i need a computer

Which one is considered the Pro version ? And is it Ok to go with a lap top ?

Hi Marc, I haven't looked at any Toshiba's, so I can't comment on them. My main area of knowledge is desktop's, as to laptops, there are a lot of different options. Many people like the new macbooks, it has a very fast processor, geforce video, and the newest one has a firewire port. they had dropped the firewire port on the last version, but its back now. The screens have led backlighting for low power consumption and longer life (instead of the older ones that used florecent tubes that would go out eventually) and they will run windows or mac os. But I guess its only coming in a 13" screen these days, so if you want bigger you have to go to the pro version (more $$$). If you don't mind heavy, HP is making a quad core laptop with an 18" screen, but it runs about 1800$. There are a lot of options there. Refurbished Dells are quite cheap... pretty much anything running a core 2 duo is a good buy... as to how quiet they are, it varies. I don't have a lot of money, so I was considering a refurbished 17" gateway from geeks.com... but I'd have to buy my own copy of windows (or Ubuntu Studio) to put on it. But it does have a core 2 duo (even an older one but still pretty fast) and geforce 7 video... but for 419$ it looks like a good deal. There are ddr3 modules in various desktops, some of the older quad processors have mainboards that use it, but it seems that all the I7 processors use it. That XPs looks like a good machine, of course I don't mind upgrading my stuff...changing video cards and such. Hope this helps

for 1500$ you are be able to take a top computer. motherboard: Asus P6T Socket 1366 (deluxe option) or Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P Socket 1366 (ud5 option) processor: intel i7 920 grafics: Powercolor 4670 or 4770 pcie ram: ocz gold/platinum 1333 or 1600 3x2Gb case: Antec P182 power supply: Antec New True Power 550W Modular or Corsair HX620W hd: Western Digital Caviar Black 500/1T ;)

This is a deceptively difficult question. The motherboard selection is key and audio hardware compatibility is important. Thinking about a UAD card in the future? Connecting a firewire audio device? Which operating system is best? What kind of music do you want to make? What are the maximum simultaneous inputs you need to record? How many musicians need to simultaneously monitor their performance? Do they each need a custom mix? You can consult with Jim Roseberry at . Last I heard, for a few bucks he will make hardware recommendations for DIY builders, if that's what you're interested in. He builds and sells a lot of DAWs. Consider buying a DAW at adkproaudio.com. Scott Chichelli posts a lot as jcschild on audio forums. My impression is that he does a lot of testing of the various audio hardware. He offers lifetime support. There are other DAW builders. Last I heard, Windows PC laptops for DAWs were becoming more and more of a problem. That may have changed now. Personally, I don't like the fragility of laptops, the lack of expandability, or that fact that they are so easily and frequently stolen. I'd talk to adkproaudio about laptops. You can buy an off-the-shelf PC/laptop, and you might get lucky. Or you might not. I personally wouldn't risk it. Someday, I hope motherboard manufacturers realize that applications like DAWs are a good QA point to determine whether the motherboard is really operating as it should.

daw builders 

but where is the bottleneck? 

for a long time, the bottleneck on computers has been hard drives. they are on average, much slower than the rest of modern pc's. the next slowest thing is the ram buss. ever notice how long it takes to write to a usb thumb drive? well, i imagine there is the same problem with your RAM as well as on SSD's, on a different scale of course. where do some of you think the bottleneck is these days?

bottleneck 

Well, I would say the hard drive... but with this new ssd tech getting faster, that will change. There are some new file systems on linux that are supposed to make things run faster, I've even read about one specifically for ssd's, somewhere. Prices are going down on these devices also....and speed is going up. I would think that ddr3 would be speeding things up, although my old dell quad uses ddr2 800... Its plenty fast. I've read about folks using ramdisk to make things go real fast, both hacked copies of the original and new implementations of it, etc. Haven't heard anything from the original poster, guess he's probably got enouph or too much info :) Oh, I see he started another thread...must have been too much info ;) peace all...

fragmentation should be outlawed as a crime against time!