be fine. Running large track counts on DAWs or multi-Gig streaming Kontakt libraries is a different story altogether.

 

Many of us who have decided to use MacBook Pros as their primary audio computer have come to that conclusion after endless frustration dealing with incompatible Fire-wire chips, incompatible BIOS configurations and unending pops and clicks on Windows systems. There certainly are people getting excellent results with Windows computers, but in general these are not off-the-shelf systems, they are either carefully built by the users or purchased from companies like Sonica that custom configure audio PCs (and aren't any cheaper than a Mac!)

 

As odd as it sounds, even if you just want to run the Windows OS a MacBook Pro might still be easiest way to get a reliable system.