High End AUdio / Video laptop

BOXX Technologies (www.boxxtech.com) builds computers explicitly for the audio/video/rendering professional. I just bought their GoBOXX 2300 mobile workstation for cad/rendering.

Great, great small compnay.

Taking a quick look at the Boxx Technologies website it appears those are the same rebadged ODM laptops as most others have.

Here is the thing, especiually for audio, and still is true for video for different reasons...

Buying the most powerful laptop out there probably isnt the best idea. If you plan on doing any recording on it, I hope you dont mind the sound of a jet turbine in your recording as most of their cooling systems sound like one. I used to think that it was better to do this, but now I really dont. I think it is much better to get a stable and quiet system than it is to go with high powered. The reason is, typically for the difference in price, especially with PC notebooks, you can buy yourself a much more powerful desktop to do some more serious work on as well as the laptop to use while travelling around.

Most of the really high power notebooks at the moment all are tethered to the outlet anyways otherwise their performance suffers as well. Their cooling systems are obnoxiously loud, and IMO as a result of running so hot they arent quite as stable. I have gone through to many laptops already that overheated on me when in heavy use.

The reason this still holds true for video IMO, is because for video you wont get a truly good video rendering station on a laptop like you can on a desktop, video is much more resource intensive. Or if you do, you will be spending enough to buy two or three desktops to do the work, and the desktops could probably do a better job at the moment.

Pentium M chips have been used a LOT in mobile recording, and are typically more prefered than the desktop chips because in actuality the difference in power is pretty small, and they are much lower power meaning less need for cooling. Video Cards, especially PCI-E, can be the bane of your existance with low latency audio recordings depending on the chipset used, nForce4 is a well known problem in audio, with a few exceptions, unfortunatly I doubt you will find those exceptions on a laptop if it has that chipset for whatever reason(Honestly I dont know if a laptop that uses AMD and PCI-E would use the same chipset as the desktop or not) They also arent as important in video, some 3D effect generating applications can use them, but for straight editing/transitions/ and the like they really arent that useful, yet most super high end laptops are actually designed for gaming so they come with the latest greatest that has to be cooled.

Anyways I would bet you get the gist of my post by now

Seablade

Seablade is correct in that the GoBOXX 2300 is the Clevo D900T. However, many companies and many people have invested a great deal of resources and money in this notebook as this appears that it has been a solid work horse for sometime.

The reason I paid more and went with Boxx is that I needed a mobile computer optimized for worksation performance. Boxx technicians are the same people who build the units, so when you call for tech support, you are assigned someone who knows what you, and they, are talking about. Also, they have experience with the software they sell.

Regarding the heat...she does get warm. Noise isn't too bad and I would have to think there is a direct relationship between power and noise.

There is, and will continue to be, a debate as to which processor to use. I know that Intel advised me to stay away from the PM chip and go with the P4 670 if I was serious about rendering. When you do this stuff, every ounce you can squeeze is critical.

My ONLY regret is that I waited 6 months for the dual core D900k and couldn't hold out any longer. Two weeks after I received my machine, the dual cores began shipping from various suppliers.

For audio it is generally accepted that the Pentium M chip is the best value/performance/power overall as there is little performance difference for audio between the Pentium M and the desktop processors of higher clocks, there are a few threads already on these boards about this.

For video though that is another beast probably.

The reason I pointed out the rebadging of the chasis is because then you can go look around at various things about that chassis and know what you are dealing with in most cases. I agree some manufacturers will spend extra time making sure it is right, but the basic chassis and design still limit them. As a result it would be a very good first place to start. Personally I have not heard to many good things about the noise level of that particular laptop, nor i believe its performance away from a plug making it kinda tethered to a wall anyways. Both of these make it unsuitable for myself as an audio laptop, but YMMV.

Seablade

Inspiron 9300

I just recently picked up a Dell Inspiron 9300 with the following specs:

PM 1.73
2GB Ram
100GB 7200RPM
GeForce Go 6800
DVD Burner
WUXGA Truelife.

I've already completed a couple of jobs with it as a freelance video editor,
running Avid Xpress Pro HD and the Adobe Suite.... (a lot of After Effects
work). My initial impressions have been quite positive. Obviously you need
to make some sacrifices in this line of work going mobile, but the rendering
is still quite speedy and it hasn't affected my workflow negatively. But the
above comments are right, it's not a great option for audio recording by any
means.... I doubt any laptop is. But if you're working with clients that can
supply you the necessary audio mixes or elements and you don't plan on
recording anything yourself, it's a great option. Hope this helps.