stay far away from Asus.

google "pro audio laptop"

Scott
ADK

Can you please explain some of your troubles with Asus? They are very well built computers at very reasonable prices.

MrPibb wrote: Being the gamer junky that I am, I also need a high-end dedicated graphics and sound card.

i wouldn't recommend mixing the two togethere. if you want the best out of your machine i would advise not to have a boat load of games and audio on one system. If you must make sure you keep your games and audio files on seperate hard drives.

MrPibb wrote: Can you please explain some of your troubles with Asus? They are very well built computers at very reasonable prices.

really? you know this how?

if you want a gaming computer the asus would be ok, for pro audio they suck.
how do i know i have tested them. my wife has the 17" model as i could not sell it for audio.

however if you care to read more
bottom of page (just happens to be the Asus laptops)
http://recording.org/resources/recording-computers.300/

bottom line if it does not have texas intrumnets firewire it will suck for audio.

Scott
ADK

Well, how about a Macbook Pro? I've noticed all the thumbs down pointing towards dedicated PCIe gfx cards in other threads, which is something a Macbook Pro sports... am I better off with a consumer lappy with integrated gfx?

Also, the Sager m570ru sports TI firewire I believe, however, also a PCIe gfx card.

I have whats listed below and I have no trouble gaming, I just played call of duty 2 and it was fine. I use reason as well. You can attain what i have in a macbook, this machine has not yet been 'sluggish' in any way.

MrPibb wrote: Well, how about a Macbook Pro? I've noticed all the thumbs down pointing towards dedicated PCIe gfx cards in other threads, which is something a Macbook Pro sports... am I better off with a consumer lappy with integrated gfx?

Also, the Sager m570ru sports TI firewire I believe, however, also a PCIe gfx card.

HI,
PCIe graphics is fine now. the first rendition of them on desktop boards was a real problem. the issues no longer exsist on newer boards including laptops.

MAC Book Pro is fine. however there are numerous issues when running bootcamp.

did you google "pro audio laptops" ?

Scott
ADK

Thanks Adk. I have browsed around your site and took a close look at the ADK-8500. My configuration was just at my price range ($2,695) with 2.0 Ghz c2d, 2GB DDR2, 100GB 7200 RPM HDD, and a 7950 GTX. Very competetive pricing since it sits closely with a Sager m570u, spec and price wise.

My target is to purchase a laptop June - July. The new Santa Rosa chipsets and DX10 video cards are mainly what I'm waiting on to become more widely available. I'm also interested to see what the MacBook Pro refresh will offer.

HI
there is a new laptop out the end of this month. (like a week)
full Core 2 duo instead of core mobile.
3 internal HDD. very large unit (as in heavy)
4 gig of ram. 7950 in it.
you probably have seen it on sagers website.
i will be adding it to ours probably today.

truth be told a Core 2 duo and a mobile really are the same power speed vs speed.

Santa Rosa wont be available in the channel for at least another 60 days.

Scott

That sounds like Sager's D900c that has desktop parts inside. I'd be interested in the cooling and noise level on that thing.