I want to get a portable set up and I am kind of broke.
Would you get a 2008-2010 macbook or a cheap laptop running ubuntu? Maybe a macbook running ubuntu (will it make a difference)… I want to stay away from windows
I would like to use the built in sound card to keep things simple, latency is not too big of an issue as I will be doing everything from a keyboard and mouse.
tight budget. I have good experience with a used thinkpad t420. 430 seems ok also with different keyboard, 520/530 are a bit larger but essentially the same
pros
easy to find used/refurb models for cheap, old models that have been widespread in business world
cpu has enough power for some effects, it is dualcore i5
I would stay away from Mac books of you want to run linux, I think they can be problematic.
Yeah, there’s a lot of macbooks on ebay and they are dirt cheap but it looks like you can get a more powerful system via used office laptops.
tight budget. I have good experience with a used thinkpad t420. 430 seems ok also with different keyboard, 520/530 are a bit larger but essentially the same
I will look into it, I like the red nub on the thinkpad. I am kind of the a fan of the look.
I use Lenovo/IBM Thinkpad T60. With Ubuntu/LXDE 16.04. Using jackd and Renoise session.
Use Send buses as much as possible.
Avoid fancy VSTs.
Keep it minimal.
This is actually a feature if you are going into a minimal/make everything count mindset. I want to get into renoise to see how many different ways I can cut up an amen break and will do all my processing on my desktop. Having said that I am tempted to up the budget to $300 so I can run VCV for processing…
The t60 is pretty old, yet good to hear it still works as a renoise working - horse. Between the ones mentioned, there are a few other u might wanna check: t400 & t410 come into my mind, which u should find for around those 100 buckz. Both also very linux friendly machines. Actually the internal sound - cardz arent very good on any of those models…still do - able, though!
This is actually a feature if you are going into a minimal/make everything count mindset. I want to get into renoise to see how many different ways I can cut up an amen break and will do all my processing on my desktop. Having said that I am tempted to up the budget to $300 so I can run VCV for processing…
I think of my “laptop - setup” as something comparable to Korg Electribe ESX + affordable synth + 4track recorder with some cheap guitar Efx pedals on Send Bus.
On Youtube some people have made some pretty awesome grooves with similar setups - imho.
Except it is all in one box and more flexible and modular. Especially for Amen chopping. CPU the limit
I find my 420 has enough power for medium complex projects (as of my measurement) - if I restrict myself on renoise native or cpu friendly plugins. Like when on my hexacore workstation things eat 40% cpu on the laptop the same project is on 70%. So it is not really that crippeled or restrained to some simple amen choppings, you can do much more with such a machine. 410 should be approaching the same cpu power, maybe it will produce more heat and eat the battery charge a bit faster.
Yes the soundcard isn’t the bomb, it barely drives my 250 ohm open headphones so that I can work in quiet environments, but yes, it need to crank up fully and cannot really sacrifice some db for a bass boost like I would when working with a headphone amp. You can always upgrade with a nice usb dac with stronger headphone amp an better sound quality. Or use <=80 ohm headphones.
If you plan trying to work on battery without wall power, you will also have to consider investment of a new/fresh battery for the laptop. When you buy the things used, they will most probably come with a used battery that is completely worn down and only has 30-40% of the original capacity left, only suited to transport the laptop for short time while in suspend mode.
Hmm, now I am tempted to plan for eventual upgrade - display is slowly dying towards red, certain letters on keyboard often refuse to work, certain web-pages these days require more CPU and Video than some early 2000 video games - If you have 1024x monitor, they think you are using a phone.