NEW GEAR!! Buying anything?

[Bubba]

I would like to help Bubba choose a laptop

Thanks, Tad! I'm looking at these:

https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/hp-250- ... ersion.asp


https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/hp-250- ... ersion.asp

And I've just found this one on a different page of the same website. It appears to be identical in spec to the other HP 250 i7 except it has an optical drive and is £50 cheaper! Am I missing something?

https://www.serversdirect.co.uk/p/12133 ... top#/specs


Do you have any thoughts?

Bubba

[JD01]

I would like to help Bubba choose a laptop

Thanks, Tad! I'm looking at these:

https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/hp-250- ... ersion.asp


https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/hp-250- ... ersion.asp


Do you have any thoughts?

Bubba

OK, I don't really know that much about computers. But it seems that the only real difference between those is the processor speed which I imagine will only make a difference if you're rendering video. Until recently I was using a well shite old computer with an i3 and it had no problem doing all of the usual recording tasks including running EZ Drummer. I've never been into ampsims so I don't know if there'd be a problem with those, but I don't think you're into amp sims either.

[Greg_L]

That's pretty damned sweet Greg. Great looking bass. I think that Fender pretty much nailed the bass guitar on their first few tries. That's a great mesh of all of the classics wrapped up in one instrument.

Thanks yeah it's pretty cool. I just put some better strings on it and did a few set up tweaks and it's pretty bad ass.

I agree they got it right pretty much immediately. All of those first and second generation 50s/60s electric guitars still hold up. Tastes obviously vary, but the P Bass, Jazz Bass, Tele, Strat, Les Paul, SG, 335s, etc are still pretty much perfect just as they are and always have been.

[muttley]

That's pretty damned sweet Greg. Great looking bass. I think that Fender pretty much nailed the bass guitar on their first few tries. That's a great mesh of all of the classics wrapped up in one instrument.

Thanks yeah it's pretty cool. I just put some better strings on it and did a few set up tweaks and it's pretty bad ass.

I agree they got it right pretty much immediately. All of those first and second generation 50s/60s electric guitars still hold up. Tastes obviously vary, but the P Bass, Jazz Bass, Tele, Strat, Les Paul, SG, 335s, etc are still pretty much perfect just as they are and always have been.

You forgot the best of them all. The ES175.

[Minerman]

Got this stupid thing today....





Fender PJ with a Jazz neck. Check out that black binding. Very fancy.

Very nice Greg, at first I thought it was the high-dollar USA version...I'm gonna bet it sounds/plays as good...

Congrats man, looks very nice...

[Greg_L]

You forgot the best of them all. The ES175.

Lol. I didn't forget that one.

[Greg_L]

Very nice Greg, at first I thought it was the high-dollar USA version...I'm gonna bet it sounds/plays as good...

Congrats man, looks very nice...

Thanks. I wouldn't buy a "USA Fender" unless it was an actual vintage piece.

[muttley]

You forgot the best of them all. The ES175.

Lol. I didn't forget that one.

It wasnt on your list...

[Greg_L]

It wasnt on your list...

I know, it's my list.

[muttley]

It wasnt on your list...

I know, it's my list.

Then your list is wrong.

[Greg_L]

Then your list is wrong.

Not if it's my list. My list is never wrong because it's mine.

[liv_rong]

Mosky Golden Horse came today. China! A $16 gamble. I can’t believe they can ship a pedal direct from China for $16. And only two weeks between ordering and delivery. Pretty unbelievable. Sure it won’t be great, but I’ll find a use for it.

[Armistice]

Mosky Golden Horse came today. China! A $16 gamble. I can’t believe they can ship a pedal direct from China for $16. And only two weeks between ordering and delivery. Pretty unbelievable. Sure it won’t be great, but I’ll find a use for it.

You could pay more than that for a designer doorstop or paperweight...

[Tadpui]

I would like to help Bubba choose a laptop

Thanks, Tad! I'm looking at these:

https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/hp-250- ... ersion.asp


https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/hp-250- ... ersion.asp

And I've just found this one on a different page of the same website. It appears to be identical in spec to the other HP 250 i7 except it has an optical drive and is £50 cheaper! Am I missing something?

https://www.serversdirect.co.uk/p/12133 ... top#/specs


Do you have any thoughts?

Bubba

Sorry for the delay, I replied and never hit "submit".

The dual-core processors scare me a little in today's computing world. Both of those laptops have pretty weak CPUs, and I'd be afraid that Windows, your DAW, and your audio drivers would conspire to make the general usability a little frustrating. If not this year, then next year, or the next, etc. If you're doing just audio and not a lot of VSTs and VSTi's, then it'd probably be fine. If you already had that same laptop laying around from years ago, I'd say stick with it. But to buy one of those CPUs in 2019 kinda hurts me.

At the same price I see an offering from Asus that has an i5 8250U, which is 4 core / 8 thread. The trade-off being that the screen resolution maxes out at 1366 x 768, which is basically 720p (HD, but not Full HD). But I really don't know much about Asus' offerings in this price range. I do know that their higher end "gamer" laptops are highly regarded but I'm not sure how their build quality would be at this price. I have an HP that was below this price range, and it's awful. It's hot, noisy, flimsy, and slow. But I think that either of the HPs that you listed would blow it out of the water, even with those unimpressive CPUs.

Do you work directly off of the laptop screen, or do you usually use an external monitor/keyboard/mouse? I'm a little out of my element with laptops just because they're not nearly as modular as desktops, so the hunt for just the right one can be maddening. At least with a desktop, you can build exactly the one that you want

[Armistice]

I have to buy a new recording computer. The missus tripped over the charging cable and brought it crashing to its demise.

So far, HP are highest up the laptop list with:

G6 i5, 8gb RAM, 250gb SSD £469

Core i7, 8gb RAM 250gb SSD, £549

At least they've managed to recover my data.

FWIW both my laptop (general use) and recording 'puter (desktop) are HP and they've both been excellent to date.

[Bubba]

Thanks, Tad! I'm looking at these:

https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/hp-250- ... ersion.asp


https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/hp-250- ... ersion.asp

And I've just found this one on a different page of the same website. It appears to be identical in spec to the other HP 250 i7 except it has an optical drive and is £50 cheaper! Am I missing something?

https://www.serversdirect.co.uk/p/12133 ... top#/specs


Do you have any thoughts?

Bubba

Sorry for the delay, I replied and never hit "submit".

The dual-core processors scare me a little in today's computing world. Both of those laptops have pretty weak CPUs, and I'd be afraid that Windows, your DAW, and your audio drivers would conspire to make the general usability a little frustrating. If not this year, then next year, or the next, etc. If you're doing just audio and not a lot of VSTs and VSTi's, then it'd probably be fine. If you already had that same laptop laying around from years ago, I'd say stick with it. But to buy one of those CPUs in 2019 kinda hurts me.

At the same price I see an offering from Asus that has an i5 8250U, which is 4 core / 8 thread. The trade-off being that the screen resolution maxes out at 1366 x 768, which is basically 720p (HD, but not Full HD). But I really don't know much about Asus' offerings in this price range. I do know that their higher end "gamer" laptops are highly regarded but I'm not sure how their build quality would be at this price. I have an HP that was below this price range, and it's awful. It's hot, noisy, flimsy, and slow. But I think that either of the HPs that you listed would blow it out of the water, even with those unimpressive CPUs.

Do you work directly off of the laptop screen, or do you usually use an external monitor/keyboard/mouse? I'm a little out of my element with laptops just because they're not nearly as modular as desktops, so the hunt for just the right one can be maddening. At least with a desktop, you can build exactly the one that you want

Thanks for the detailed reply, Tad. I hear what you're ssying about numbers of cores. Ideally I would love a quad but they're out of my price range. I got conflicting information when I asked if a quad core i5 was better value than a twin core i7 and I was told that no generation of i5 was equal to an i7? In any case I don't use a lot of resource hungry stuff and my projects rarely exceed 25 or so tracks.

[Tadpui]

Thanks for the detailed reply, Tad. I hear what you're ssying about numbers of cores. Ideally I would love a quad but they're out of my price range. I got conflicting information when I asked if a quad core i5 was better value than a twin core i7 and I was told that no generation of i5 was equal to an i7? In any case I don't use a lot of resource hungry stuff and my projects rarely exceed 25 or so tracks.

I understand. My computer nerdiness tends to override my sense of budget, so I'm usually willing to spring for the latest and greatest, even when it's not the wisest choice

Prices seem a little different on our side of the pond, but the US retailers are just what I'm familiar with. But from what I gather about your budget, it seems like the equivalent of about $800 US. That really should buy something much better than a dual core Intel system. I'll shop around for some AMD Ryzen lappies and see if there is anything multi core and budget friendly that pops up, or if there are any offerings from Intel that are a better value than those HPs.

Give me a few minutes and I'll edit this post with links if I find anything interesting.

Here's at least 1 interesting option with a Ryzen 5. I really can't speak for build quality or battery life, but it's a true 4 core/8 thread 2nd gen Ryzen 5. Only a 256GB SSD drive, but it does have a USB type C port that'd make it easy to add an fast external drive for mass storage and backup:

https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/lenovo- ... ersion.asp

Hey JD, do you have a link to that laptop that you bought a few months ago? That was a pretty good bang for buck machine.

[liv_rong]

Mosky Golden Horse came today. China! A $16 gamble. I can’t believe they can ship a pedal direct from China for $16. And only two weeks between ordering and delivery. Pretty unbelievable. Sure it won’t be great, but I’ll find a use for it.

You could pay more than that for a designer doorstop or paperweight...

You know ever Chinese pedal I've owned has been fine. Nothing special, not great, but fine. One delay was noisy as all hell but that may have been because of how I was powering it. Everyone makes some sort of Klon these days and the only other "klone" (Klon clone) Ive had was the Soul Food and I didnt like that for anything but a clean boost. This Mosky is actually, to my ears, better than that. Though I am playing with a better rig now, so Im sure that plays into it. But, like I said, for $16.99 shipped it is literally impossible to beat! As far as durability goes, who knows but probably

[Tadpui]

How the heck can they afford to ship anything that far for that price? If I tried to ship a ball of lint to China I can't umagine it'd cost less than $100!

[liv_rong]

How the heck can they afford to ship anything that far for that price? If I tried to ship a ball of lint to China I can't umagine it'd cost less than $100!

Their government subsidizes it and has some sort of deal with our government as well. Its called ePacket and I really do not know much else about it. Im pretty sure other countries have something similar or use the same thing.