Current Laptop/ Can I use?

crisbd · #1 08-07-2007, 07:53 AM

Hi Guys,

I have an HP Pavilion laptop right now. I checked in the device manager under IEEE Bus Host Controller and it says Texas Instruments OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller .

Could I try and use this one year old AMD Turion 64 Mobile Technology ML-2, 1.79 Ghz, 1 GB RAM laptop to do some basic audio recording using my Presonus Firebox as the interface?

I am researching components to build or help build my future desktop DAW and right now I am not sure if I am going AMD or Intel! (too confusing for a non-computer guy I tell ya!)

In the meantime I thought I would check the firewire connection on this laptop and was pleasantly surprised to find it a Texas Instrument!

The hard drive on this is only 4400 RPM or something like that and I have learned that is pretty slow for audio recording

I was going to buy an external hard drive like a 500 GB Seagate to back up my desktop DAW once I have it. Would this hard drive be a good idea to use now for this?

Any thoughts or other suggestions?

Thanks!

Chris

jb4674 · #2 08-07-2007, 09:14 AM

Chris,

The laptop sounds like it has enough processing power for you to record stuff with. How many firewire ports do you have on that laptop? It may be advantageous to replace the internal hard drive as well to give your programs less problems in the long run. I'm assuming you have an ATA drive, so you might want to consider putting a 100-160gb hard drive running at 7K rpm's. the idea of getting an external drive is not bad, and you should still get it to store your projects and other miscellaneous things in it. If they cost too much, you could always buy the enclosure, the hard drive and build it yourself. Places like Micro Center, Tiger Direct, New Egg, etc., ususally have some nice deals on those.

Also, find out what's the max amount of ram you can add to the laptop, as it never hurts to have more ram.

Hope this helps.

Jimmy

yoyo1299 · #3 08-07-2007, 09:23 AM

/\ good advice. you definetely need a faster internal hard drive, as well as another external one. newegg is the best place, very cheap reliable. i love them. plus their site is the best site i've ever been on, it was voted best shopping site of the year! i just bought a 250 gig external HDD for my mac ffor only 150. u can get one for windows even cheaper. make sure the speed is 7200 rpms or more. 10,000 would be great.

jb4674 · #4 08-07-2007, 10:14 AM

10K Rpm's is SCSI. You gotta crawl before you walk.

Jimmy

crisbd · #5 08-07-2007, 11:11 AM

I just have one Firewire port. In looking at my hard drive properties it says:

"IDE\DiskTOSHIBA_MK1031GAS_______________________A A204C__"

That is greek to me! But from that and what I already know it is a:

"100GB TOSHIBA MK1031GAS HDD"

Is it worth it to get more memory and a faster hard drive for my laptop? How much would this cost? If it is worth it, what do I search for on New Egg?

I have been doing lots of research all over (including New Egg) for my desktop build, which I as planning to do soon.

So is doing all these upgrades to my laptop worth it? Or are you guys saying I could easily have a good system just by upgrading this HP Pavilion?

jb4674 · #6 08-07-2007, 11:52 AM

So, it's 100gb at 4400 rpm? If that's the case, leave the hdd as is and simply do a clean reinstall. Get an external HDD that's USB/Firewire/Network capable and maybe top off the Ram.

Check the ram slots on the laptop and see if HP did you a favor and only put a single stick of ram. If they did, all you have to do is add another stick and be done. If they didn't, then you're going to have to replace both sticks of Ram with new ones, which could be both a burden or a blessing, depending on how you look at it.

Jimmy

yoyo1299 · #7 08-07-2007, 12:00 PM

btw, the ram is normally at the bottom of your laptop. turn it over, and you will see some latches or buttons or w.e. the opening to the ram is down there.