Quote Originally Posted by Miromiric
i am using this laptop for only one application only anyway. what i can see for now is that you basically pay for brand, since internal hardware comes from the same firms.
is there anyone who can share his/her personal experiences?
I've went through about a couple laptops in a few years. Like a lot of the guys stated before, there is a lot to look for when choosing the right computer. I used to own a Sager, but it burned up on me and they deemed it my fault. Although that really pissed me off, I've heard tons of praise about those guys otherwise. Up until recently, they actually had the exact same hardware in their computers as Alienware for around 1/2 to 2/3 of the price!

Next, being a cheap ass I went with another budget laptop. I went to www.internetishop.com and got my current laptop (which the power source is currently dead and I have no comp). For $1,100us in Feb. 2003 I got a 2.4ghz, 60gb hd, 512 ram, and 14" screen laptop. Not bad. Unfortunately, I had to sacrifice a few things...no internal battery, no internal wifi, and it was pretty bulky and heavy. Those few things saved me around $1,000-2000 though. I knew I wouldn't need a battery much (long car rides or flights), but it could be remedied usually with a power converter (from DC to AC). At the time WiFi wasn't really in my sights either. So, based on those assumptions...coupled with the fact that I knew my laptop would often grace smokey clubs and studios, I decided to get a cheaper PC laptop in case shit happened (and it always does).

Once again, I had a bunch of problems with my laptop. The CD burner went out, 2 USB (of 4) ports stopped working, and finally my power source just went. Everyone else who bought from this company (Adam Jay and others) have had great luck with their laptops. I must say, when it was running it usually ran damn fine.

In short, you need to figure out what you need exactly and what you're willing to sacrifice. It sounds like you just need a basic laptop that will run Ableton decently and get you through a long weekend. In that case I'd probably get a cheaper laptop with a P4 chip (**** the extra battery life, take the power instead), WiFi built-in (wonderful for airports and cafes when away from home), and at least 2 or 3 USB ports.

If the harddrive is slow I would recommend getting an external hard drive that uses both firewire and USB 2.0 as its nice to have options. Plus, if your laptop goes to hell you can just take the external and hook it up to a new computer. I bought an additional 80GB extermal with USB 2 and Firewire for around $120 US, it's a life saver a couple times over already.

And finally, if you're looking to get the best bang for your buck...thinkpads and Vaio's may not have the fastest and newest components but the quality and stability make up for the small loss in performance.