Thinking of buying a new laptop, primarily for music

[wishface]

18 minutes ago, SubsonicSimpleton said:

Might be worth taking a look at the used market for desktop machines - gamers are always upgrading to be on the bleeding edge,

 

https://www.gumtree.com/p/desktop-workstation-pcs/six-core-gaming-pc-for-sale.-like-new./1437408093

 

There are loads of similar ads, this was one of the first that popped up - if you have the space and don't need to be mobile, the screen real estate on desktops makes life much easier.

 

If you go this route it is worth googling the main components - although this is 5 years old, it is still a massive step up performance wise (not quite as quick as the asus laptop according to CPU mark @12333, but worth remembering that you have complete freedom to upgrade/replace anything should you wish, but better cooling and more RAM and HDD storage and better cooling is likely to result in better real world performance)

Thanks, but I'm very uncomfortable buying something like that used. If there's a problem I'm screwed. 

[paul_c2]

50 minutes ago, wishface said:

, while the Amazon one is "used, acceptable". 

 

 

 

 

Good spot, that's probably why its cheaper (but better/higher spec). It sounds like its The Asus Store themselves fulfilling this, but its a return (probably with no fault whatsoever, just opened then rejected within the 14 day period for a reason other than faulty). They're covering their a*** with the "may have scratches" description but its probably cosmetically fine. Its obviously a newer model so can't be that old anyhow.

 

So given that, I'd say the Asus and the HP (from PC World/Currys) are well matched. Either would do the job, and you'd never know if the other were 'better'. AMD is a 6 core while the Intel is 4 core, this often means that certain workloads run better on the more cores, while things which tend to be single core heavy (like games.....) run better on the Intel. I don't know if the average DAW and plugins would even tax a CPU enough to worry about these days, its not really a "heavy" load like Cyberpunk 2077 or video editing etc.

 

I think you're right to avoid secondhand desktop PCs.

[wishface]

3 minutes ago, paul_c2 said:

 

Good spot, that's probably why its cheaper (but better/higher spec). It sounds like its The Asus Store themselves fulfilling this, but its a return (probably with no fault whatsoever, just opened then rejected within the 14 day period for a reason other than faulty). They're covering their a*** with the "may have scratches" description but its probably cosmetically fine. Its obviously a newer model so can't be that old anyhow.

 

So given that, I'd say the Asus and the HP (from PC World/Currys) are well matched. Either would do the job, and you'd never know if the other were 'better'. AMD is a 6 core while the Intel is 4 core, this often means that certain workloads run better on the more cores, while things which tend to be single core heavy (like games.....) run better on the Intel. I don't know if the average DAW and plugins would even tax a CPU enough to worry about these days, its not really a "heavy" load like Cyberpunk 2077 or video editing etc.

 

I think you're right to avoid secondhand desktop PCs.

I'm not bothered about cosmetic damage, within reason. But I am concerned about whether it comes with a guarantee or warranty of some kind.

 

I will have to think on it, otherwise sems like a good deal and, from what i can tell, the memory can be upgraded

[skidder652003]

£400 would get you a decent used iMac, great screen, decent power and holds its value

 

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/593456492157894?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A018f4900-df4e-43b5-9057-7c1678214c22

[paul_5]

I'd second the Mac option. Boatyard (I think it's called) do refurnished Apple stuff with warranties, so they might be worth a look.

[Bunion]

Bookyard 

 

https://www.thebookyard.com

 

click the menu then buy a Mac 

[wishface]

2 hours ago, skidder652003 said:

£400 would get you a decent used iMac, great screen, decent power and holds its value

 

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/593456492157894?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A018f4900-df4e-43b5-9057-7c1678214c22

all my apps are windows apps though, not sure I want to re purchase my DAW and all of that again. 

 

Also it's a private seller so i'm reluctant as there will be no cover if I have a problem (I assume). I'm not comfortabel taking that chance

 

Edited July 16, 2022 by wishface

[wishface]

I appreciate everyone's responses, as we spend the heatwave going through every single laptop listing known to exist

[Bunion]

Heatwave? 

[wishface]

18 minutes ago, Bunion said:

Heatwave? 

Yes. Britain has turned into a Greggs pasty oven

[Bunion]

No, it’s just Britain, it gets warm, people moan, it gets cold, people moan, a bit of rain, people moan, that’s the British. 
I’ve got two days of heavy steel welding Monday and Tuesday but it will still get done.

it will just be a little warmer than usual. 
plenty of water, that’s the key 😄

[wishface]

3 hours ago, Bunion said:

No, it’s just Britain, it gets warm, people moan, it gets cold, people moan, a bit of rain, people moan, that’s the British. 
I’ve got two days of heavy steel welding Monday and Tuesday but it will still get done.

it will just be a little warmer than usual. 
plenty of water, that’s the key 😄

good advice, unfortunately my environment us right in the sun so there's precious little relief from the sun. making it difficult to do any work

[BigRedX]

23 hours ago, wishface said:

all my apps are windows apps though, not sure I want to re purchase my DAW and all of that again. 

 

These days almost all software is purchased by licence, so unless your DAW and plug-ins are all Windows only, you'll be able to download the Mac versions at no extra cost.

 

If you are happy to buy second hand you'll get a much better deal on a used Mac, and as others have said they tend last longer and hold their value better than Windows machines. This is being typed on the Mac I use to earn my living, which is 12 years old and still going strong.

 

I'd steer clear of ex-gamers machines, because they'll have probably been drive hard/hot by their previous owner(s) and may be on the verge of failure. Also for non-gaming use the graphics card will be over-spec'd and for your needs over-priced. All good DAWs will de-prioritise screen redraw when the system starts to run out of power, so unless you want to run multiple large monitors you'll be paying a premium for a component you don't need.

[paul_5]

Also something to factor in is the inclusion of GarageBand with every Mac OS. 
 

granted, it’s fairly basic and idiosyncratic, but if you don’t need to factor in buying extra software or licensing then you’ve got a couple of hundred extra to spend on a higher spec machine.

Edited July 17, 2022 by paul_5

[wishface]

Thanks for the replies. 

Perhaps it was the heat, but I went for the Currys one. Delivered by some poor DPD sod in the back of a sweaty van on this past Apocalypse Monday

[meterman]

On 17/07/2022 at 20:22, paul_5 said:

Also something to factor in is the inclusion of GarageBand with every Mac OS. 
 

granted, it’s fairly basic and idiosyncratic, but if you don’t need to factor in buying extra software or licensing then you’ve got a couple of hundred extra to spend on a higher spec machine.

Definitely worth considering 👍

 

I know a lot of folks can be a bit snobby about GarageBand but it just works. I’ve got Pro Tools and Logic (and tape based setups, but I’m weird like that) and still use GB most of the time. Have done records with it, put radio shows together with it, done remote recording sessions with it, used it to record on location, etc. Easy and fast to use, for me at least. YMMV and all that.