Is Intel Atom (small laptops) capable of using apps like Ableton Live 8? *update

[Ninjek]

Hello!  

I am asking this question because I might buy a new laptop. I am thinking of buying those small ones like the EEE Pc or HP mini note but all of them come with Intel Atom. According to reviews, Atom specializes in running with low battery consumption and that is why these laptops reach 5-8 hours. However, Atom is less powerful than more common processors like celeron (and of course, the dual core types).

I just want to know if these laptops with Intel Atom are capable of using apps like Ableton Live 8. I won't really use it live, just when doing some sequencing/programming. Mostly I'll be using Ableton Live 8 and nothing else (i rarely use plugins, i just use the internal instruments of ableton). Of course I plan to get 2GB of RAM or more if it's possible. i intend to upgrade the laptop in all aspects, it's just really the processor itself that I am not sure of.

Has anyone here used these small laptops for this purpose? How was it?

*btw, right now i am using a very old mac powerbook g4 with just 1ghz, 1gb ram and 80gb hdd. I am actually satisfied with how it runs Ableton Live 5 and the only reason I'm gonna change is because it's not really "mine". Knowing this, would an Intel Atom processor still be an "upgrade" when we consider what is "ok for me" ? O talaga bang ganun kahina yung Atom na talo pa rin ng 1ghz 1gb ram na powerbook tiger os? 

Thanks in advance!  

[3650guy]

all i know is that the atom runs at 1.6 ghz with a bus speed of 533 mhz. maybe enough to playback 4-6 individual tracks. upgrading the stock ram might be difficult because of accessibility to the memory slots or warranty issues. so make sure you ask what upgrade options are available.

[BAMF]

I installed audacity on my Eeepc. Didn't work. The audio going in just gets corrupted on playback. I think it contains an Intel Mobile Celeron. But maybe that wasn't the issue. Must be the SS drive. But don't these things run faster than magnetic hdd's ?

[acidtest]

i still suggest getting a cpu with more muscle. it is the wiser choice in the long run. i run reason as a sequencer on a quad core machine i can still make it go 'sinok' after a fair amount of instruments. maybe its just me...

[Ninjek]

all i know is that the atom runs at 1.6 ghz with a bus speed of 533 mhz. maybe enough to playback 4-6 individual tracks. upgrading the stock ram might be difficult because of accessibility to the memory slots or warranty issues. so make sure you ask what upgrade options are available.

well 4-6 tracks is more or less fine with me 

actually i plan to get the upgraded versions na, yung maximized na yung RAM.

thanks sir!

[Ninjek]

I installed audacity on my Eeepc. Didn't work. The audio going in just gets corrupted on playback. I think it contains an Intel Mobile Celeron. But maybe that wasn't the issue. Must be the SS drive. But don't these things run faster than magnetic hdd's ?

hmmm... well dati po may eeepc 901 ako yung 12gb version lang. it was also an intel mobile celeron. i was able to run adobe audition successfully and nakakarecord pa kami ng mga 2-3 tracks. Ngayon kasi parang ang gaganda na rin ng specs ng mga eeepc (and similar laptops) kaya i was thinking mas kaya na nung mga ngayon.

[Ninjek]

i still suggest getting a cpu with more muscle. it is the wiser choice in the long run. i run reason as a sequencer on a quad core machine i can still make it go 'sinok' after a fair amount of instruments. maybe its just me...

hehe budget constraints din po kasi eh  I'm not that serious into sequencing din naman, like i mentioned above, 4-6 tracks is more or less ok with me. Plus I like the atoms coz of the battery life (I'm a student kasi  )

[Ninjek]

so is it ok to use an atom laptop? 

[bellhaus]

siguro if you tweak the os for music production only? pero mawawala yung ibang services ng os. internet, antivirus, etc.

[Ninjek]

siguro if you tweak the os for music production only? pero mawawala yung ibang services ng os. internet, antivirus, etc.

you can do that? 

[KitC]

so is it ok to use an atom laptop? 

Rico Bicol was able to use one with PT MP, I believe.

[@sh]

hindi po ba to nakakasira ng laptop??? baka kasi magcrash nakakatakot 

[BAMF]

you can do that? 

Yes. Control Panel->administration->Services .

Disable everything that is not related to audio like Internet connection sharing, firewall etc etc etc.

[KitC]

A laptop is a computer, like any other. Some are just suited for heavy jobs while others were developed simply for netsurfing. However, like in my previous post, you can use one of those netbooks for audio as long as it is properly configured, hardware incompatibilities notwithstanding. The only problem is that it will most likely stall early on if you like to use a lot of plugins and vst instruments, and this is mostly due to insufficient cpu power.

[Ninjek]

thanks for the answers sirs!

Fortunately, my friend had an HP mini note that runs on intel atom and she let me test ableton live 8 on it. Unfortunately, it was an "all-around" laptop with just 1gb ram and so lumabas talaga yung limit nung cpu. Actually gumana naman, nagkakaproblema lang sa pagsunod nung tempo pag nagrerecord na ng midi. It's not really latency kasi pag nagpplay ako w/o recording, tama naman yung tunog. Pero pag nagrecord na, yun na hindi na sumasabay sa pindot ko yung sound na narerecord. And it was only ONE track.

Ako kasi I won't really buy a laptop for music purposes lang eh, mine would also be "all-around" din so I guess MY OWN conclusion for this thread is that I WON'T buy an Intel Atom laptop kasi masyado talaga siyang mahina kung hindi nakaconfigure (siguro) for music lang. Guess I'm gonna start looking and saving up for a better one 

Thanks for all the help sirs!

[acidtest]

thanks for the answers sirs!

Fortunately, my friend had an HP mini note that runs on intel atom and she let me test ableton live 8 on it. Unfortunately, it was an "all-around" laptop with just 1gb ram and so lumabas talaga yung limit nung cpu. Actually gumana naman, nagkakaproblema lang sa pagsunod nung tempo pag nagrerecord na ng midi. It's not really latency kasi pag nagpplay ako w/o recording, tama naman yung tunog. Pero pag nagrecord na, yun na hindi na sumasabay sa pindot ko yung sound na narerecord. And it was only ONE track.

Ako kasi I won't really buy a laptop for music purposes lang eh, mine would also be "all-around" din so I guess MY OWN conclusion for this thread is that I WON'T buy an Intel Atom laptop kasi masyado talaga siyang mahina kung hindi nakaconfigure (siguro) for music lang. Guess I'm gonna start looking and saving up for a better one 

Thanks for all the help sirs!

latency pa rin yun. sa input stage....

[Ninjek]

latency pa rin yun. sa input stage....

ah ganun po ba? haha thanks for clarifying that