My kids have convinced me that HP is the laptop to go to. My poblem is that I am looking for a laptop to run some specific older audio recording gear ad finding the right match is difficult. I have two Presonus FP10s that can be daisychained via firewire, but it has to be FW400 and Presonus has a list of chipsets it works with.
So, along with an Expresscard34/54 slot for a Firewire card, I'm really looking for an older machine. I don't need a 64-bit processor (I really don't believe Presonus' claims that their older stuf works with it) and I don't want Windows 7 (I'm fine with XP and I know the support is stopping next month).
I'd like to be able to have 3GB of RAM in there and a 500 GB SATA drive, if not larger. A 16X9 format screen would be great for the real estate, but high-res graphics are really necessary (I'm not a gamer - the only game I ever played was "database management" it paid bettter). Wi-fi's an option, but I need an optical drive and USB.
I've been recording on an older Dell GX280 half-height desktop with a single 2.79 GHz processor, 3 GB RAM and a 500 GB drive, with a 1.5 TB external secodary HDD. It's a pain to lug around and requires the peripherals: screen, keyboard, mouse and AC power for remote work. But it works great as a 16-track recorder.
It would be nice, though, to record 16-tracks from the back of a car, or 8 tracks elswhere...
Any reccomendations in what to look for in the way of older HP/Compaq PC's? Maybe what to avoid?
Thank you
harryevan