Express sound card dilemmas, and other things ...

Hey guys. Well I'm ready to buy my laptop but I've been having some concerns.

One being that newer laptops (which I'd like to have) are all using Express instead of PCMIA slots ... which I really hoped that I could grab that Sound Blaster Z Audigy ZS card and throw it in there ... but I can't since it's not Express. It seems I can't find anything that has a Core Duo 2, and PCMIA.

So that leads me to the next dilemma. If I can't get a newer laptop with a PCMIA, I have to get a firewire soundcard ... which I've been reading on some multiple forums that the Core Duo 2 chipsets have been causing major issues with firewire audio I/O cards/boxes.

So I feel like I'm screwed here. I really don't know what to do know. I was hoping for a Core Duo 2 2.0, 100 Gig SATA 7,200 hdd, 2 gigs ram. Now I don't know what the hell I'm gonna do. I'm going on tour in a little over 3 months and I still need to buy this laptop. Can you give me any good advice? Find an older laptop (which seems that they're still as expensive as the new ones) ... or bite the bullet and hope that those rumours I've been hearing are false.

Thanks very much for any help at all ...

 

The Dell Latitude D820 has PCMCIA and Core 2 Duo plus the new Express card slot

 

So does Fujitsu A6010, for example. You should fill out the FAQ in What notebook should I buy and make sure to specify that no PCMCIA = deal breaker.

Malia

 

I recommend to get a professional quality external (USB or Firewire) sound card from M-Audio. Definitely better than anything that Creative's got... for recording and playback.

We kinda went over this recently:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=84773

From the Post:
Get yourself an external USB or Firewire soundcard.

M-Audio professional mobile audio products

You might want to get a professional device from M-Audio.. definitely past the quality of anything that Creative has to offer.

M-AUDIO Transit (USB interface) - $70-100

Picture of front and back
- mobile 24-bit/96kHz USB audio
- 1/8” stereo analog/optical digital input
- 1/8” stereo line/headphone output
- TOSlink optical digital output allows AC3 and DTS pass-through
- line/optical input accommodates self-powered stereo microphones
- includes 3.5mm (male) to TOSlink (female) adapter

Read review for M-Audio Transit (audoMIDI.com)
Read review for M-Audio Transit (AudioReview.com)

Hope this helps,

-Gophn

P.S. I work with professional recording artists and producers... its M-AUDIO all the way for them, Creative is too weak for them.

 

Yeah, M-Audio is sick. I have the Delta 1010LT for my PC, and it's one hell of a sound card. Thing is about the USB thing, is it can be dodgy when dealing with ASIO 2 stuff .... and Firewire, well I've been reading about problems with the Core Duo 2 chipset and firewire devices.

In all honesty I'd much rather put a Echo Indigo in there, rather than the Creative card. I just the Creative one, cause most people aren't too familiar with the Echo line of products.

All in all, I need to try and debunk this rumour about Core Duo 2 and firewire interfaces ... cause I'd honestly much rather have firewire for it's beefiness ... but the perks of the PCMIA is that I don't have to carry around/hook more crap up.

I started a laptop thread here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=88570