i have been using a roland vs1880 for the past few years, and am
considering moving to a laptop setup for remote work. i have an ibm
t40, centrino 1.5ghz, but only 4200 rpm drive.

1. i think i will jsut buy a second latop and deicate it to audio.
which is th best laptop for audio, and what specs do i need? (hdd
speed, ram, etc.)

2. what is the best audio recording software - best bang for buck? i
generally only use 8-10 tracks for the small ensemble acoustic work i
do. i want to be able to use plugins like the SIR convolution reverb.

3. it is nice having the roland worksurface for mixing and control.
i am wary of trying to mix using software only, using a mouse to
controls faders, etc. what is a good work surface, or do you find the
laptop control/work area to be adequate?

4. i have 8 channels of millennia media HV3 preamps, so i only need
line in on the interface. what is a good interface that can give me
4-8 line inputs with outputs to USB2 or firewire?

5. what else whould i know/consider?

thanks to all.