Intel Based PC Laptop Recomendations?

[zero-13]

Hello everyone, I'm hoping someone could briefly share their perspective and /or point me towards some recommendations on a good Intel based PC Laptop, budget cap is around $1200.

Spending less would be awesome if possible, but my main desire is being able to move from desktop to laptop without the laptop detonating or just getting all spazzy, popping & locking, and whatnot.

My poor old Lenovo Flex 5 is starting to show it's DSP limitations as I've started using more and more VSTs, and while there are tons of "Ten Best Laptops for Music Production" lists on Google, I'd much rather take the advice of fellow Reason users over those generic lists.

Thank you in advance for any guidance you can provide!

[TheDragonborg]

Go with 8th Gen if you wanna go Intel... my PC uses a Core i7 8700k which uses Hyperthreading... something the i7 9700k does not have. It make s big difference in exporting times.

[zero-13]

Go with 8th Gen if you wanna go Intel... my PC uses a Core i7 8700k which uses Hyperthreading... something the i7 9700k does not have. It make s big difference in exporting times.

Much appreciated!

How about amount of RAM , I was thinking 16GB minimum of RAM?

[aeox]

He said laptop. That's a desktop cpu.

For the price, your best bet is something with a 9750h. From there, choose your options. For 1200 you cant get much but search it

[NDKay]

Although i am waiting for new AMD models ( with 4800H and 4900H) to come out. I would "advice" you to wait too.

Because the intel Laptops will getting somewhat cheaper when AMD drops the new "mobile workhorses" .

Go for a "H" Processor and get some infos for what the numbers in the names are standing for, cuz intel changed some naming, in history a bigger number always meant more performance , now its not everytime like that.

Last year i got an HP Pavilion Gaming with an intel 8750H, but it was horrible - coil whining and reason strangely stuttering every few minutes ( like a short buffer overload for just a very short time, but every few minutes ! DSP looked fine though)

[EdGrip]

I'd look at a refurbished Dell workstation laptop with the best processor you can afford. There are big eBay sellers that deal in refurbished professional computers. The big workstation line is called Precision, but there may be others now. That's what I got for your budget, and it's still serving me like it's brand new 6 years later. Things like Repro and VK-2 are one-instance-only synths, but it runs them fine.

[aeox]

Although i am waiting for new AMD models ( with 4800H and 4900H) to come out. I would "advice" you to wait too.

Because the intel Laptops will getting somewhat cheaper when AMD drops the new "mobile workhorses" .

Go for a "H" Processor and get some infos for what the numbers in the names are standing for, cuz intel changed some naming, in history a bigger number always meant more performance , now its not everytime like that.

Last year i got an HP Pavilion Gaming with an intel 8750H, but it was horrible - coil whining and reason strangely stuttering every few minutes ( like a short buffer overload for just a very short time, but every few minutes ! DSP looked fine though)

I've got that same cpu in my laptop. I had to change power settings because it was running horrible when I got it. Runs like a beast now

[NDKay]

I've got that same cpu in my laptop. I had to change power settings because it was running horrible when I got it. Runs like a beast now

At the first "try" to give it back i also mentioned perfomance issues and asked if they could repaste the thermalpaste. ( they did)
When i got it back the performance was better and after tweaking i also got somewhat of a good result.

But the coil whine was a killer ! REALLY ! ( if you are interested...... i recorded it everytime i got it back )

There was also another thing for me, while the performance was definitely better than my older i7 2670qm (btw which i´m using now (again))

The Base Clock from both are the same ? O.o (2.2 Ghz ) .... i mean WHat ? o.O ... i mean 7 years later !

Yeah i know, better architecture and higher boost ( which is a point to argue about), but iirc, Reason and other Programms mostly rely ( or better said benefit) on higher base clocks rather than boosts.

I mean the point of me waiting for the AMD´s is , the base clocks are around 3 GHz ... and also the boost is competible to the intels then.
short, i get the best of both worlds ( me is thinking , or hoping )

PS: not mentioning 8 (AMD) to 6(intel) core difference

[EdGrip]

The processor in my laptop is an i7 4810MQ - the fan gets loud under load but it's never bothered me, really.

[NDKay]

Hello everyone, I'm hoping someone could briefly share their perspective and /or point me towards some recommendations on a good Intel based PC Laptop, budget cap is around $1200.

Spending less would be awesome if possible, but my main desire is being able to move from desktop to laptop without the laptop detonating or just getting all spazzy, popping & locking, and whatnot.

My poor old Lenovo Flex 5 is starting to show it's DSP limitations as I've started using more and more VSTs, and while there are tons of "Ten Best Laptops for Music Production" lists on Google, I'd much rather take the advice of fellow Reason users over those generic lists.

Thank you in advance for any guidance you can provide!

the bang4buck award would go to this :

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Laptop-FHD-G ... /685182150

or even another 100 bugs less ( with smaller nvme, and "lower" graphic power - depends if its needed)

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Laptop-FHD-G ... /545386564

what others sayin ?

[EdGrip]

Hello everyone, I'm hoping someone could briefly share their perspective and /or point me towards some recommendations on a good Intel based PC Laptop, budget cap is around $1200.

Spending less would be awesome if possible, but my main desire is being able to move from desktop to laptop without the laptop detonating or just getting all spazzy, popping & locking, and whatnot.

My poor old Lenovo Flex 5 is starting to show it's DSP limitations as I've started using more and more VSTs, and while there are tons of "Ten Best Laptops for Music Production" lists on Google, I'd much rather take the advice of fellow Reason users over those generic lists.

Thank you in advance for any guidance you can provide!

the bang4buck award would go to this :

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Laptop-FHD-G ... /685182150

or even another 100 bugs less ( with smaller nvme, and "lower" graphic power - depends if its needed)

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Laptop-FHD-G ... /545386564

what others sayin ?

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Walmart-E ... 810.0.html

Depends on stability and how well it stands up to being run under persistent heavy CPU load (as a gaming laptop, the GPU would be expected to do most of the heavy lifting but that's no use to us.)

Longevity might be a consideration, although there's a strong argument that by the time it dies, if it dies, you might be happy to upgrade to a more modern computer anyway.

[NDKay]

the bang4buck award would go to this :

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Laptop-FHD-G ... /685182150

or even another 100 bugs less ( with smaller nvme, and "lower" graphic power - depends if its needed)

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Laptop-FHD-G ... /545386564

what others sayin ?

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Walmart-E ... 810.0.html

Depends on stability and how well it stands up to being run under persistent heavy CPU load (as a gaming laptop, the GPU would be expected to do most of the heavy lifting but that's no use to us.)

Longevity might be a consideration, although there's a strong argument that by the time it dies, if it dies, you might be happy to upgrade to a more modern computer anyway.

arent that questions for any laptop ?

i´m very thankful for using my laptop now for more than 8 years, and besides having it its "giggidis" here and there it holds its ground
yeah, some reason projects of mine have some stutters and would really benefit from an upgrade of the hardware its been running on ( not mentioning the ones that "arent even workable" anymore )

on the other side, i understand the concept of "creativity from limitation" a bit better if i dare to say.

And the noise from the fan, now my laptop sounds more like a "vacuum cleaner", while the other one sounded more like an "aircraft-jet"... if you understand what i mean

but the noise faktor itself is a big point, its the biggest one for me to rethink in favor of a desktop. The noise really "grinds my gears" at many times !

[zero-13]

Man, thank you guys for the info and perspectives!

Based on much of this info I think I might wait a little bit longer to save a bit more and get a machine that will hopefully perform well for a long while.

[EdGrip]

arent that questions for any laptop ?

True! It's just that workstations have to be stable under stress - they have certifications to get, and unforgiving customers. That's why I went for one, although gaming laptops were more of a rarity 6 years ago than they are today. I suppose my point is only, do plenty of research before you buy.

I either have my little speaker loud enough that the fan noise doesn't bother me, or I have headphones on and it doesn't matter.

[NDKay]

.....or I have headphones on and it doesn't matter.

Mostly i use Open Headphones ( cuz my head gets hot very fast with closed ones), so the noise gets thru.

Imagine something like this ( to get a better notion of how i´m "feeling" )

1. Open a new ( Empty) Reason project, get a big thumpy techno bassdrum on the 1,5,9,12 Steps.
2. Open a synth of your choice and dial in a noise sound (doesnt really matter if white or pink or whatever)
3. Put a Sidechain Preset like "Sidechain" ( from Synchronous) on the noise sound.
4. Celebrate the beat.

now if your done this.... I would just need to do the first step and i would be "celebrating"

( )

so yeah, im nervous to get a new machine ! XD